Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock seeks an event lawn

As seen in Sedona Red Rock News, written by Joseph K. Giddens

The Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock’s request to have an outdoor event lawn on their property is scheduled to go before the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors during their Wednesday, Oct. 15 meeting. The Yavapai County Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommend approval at its Sept. 18 meeting in Cottonwood.

P&Z’s major recommendations include: “Events will not take place before 8 a.m. or after 11 p.m.” and “There will be no amplified music and/or announce­ments after 10 p.m.”

The Hilton, located at 90 Ridge Trail Drive, has filed two P&Z cases with its attorney Cassandra Ayres, of the Scottsdale-based firm Berry Riddell: For a Planned Area Development Amendment and a Revised Final Plat. The plat revision “will allow the plat to be modified removing specific delineation of parking spaces, and [allows] more flexibility of the uses within the parking area,” county presentation material reads. While the Hilton would lose parking spaces, its position that the existing parking structure could accommodate the change.

Both include recommendations that a Certificate of Compliance be issued within two years of the board of supervisors’ approval, confirming that all stipulations have been satisfied and that all relevant local, state and federal regulations have been met; otherwise, the approvals will be voided.

Twenty nine parking spaces on the north side of the Hilton’s main entrance would be converted into the event lawn, according to the proposal, which would bring the total parking to 356 parking spaces for a location that is required to have 332 spots.

“The intent is to transform the existing parking area to provide a lawn space which can be used for a variety of events and activities,” the PAD Amendment Narrative document reads. “The new configuration will provide green space with a land­scaped concrete border designed to buffer the space from the surrounding parking areas. A wider concrete pathway with benches is also being added along the east side of the parking area for a more appealing design and amenity for guests visiting the site.”

Letters of notice were mailed to all property owners within a 0.5 mile radius in February, with an open house held on March 11, and on Aug. 29 Yavapai County Development Services sent a notice to all nearby property owners again. The developers also submitted 1,300 invitations to an open house meeting that was attended by 12 neighbors.

“We know that noise is a concern, and in order to address that concern, we have proactively put in place buffers for that noise mitigation,” Ayres said to the commission. “The first one … is the building itself, which will help mitigate any of the noise traveling to the west [and] we’re also going to be putting in place significant landscaping,” to help buffer event noise.

Hilton provided 25 letters of support for the changes, and a county survey of 123 questionnaires had one in support and three in opposition along with one letter of opposition from the adjacent The Ridge Homeowners Association.

“Our main concern is increased traffic that will result from approval of the Amendment and the condition of the road leading to the event lawn,” The Ridge wrote. “This road starts at the Highway SR 179 roundabout and ends at the gate to the Ridge community. The primary use of this road is by the Hilton’s guests and for activities conducted by the Hilton. Yavapai County currently does not maintain this road because, it asserts, that when the road was built it did not meet county standards. Despite its predominant use of this road, the Hilton refuses to maintain the road.”

Hilton’s position is that the event lawn will have minimal effect on traffic on Ridge Trail Drive because most of the attendees will be staying at the hotel and parked on site.

“The Ridge Trail Drive up to the entrance into the Ridge from the roundabout on [SR] 179 has publicly dedicated right away associated with [but] It has never been accepted by Yavapai County for maintenance,” District 4 Commissioner Dan Cherry said. “That shows on the condition of the road; it’s in rotten condition. The county has been approached numerous times … to improve that road. The problem is it has never been shown to be brought up to a minimum county standard where the county would accept that road for perpetual main­tenance. The HOA at the Ridge has expressed a desire to find an avenue to improve that road so that [it] can be in good condition. The thought is that the hotel generates a lot of traffic on that road, in addition to the condos there to the west and so there seemingly would be an appropriate method to be some kind of coopera­tive improvement on that road, and then the county would take it over. But until that happens, it’s just a privately main­tained road.”

The commission’s and staff’s position is that they can not dictate that Hilton must repair the road as a condition of approval but noted the discussion on the matter for the board of supervisors.

“The Hilton should be paying for the main­tenance of the road that is primarily used by their customers,” The Ridge HOA board member Rodman Grimm said following the meeting. “That road is full of potholes and basically there have been people who have had flat tires and everything else, but the Hilton refuses to pay for any maintenance on the road, so now all of a sudden, they want to have an event center which will then take and double the traffic on the road, and who’s going to pay to fill those potholes?”

“Our cl ient s ar e happy to participate in this discussion,” about Ridge Trail Drive, Ayres said, but actions were proposed to address the road’s condition.

Two residents spoke during public comment, one in opposition and another neutral but expressing concerns.

Fire code and handi­capped parking concerns were also raised, but will be addressed during permitting.

“There are going to be some concerns regarding dark skies and outdoor lighting on the facility,” Yavapai County Planner Stephanie Johnson said. “I have already reached out through the appli­cants, and I’ve let them know that the changes here due to the new lighting ordinance, these changes will spark them to have to bring the entire site into compli­ance with the new dark sky lighting.”