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(Sedona Red Rock News, AZ) Vacation rentals usually permit its renting for an unlimited number of days, depending on the needs of the person renting the place. However there are some places like Sedona that don’t permit vacation rental owners to rent out their places for less than 30 days at a time. And it is against this ruling that the residents of Sedona have started demanding a change in this old and outdated ruling of Sedona, and to make the required changes.
It is the Sedona Vacation Rental Solutions Association that has pressed for changes in the law. According to an SVRSA spokesman, David Mathews all the present laws favor mainly large resorts and hotels, and not vacation rentals. It was during a work session that the City Council had decided to improve the existing bans on rentals for lower than 30 days and to increase it prosecution.
Violation of bans on these rentals is considered to be a Class I misdeamor where you can be fined a maximum fine of $2,500 and a maximum of six months in jail. So in a bid to protect this law, the city has taken necessary precautions by sending out cease and desist letters to people who have advertised rentals of
family homes for less than 30 days.
According to Sedona Code Enforcement Officer Jin Windham, such short term rentals are criminal offenses. In fact, he says that it is better to cease and desist the renting of single family rentals that lie in residentially zoned districts.
However Mathews says that all existing laws only create an unfriendly climate in Sedona. He says that it is necessary to target the property managers, homeowners and tourists to improve the economy of Sedona. This is because the refusal of accommodating short term rentals hurts the local economy.
Mathews also reminds that other resort towns like Aspen, Maui, Hawaii and Colo. all permit short term vacation rentals in certain neighborhoods. This is why Mathews suggests that Sedona too should offer short term rentals to promote local tourism and real estate and not lose its economic values.
SVRSA intends to allow homeowners to promote short term rentals once they receive a license and pay bed and income taxes on their received income. However according to Sedona vice Mayor Jerry Frey, a majority of the council will not favor this idea. He says that though Sedona is a
tourist town, there are many permanent residents who dislike short term rentals. This is because those who opt for
short term rentals are on vacation and do what people do on vacations like drinking beer and listening to radio; which many people dislike in their neighborhood.
According to Mathews, whose group represents Sedona homeowners living all over US, people invest in Sedona to live full time, and buy property with the intention of living full time here. In fact, he says many people living in Sedona are people living here in their retirement.
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