The Sedona Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously shot down William Heyer’s fourth application for a preliminary plat for an 11-unit subdivision at 463 Brewer Road during its May 20 meeting.

The project was first proposed as the Canyon Vista Subdivision in 2005, but the process was never completed and a new application was submitted in 2021, then abandoned before Heyer resumed the subdivision process in April 2023. The 5.72 acre property is zoned RS-10, which would yield a density of 1.92 units per acre, below the cap of four units per acre required by the zoning. Several of the proposed lots would share driveways, and the subdivision would omit sidewalks in preference for a four-foot-wide trail.

“This original application was for eight units, which changed in the middle of the application based on staff recommendations changing it to a cluster subdivision, and because of the density and changing to a cluster, the conceptual review was waived. So now we’re at the preliminary plat stage,” assistant planner Megan Yates told the commission.

Yates then said that city staff recommended against approving the resulting layout because buildings within the subdivision could potentially be silhouetted against the skyline, the trail “doesn’t seem to give the same pedestrian connectivity as side walks would,” the lack of included submittals from utility companies, “lack of clarity regarding contact with neighboring property owners” and the irregular shape of building envelopes.

“I’ve owned this property since 2007, and it’s always had a topographical challenge,” Heyer said of the unusual building envelopes. “A standard lot layout, what that would have done would have allowed individuals who bought these lots to cut into these highly visible, sensitive hillsides wherever they might please to build a home … I’m restricting the ability of my potential buyers about where they can build their homes. That’s a hit for me, but I think the site demands it.”

“I want to leave a development that is harmonious with the surroundings and as much as possible mitigates the visual impact,” Heyer added. “That drove this layout.”

“With regard to sidewalks and trails … there is a specific provision in the code that says when you’re dealing with steep, sensitive hill sides, cause there’s this implicit recognition that we don’t want to destroy hillsides just to wedge in sidewalks, if you’re dealing with that situation, which we are, the alternative is to put in a trail,” Heyer said. The subdivision would also include a 24-foot-wide private road.

“The city has been very clear they’re not interested in taking over this road,” Heyer said.

Luke Sefton, the project engineer, said that they had endeavored to keep the road narrow and had worked with the Sedona Fire District to ensure there was room for trucks to turn around.

“Staff believes we have not complied and we believe we have complied,” Heyer said. “There are some provisions in the code that are open to interpretation … We believe this complies with the code. We believe it’s a thoughtful subdivision.”

Heyer also addressed what he described as the city’s conflicting requirements for permitting at different stages of the process.

“Staff has taken the position, or at least we’ve heard staff’s position, you need all your permits in place, you have to pull permits. We’re dealing with utility companies saying ‘we’re not going to issue permits unless we have a final plat’ … We saw this with the gentleman that came up here earlier,” Heyer said, referring to the commission’s previous consideration of a time extension requested by Sergio Goma of the Alkemista Meadery, who had stated that he had lost his financing and that his project had been delayed for more than a year due to the city’s delay in issuing permits.

“If permits are pulled, the clock starts ticking, and if you’re not through the approval process, and that gets dragged out, and historically it takes a lot of time to get something approved in this city, then all of a sudden your permits are expired and you’re going back and forth,” Heyer said. “We have provided staff, I believe, I’ve read them, essentially an assurance that all these utilities looked at this property and the designs, and they’ve all said yes, we can work with that. I don’t find anywhere in the code where we are actually required to pull formal permits, and we’ve got some utility companies saying we’re not going issue permits unless we have a final plat.”

“They won’t review the plans until they get the final set,” Sefton said of the utilities. “You see how this one, everything expired — I’m dealing with that on a couple other projects where things get expired where some things have taken too long.”

“Even the city of Sedona’s sewer department says they won’t give us a guarantee until the end, either, so we don’t even have a guarantee from the city of Sedona that they’re going to be able to provide us. It’s first come, first-served when we turn in, when we’re working for a permit. I can’t even get it from the city of Sedona,” Sefton added.

The commissioners rejected Heyer’s efforts at minimizing the footprint of the development, instead critiquing the proposal for insufficient paperwork.

“I can’t entertain this project without utility information at the very minimum,” Commissioner Kali Gajewski said. “The incompleteness of this packet makes me think it should come back when it’s complete.”

“Code requirements aren’t being met,” Commissioner and interim Chairwoman Sarah Wiehl said. “We just don’t know if it’s going to work.”

“We went down the checklist and answered everything,” Sefton said. “There’s something missing out of there.”

“The information in your packet was the information the applicant submitted on the last review,” Planning Manager Cari Meyer said.

Commissioner Jo Martin said she was uncomfortable without letters from the utility companies confirming service.

“I don’t think I’d do this,” newly-seated Commissioner Rob Smith said.

“I don’t think it’s ready for primetime,” Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Hosseini said. “Some of these differences in interpretation between the owner and staff are resolvable, but I would really like to see them set out in a much more tight packet … point counter-point.”