By Catherine Reagor | Arizona Republic (abridged)
In December, the Sedona City Council passed a resolution declaring a “housing shortage emergency” and urged state lawmakers to pass a law allowing local governments to regulate the number and location of short-term rental units.
“Every community is different when it comes to what works and what doesn’t,” the resolution said. “What may work in one community could potentially be a complete disaster in another community, necessitating a return of local control” over the regulation of short-term rentals.
Sedona followed Flagstaff, Cottonwood and Bisbee in declaring an emergency.
Early this legislative session, a bill was introduced by Rep. Selina Bliss (R-Prescott) that would allow Arizona municipalities to set a limit on the number of short-term rentals within their boundaries and regulate short-term rentals like hotels. But so far, the proposal has not gained a lot of traction.
If Arizona municipalities were to regain regulatory authority over short-term rentals, current owners of the properties would not have to sell or stop renting them, Sedona Mayor Scott Jablow said.
“There’s no going back with short-term rentals, but we want to be able to take care of Sedona’s neighborhoods and its residents,” he said.
Short-term rentals are required to pay state and lodging taxes, which boosts the municipalities’ revenues.
Sedona has tried to do what it can to ease its housing affordability problems. In 2023, it started a program allowing homeowners to voluntarily place deed restrictions on their properties for 40 years that keep them from being made short-term rentals.
The city has also offered landlords who rent their homes to locals a subsidy of up to $10,000. But neither of the programs has taken off.
“Some Sedona homeowners are going for the big offers investors are making, and I can’t blame them,” Jablow said. “But we need to do all we can.”
For Jablow, the stakes are too great to do nothing.
“Our schools are losing children and funding because families can’t find homes here, and we can’t attract much-needed medical staff,” he said.
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