Sedona Main Street Program
is thrilled to nominate the “Sedona Main Street and Character Districts
Design Manual” for Best Public/Private Partnership in 2006. Its’ four
year process from inception through creation, development and adoption
is the perfect example of the “eight guiding principles” that makes the
Main Street Program so unique.
This manual is the result of a
phenomenal volunteer effort in a Public - Private Partnership
extraordinaire. Our original Uptown Design Guidelines were prepared at
the inception of our Main Street Program in 1996 and approved by our
City but never officially adopted. Since then, our Program had expanded
its geographic boundaries three times. As we reviewed development plans
in the expanded areas of our District and saw the impacts of larger
scale developments, we knew we had to create a review manual that better
reflects the character of the Main Street District and ensure the City
would adopt it to put teeth into the process and preserve our sense of
place. We began with inclusion of the project on our radar in early 2002
and our Committee Work Plans later that year, and then laid the
groundwork with the City to ensure the value and usability of updated
guidelines. Once the City agreed conceptually and acknowledged that
development of new guidelines could provide some of the work City staff
would need to accomplish for the Uptown Zoning Overlay project on their
long term work plans, the door opened. Since the design firm our City
had selected for a planned streetscape project in Uptown now owned the
consulting business that had done our original guidelines, we knew we
could gain cost efficiencies and double the benefit of their knowledge
of our Main Street District and their time in our community. In 2003,
the Program acquired a $15,000 grant from AZ Main Street Program to hire
consultants for professional help in drafting an update to our document,
and the real work began.
Volunteers of our Design Committee spent
almost 1600 hours developing the character districts concept, working
with the consultants every step of the way, and refining the guidelines
not only in format and narrative but also with graphic exhibits and
photographic images. We were committed to providing examples and photos
of desirable attributes from within our District boundaries, and this
often posed challenges and walking visits that heightened awareness for
all involved. In the very early stages, many design professionals
throughout Sedona took time to provide their input and expertise. The
planning staff at the City reviewed the manual and provided their
perspective and recommendations. Then the City’s Planning & Zoning
Commissioners devoted countless hours in careful scrutiny of every word
and thoughtful consideration of every concept, which they shared with
strong encouragement at seven public meetings over nine months and a
final recommendation to City Council. Just prior to the final City
processes, one of our Board Liaisons nominated this Design Manual for an
award from the organization he represents. As a result, Sedona Main
Street Program’s Design Manual was privileged to receive a very
prestigious 2005 Keep Sedona Beautiful Award of Merit for Exemplary
Design Standards. Next, the volunteer Sedona City Council dedicated a
Work Session to review this document; they not only thanked us for the
quality concepts and work, they encouraged the inclusion of
sustainability and “green-building” concepts. Thus it will be the very
first of the City’s land-use related documents to reflect our City’s new
community-wide commitment to eco-friendly building! Throughout the
process, staff at the City of Sedona has provided enormous assistance
and fortitude with input, revisions and updates.
The “Sedona Main Street
and Character Districts Design Manual” was officially adopted by the
City of Sedona on April 11, 2006. It was effective on May 11, 2006 and
incorporated in its entirety (121 pages) into the City’s Land
Development Code as a new Article 19. It’s now available on the websites
of both the City and Sedona Main Street Program. Our Design Committee
devoted 1697 volunteer hours, the Program staff spent 260 hours, and we
estimate general community volunteers dedicated 30 hours; City staff
invested approximately 400 hours, and City volunteers donated an
estimated 235 hours. That is a total of 1986 private sector hours and
635 public sector hours invested in this partnership.
They say that it takes a community to
raise a child. Indeed our community has raised this “child” - with
guidance, encouragement, input and feedback. Its’ development from
infancy to maturation and from acceptance to full adoption came by way
of a phenomenal partnership between the public and private sectors.
