Key Takeaways

  • Sedona has issued 51 short-term rental citations since January, down from 103 last year
  • Sedona is pushing two resolutions through the League of Arizona Cities and Towns
  • Arizona mayors meet Aug. 18 to prioritize resolutions ahead of the 2027 legislature

Sedona has cited 51 properties for short-term rental code violations since January, a steep drop from the 103 citations the city had issued by this point last year.

The Arizona tourist town, known for its red rock formations, is now asking state lawmakers to let voters decide something Arizona law currently forbids: whether cities can locally regulate short-term rentals at all.

Mayor Holli Ploog plans to present two resolutions at the League of Arizona Cities and Towns conference in Phoenix, where more than 1,700 mayors, council members and local leaders are expected to gather this week, according to The Verde Independent.

One resolution would close a loophole exposed by the 2025 case Oak Creek Hospitality v. City of Sedona, in which a mobile home park owner sought short-term rental status for units that Sedona’s code never addressed. Ploog said the fix would bar short-term rentals in any mobile home park or apartment complex with five or more units.

A ballot referral on local short-term rental control

The second resolution is more sweeping. “This one we would take to the voters,” Ploog said, “in the form of a ballot referral.” It would let individual cities and towns hold local elections asking residents whether they want authority to regulate short-term rentals themselves, a power Arizona has withheld from municipalities since 2016.

If the measure clears the state legislature, Ploog said it would land on the November 2028 general election ballot, following the model of an unrelated ballot measure on traffic cameras that former City Attorney Kurt Christianson and Deputy City Manager Lauren Browne used as a template.

Sedona has also lobbied on the issue through the enforcement side, deploying a dedicated rental code officer this year.

Related: Colorado mountain town considers neighborhood caps on short-term rentals

Both resolutions already cleared subcommittees within the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. Arizona mayors are scheduled to meet Aug. 18 to form a resolutions subcommittee that will decide which measures the League prioritizes lobbying for when the state legislature convenes in early January 2027.

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