Sedona Allows Living In Cars with 6-1 Vote

Article audio is made possible by CAST11 Prescott Podcast Network. A Talking Glass Media production.

In a 6 to 1 vote, the Sedona City Council has paved the way to allow workers to live in their cars due to the housing shortages.  The program, titled “Safe Place to Park”, allows those who are employed full-time within the city limits to sleep in their cars. The program is funded by a two-year grant from the Arizona Department of Housing. The Verde Valley Homeless Coalition will manage the Safe Place to Park program. The site will have 40 parking spots and will include restrooms, showers, and trash receptacles.  There is also a requirement that participants engage with local social services to acheive the end goal of obtaining housing once the program ceases.

It has been reported on numerous news sites that some Sedona residents may move to a ballot referendum to block the project. For those that keep up with the national news, you may find this vote for a home-free living eerily similar to situations in the Pacific Northwest where homelessness has become serious enough for residents to leave their neighbors and homes and move to the southwest U.S. to places like Sedona, Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey, and Cottonwood. How will our region react? If we are already more than 250,000 homes short in Arizona as reported by the Arizona Department of Housing and approximately 5,500 homes short in the central Arizona region, who will pave the way for our workforce, business owners, and young people who want to start a life?

When asked for a comment from the City of Sedona, they helpfully replied,

“On March 12, City Council directed staff to move forward with the program and has approved the zone change on our land parcel commonly known as the Cultural Park. The Safe Place to Park program will be a short-term (2 year), temporary strategy to assist our local workforce, while the longer-term solution of permanent housing is being built.

The day after, a resident picked up referendum packet which means they have 30 days (April 11) to get 597 resident signatures submitted into the City Clerks Office. If that happens successfully, the item will be on the ballot in November for residents to vote on. If the resident can’t get that number of signatures, the program will move forward as intended.”

Living in cars is not the answer, but it may be the temporary solution for municipalities which do not move fast enough and design together with builders and residents.

Homage to Gary Numan’s hit song, Cars

Now, I’ve got a whole new way to listen to the Gary Numan‘s hit “Cars” which parked for the first time in the U.S. in 1980, making it to #9 in the Top 100.

Cars, by Gary Numan, Lyrics:

Here in my car, I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors, it’s the only way to live
In cars
Here in my car, I can only receive
I can listen to you, it keeps me stable for nights
In cars
Here in my car, where the image breaks down
Will you visit me please, if I open my door?
In cars
Here in my car, I know I’ve started to think
About leaving tonight, although nothing seems right
In cars