Cottonwood Annexation highlights debate between commercial development and open space- Sedona.biz

Closer to home, Sedonans watch as the Cottonwood City Council closes in on its final vote to annex approximately 8.5 square miles of forest land north of Cottonwood along Hwy 89a by September 17, 2009, with another 10 square miles of State Trust Land east of the forest land proposed to be annexed at a later date.

Some believe Cottonwood's proposed annexation move is a secret plot for greater residential and commercial development to generate tax revenue. Others believe the City Council is simply being savvy by positioning the town to benefit should the Arizona State Land Department, the owner of the State Trust Land, sell it off to a commercial developer.

Said Sedona Mayor Rob Adams, "Citizens should understand that the State Trust Land is not under Cottonwood's control. It's controlled by the Arizona State Land Department and one of their primary goals is to generate revenue for public schools. One big way they do this is by selling land and in this budget constrained environment that is likely to accelerate."

According to its website, the mission of the Arizona State Land Department is "to manage State Trust lands and resources to enhance value and optimize economic return for the Trust beneficiaries..." State Trust Land is distinguished from the public land such as parks or national forests because all uses of the land must benefit 13 Trust beneficiaries. Common Schools (K-12) are the largest beneficiary owning approximately 87% of the land and receiving close to 90% of the revenue.

It is generally understood that the Arizona Constitution allows trust lands to be leased or sold at the highest appraised value to the highest bidder at public auction.

Mayor Adams says he is concerned that cities like Sedona, who want to preserve State Trust Land as open space, don't have the financial resources to compete with developers to bid on land sales. Said the Mayor, "It's not practical to assume that a city can dole out the same amount of money as a developer to preserve open space when a developer can more than recoup its investment by developing the land."

To that end, Mayor Adams will be representing Sedona at the League of Arizona Cities and Towns' annual conference to be held in Oro Valley this week where the City of Sedona is sponsoring a resolution that would "Recognize Open Space as a Best Use for Certain Trust Land Parcels."

The League of Arizona Cities and Towns is a voluntary membership organization of the incorporated municipalities in Arizona that focuses principally on representing the interests of cities and towns before the legislature. If supported by the League's Resolution Committee, Sedona's sponsored resolution would be presented by the League to the Arizona State Legislature and possibly voted into law.

The resolution is currently supported by Sedona, Apache Junction, Oro Valley, Flagstaff, Bullhead City, Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and Jerome, and, according to Mayor Adams, more communities have promised to support it when it is presented to Resolution Committee.

The proposed resolution would "Support modifying statues and regulations governing the sale of State Trust Lands to acknowledge that conservation and protection of open space and other natural resources can add value to State Lands being sold. Therefore, in certain cases local governments and conservation trusts should be given the opportunity to receive title of, or purchase at fair market value, such Trust Lands for the purpose of conservation without competition from other development interests."

Said Mayor Adams, "We are attempting to get the Arizona legislature to recognize that the only way to protect open space from development is to modify current statutes to give cities a chance to acquire State Trust Land without economic competition. Arizona has over nine million acres of land currently held in Trust. Preserving open space is about looking at the economic interests of Arizona and its municipalities as a whole, not just how much money can be generated by developing a single tract of land. I believe that the preservation of open space and wildlife corridors will enhance rather than reduce the overall value of State Trust Land."

Update (9/209): Mayor Adams was successful at getting the resolution through the league committee and the league will now recommend it to the Legislature.

Readers' comments

#1 Good article and good overview. Appreciate the work of Mayor Adams to try and protect trust land, especially the 10-square mile block in the middle of the Verde Valley. Just two comments:

1. State Land's policy is to sell trust land into a "mature" market to maximize return. This suggests less rather than more sales during this current real estate downturn. In fact, recent trust land auctions have been cancelled due to lack of bidders. The interest just isn't there right now at the "mature" prices the ASLD is required to get.

2. It is quite feasible for the people of this region to buy outright -- even in competition with developers -- the big block of trust land in the Verde through a simple half percent sales tax -- that's a penny on a $2 purchase. No developer can compete with that, and it's about as painless as you can get. Much if not most of it will be paid by visitors to our region.

Then that parcel can be conserved in its entirety, while allowing for such progressive uses as solar generation and finally solving Sedona's wastewater disposal problem.

That land can and should be used to address our biggest problem -- creating a cost-effective and permanently sustainable water supply rather than more unsustainable demand.

All this can be accomplished while helping protect the most important facet of our quality of life -- our unique small town character.

#3 Congratulations to Mayor Rob for this far-sighted pro-active solution to preserve open space and promote sustainablility!
Marlene Rayner, Chair, Sierra Club Sedona-Verde Valley

#4 I too would like to see the state trust land between Sedona and Cottonwood preserved as open space but this is not just an issue of statutes. The revenue for schools from the STL is in the Arizona Constitution. Weighing the open space v. educational funding is tricky and convincing educators to forego the benefits of the STL along with the constitutional component is something the entire state will need to decide. Legislative leaders have been stingy with educational funding as Arizona is ranked 49th in the country in per pupil funding and schools depend and rely upon these monies. Sedona should probably annex the property out to the sewer plant so we can at least have some say into what happens in the development of these properties at the time they are auctioned for sale.

#5 The sale of State lands to finance education is a short-term gain of money for a permanent loss of open space land. Arizona must soon change its economy, from one based on building more rooftops, to a more secure and clean source of revenue that doesn't destroy lifestyle and cause more congestion with all its impacts. Shame on Cottonwood for the empire-building ambitions of its Council! Congrats to Mayor Rob for taking a stand on this.

#6 Government authority to buy or take land without competition? It's been tried so forget it. It's called socialism.

#7 While I applaud the efforts of Sedona's mayor, and those from other municipalities, I would urge them to amend their mission statement to read: "Support modifying statues and regulations governing the sale of State Trust Lands to acknowledge that conservation and protection of open space and other natural resources can [does] add value to State Lands being sold. Therefore, in certain cases local governments and conservation trusts should be given the opportunity to receive title of, or purchase at fair market value, such Trust Lands for the [sole] purpose of conservation without competition from other development interests."

By inserting the words "does" and "sole" their intent is both enhanced and defined, preventing the land from being sold by them later for their own gain.

#8 What world do you people and the Sedona mayor live in? We are surrounded by 1.856 MILLION acres of Coconino National Forest and only 14% of that is under private ownership. Open Space? You and Sedona's mayor would use scarce dollars to buy land that is a little island in the National Forest? Maybe you people all have too much money and too much time your hands. Maybe you're rich enough to come here, keep everybody else out that you can, and then you die here. But maybe that kind of money could do a whole lot of things that benefit real people who are short on food, housing, gas, covering medical bills. Most of the rest of us are here working our butts off but also enjoying raising families, horses and livestock (yeah, for the Fair which I am SURE you never go to), volunteering for schools, charities, civic groups. Buying State Trust Lands for Open Space is not a priority (and Mayor Rob Adams wants the right to buy it at discount with no competitive offers?) Those lands are required by Arizona Constitution to be sold at the highest price to benefit the schools. Again, check your priorities. This is not one. Not where we live.

#9 Thank you for your comment. Finaly someone who makes sense and has some facts. When sill people get it. I'm tired of politicians spinning their wheels trying to save something that is not theirs to save. State Trust Land proceeds go directly to education. Highest and best use. It's in the constitution. Get over it.

#10 To commentors #8 and #9:

This resolution makes state trust land more valuable (so schools get the money they are supposed to get and should get) while creating open space so people can continue to enjoy riding horses, hiking and a more rural type life style. Unless of course you would like to have a community just like Scottsdale up here - High density and lots of shopping - This doesn't sound like your cup of tea. You might want to contact Mayor Adams for a more comprehensive explanation. This would help you understand this issue and how it will be a benefit to you. Making negative comments before studying the truth only serves to undo much hard work that has been done as a volunteer service to the Valley.

#11 For commenter #10: 1) the Big Lie tactic that this Trust Land will make a Scottsdale up here just doesn't ring true, and 2) in urban Phx and Tucson it's possible that value of Trust Land as Open Space could enhance the value of portions of Trust Land but not up here. It's the law of supply and demand. They have almost no open space. Cottonwood sits in the middle of millions of acres of National Forest. And the commments aren't "negative," just valid disagreement.