Community Urged to Submit Input Before April 30th Deadline In March, the Big Park Council’s Art in the Roundabouts (AiR) Committee launched a dedicated website for the purpose of informing the community and gathering input for selection of art for the roundabouts. In the spirit of the Council’s mission, the committee is committed to a program of community outreach to ensure that any art selections are the result of broad community support. An online survey to gather community input on artworks for the four roundabouts in the Village of Oak Creek is now open through April 30th, 2023. The committee encourages all residents to take (and share) the brief, anonymous survey that can be found on the AiR website – OurVillageArt.org. The website provides a summary of proposed artistic themes, and a list of selection criteria, followed by an invitation to the community to manifest its thoughts about the process. Response to date has been thoughtful and enthusiastic, providing the committee with helpful comments and suggestions. The committee will have a presence at the Village BBQ on April 29th from 12-4pm at the VOCA park. Committee members will be present to explain the project and answer questions. Look for the Sedona Village Partnership sign! More information about the project and committee can be found at OurVillageArt.org, or simply scan the QR code to jump immediately to the website’s online survey page. Or click the black button and go directly to the survey itself.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO SURVEY

 

Community News & Updates

UPDATE: 3/15 YC Board of Supervisors review of the Arts & Crafts tent shows at Vista Village Conditional Use Permit: In the absence of any documented violations or complaints, the CUP was renewed for 5 years with a review after 2 years. There is currently no way to report violations, compliments or complaints on-line to Yavapai County. During the next two years, please comment directly to Supervisor Michaels, by sending her an email via Email District 3 Supervisor (yavapaiaz.gov) UPDATE: 3/16 YC Planning & Zoning review of the Verde Valley School request for an amended Conditional Use Permit ended positively with approval of a non-transferable CUP. Meetings held between the school and neighboring communities were able to improve communication, achieve compromises and arrive at consensus before the hearing.

Rest Area Study Comment Period ENDS March 27th The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has released its draft Statewide Rest Area Study which provides a blueprint for how ADOT plans to preserve, rehabilitate, modernize and expand the state’s rest areas during the next 20 years. To view or download a PDF of the information, Click HERE. The PDF contains information on how to comment directly back to ADOT.

9th Annual VOC BBQ April 29th 12pm-4pm at VOCA Park. Click HERE to view or download a PDF of the flier

Advancing Business Sustainability in the Verde Valley Special Event - March 30th - 4:30pm Cottonwood Community Club House, 805 N. Main Street, Cottonwood, AZ Click HERE to view or download a PDF of the flier

EMERGENCY ALERTS Actual Examples from 3/15 & 16 Flood EVACUATIONS Click HERE for a presentation PDF images of actual emergency texts and emails received for the recent floods in Sedona. If you haven’t already done so, you can sign up to receive these messages directly by Nixle - Text your zip code to 888777 or go to Sign Up : Nixle Alert Yavapai - https://www.ycsoaz.gov/I-Want-To/Services/Sign-up-for-Emergency-Notifications

To view or download a 13-page PDF of the Sedona Chamber of Commerce 3/17/23 Local newsletter, click HERE.

Some Good News

At this morning’s meeting of the Yavapai County Planning and Zoning Commission, Verde Valley School was granted approval of it’s 

revised Conditional Use Permit (CUP).  I am happy to report that, after a rather rocky roll-out, that resulted in much consternation in the community, Verde Valley School submitted a very significant revision of the original CUP in January.  Significant revisions included the elimination of the originally planned outdoor amphitheater and both moving and decreasing the number of proposed campsites for the use of guests of the school.  

These revisions resulted in a resumption of dialog with some of the residential neighbors of the school. Significant additional compromises were then made between the parties including issues of fire mitigation, traffic control, and screening along the road.  The remaining issue, on which the Big Park Council took a position, was for the permit to be nontransferable. This was granted by the Commission.

Congratulations should be extended to the leaders of Verde Valley School and the leaders of Cathedral Rock Ranch and its neighbors for bringing this issue to an amicable conclusion.