Community
“In the small town each citizen had done something in
his own way to build the community.”
Daniel J. Boorstin U.S. historian / Author
The Americans: The Democratic Experience
Those people who live in the community which encompasses what we in Arizona know
as Red Rock Country or the combination of Sedona, the Village of Oak Creek and Oak Creek Canyon
are indeed fortunate to live is such a marvelous place. USA WEEKEND's Annual Travel Report on The 10 Most
Beautiful Places in America (May 03), placed Red Rock Country as its #1.
If you would like to read the entire list and why they placed this community #1 you can click on http://www.usaweekend.com/03_issues/030518/030518springtravel.html
Everyone knows that beauty alone does not make a community. In the beginning of every community there was empty
space and land to build upon. Aldo Leopold once wrote for the Sand County Almanac; “We abuse land because
we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to
use it with love and respect.” In every community you will find homes, businesses, schools, churches, and government.
These are empty shells and serve no purpose unless they are filled with people. Generally speaking, the people
who actually live in a community, love and respect that environment and work hard in preserving its natural beauty.
Can you imagine how difficult it has been for the citizens living in Red Rock Country, to maintain that
community so that it is seen as the ‘Most Beautiful Place in America’?
You have to know that such a place will attract hoards of visitors on an annual basis and those visitors will
attract businesses that serve, not the community, but the visitors to it. Clearly those visitors and those businesses
have positive economic impacts upon Red Rock Country and many communities would do almost anything to entice both
to their vicinity, however such prosperity often comes at great costs. Those who live and work in towns such as
Sedona, Arizona and those businesses that serve the community and its visitors must work together to achieve
a balance between economic growth, environmental protection and quality of live.
Red Rock Country has become a major destination for tourist visiting Arizona and desert dwellers wanting
to escape from the extreme temperatures to be found below the Mogollon Rim. Where such tourist and
visitor numbers exist the demands for accomodations must be satisfied. Initially this demand was met by the development
of rental cabins, bed & breakfasts, inns, motels, hotels and then resorts such as Enchantment, Los Abrigados
and later L’Auberge de Sedona. Such a proven market attracted the timeshare industry and resorts began to
be developed by both independents and the major brands.
As of this date, a dozen Timeshare / Vacation Ownership Resorts are in place and several others are under discussion
or consideration. In any market where new timeshare developments exist along with an abundance of tourist / visitor
traffic, marketing will occur. In such communities the majority of this marketing is via what is known in the industry
as OPC (off-premises contact). Unfortunately, in OPC marketing, the compensation plan encourages the operatives
to be very aggressive and this aggressiveness is often offensive to many visitors and/or citizens of the community.
Such was the case in Sedona and in the fall of 2003 the city and the timeshare developers operating in that community
worked out a compromise that curtailed Off-premise contact on the streets of the city and prohibited some verbal
communication from operative to visitor.
As with many efforts to regulate, the vision was better than the actual results and in the spring of 2004 the
city council directed Mike Goimerac the City Attorney to draft revisions to the existing code that
would narrow the gap. Mike enlisted the assistance of Jim Windham Development Services Supervisor
for the city and that of community activists associated with the Sedona-Oak Creek Chamber of Commerce and
the members of the Main Street OPC Taskforce. These stakeholders were intent on producing regulations that
would greatly curtail what they perceived as offensive activities by OPC operatives and deceptive marketing efforts
(especially signage) being used to entice visitors to Red Rock Country into locations to obtain visitor
information.
Members of the local timeshare community served on both the Chamber of Commerce Board and as members
of the Main Street OPC Taskforce, thus those developers that were actively marketing within Red Rock
Country became aware and concerned and asked for a meeting with the City Attorney. Those developers
were ILX, Sunterra, Hyatt, Fairfield and Sedona Springs and they enlisted the assistance of the American
Resort Development Association (ARDA). After meeting with the city representatives and conferring among themselves
these developer representatives determined that the stakeholders representing the City, Chamber and Taskforce
perceived four specific problems. The first was the conduct of the actual OPC operatives that represented them
in the various salutation locations. The second and third were the wording and color of the existing signage being
used to entice visitors into the OPC location. The forth was perceived loopholes in the existing requirements to
identify the location as a place where solicitations for the purpose of selling timeshare was the primary motivation.
It was suggested that OPC operative conduct could be radically adjusted with the development of a code of conduct
or ethics that would be equally enforced by all the marketing entities. Additionally, the marketing stakeholders
believed that the signage verbage and the solicitation issues could be easily corrected, however the color issue
would provide many challenges.
After several subsequent meetings between all the stakeholders (individually and collectively) it became clear
that the entire community would be best served by compromises all around that allowed the timeshare industry to
continue to market via OPC activities in a manner that addressed the concerns of the city, chamber and taskforce,
and allowed Red Rock Country the continued economic benefits coming from a vibrant timeshare presents within
the community. Over the next few days the stakeholders in this effort will (in total unity) present their compromise
plan before a work session of the Sedona Planning and Zoning Commission and to the citizens of the City
of Sedona in an open meeting. The outcome of this effort is yet to be determined, however we are all very optimistic.
FINAL THOUGHT
In any community conflict will occur. That is the nature of the people who make up its human element. Interest,
taste, need, wants and perceptions will vary and sometimes these diversities will meet head-on. At those times
it is the responsibility, and in some instances the duty, of calmer members of that community to step forward and
intervene. It was my pleasure to see this principal in action with the OPC marketing situation in Red Rock Country.
Time and time again, individuals stepped forward and proposed modifications or adjustments, legalese was converted
into layman’s language, and nonessential passages or terms were eliminated. On issues of specific interest, rather
than stonewalling individuals and entities, made concessions. While time was of the essence, all took the time
necessary find common ground first, then to work out differences.
The CEOs of Hyatt, Sunterra, ILX, Fairfield and Sedona Pines should take pride in the work of their associates
charged with the responsibility to represent them at these tables. Likewise, those who are members of the chamber
and the taskforce who were not active in these particular interactions should take great pride in the efforts of
their members who were. The City of Sedona was well served by those staff members (Mike Goimerac and Jim
Windham) who greatly assisted in guiding all through turbulent waters. By and large the individual stakeholders
subverted their personal and business interest for the betterment of the entire community. The only absolute winner
was Red Rock Country and that’s the way it should have been.
George Washington once stated: “It is only after time has been given for cool and deliberate reflection
that the real voice of the people can be known.”
CONGRATULATIONS FOR A JOB WELL DONE!
