Sedona's "Red Rock Country" character is protected by two layered systems:
the city's view-corridor design ordinance (citywide) and individual
HOA architectural review. Together they make tile color selection harder
than any other Northern Arizona market.
The view-corridor ordinance (citywide)
Sedona's design ordinance §16-7 caps roof color reflectance and requires
"earth-tone harmony" with the surrounding sandstone. In practice this
means:
- No pure whites, blacks, blues, or greens — even if the underlying
tile is unglazed.
- Solar reflectance index 25 or below for full-tile installations.
- Matte finish required — glazed tile is rejected outright.
Sedona's planning department reviews ALL roof permits, not just HOA-
governed ones. A roof permit pulled by your contractor goes through this
review automatically; the typical turnaround is 2-3 weeks.
HOA palettes that override the city baseline
Seven Sedona HOAs maintain their own architectural guidelines on top of
the city ordinance:
- Oak Creek Cliffs — Eagle "Cedar Brown" or "Saxony Tile Blend" only
- Sedona Heights — Boral "Saxony 600" in Brown or Adobe
- Pinon Woods — Eagle "Sahara" or "Sedona Slate" (literally named
for the area)
- Chapel Heights — Custom-blend approved on case-by-case
- Sedona Pines — Concrete tile in earth tones, no clay
- Sedona Vista — Limited to 5 specific Eagle SKUs
- Coconino Forest Estates — Eagle "Mission" or Boral "Cottage"
blends only
What gets rejected most often
From 14 Sedona contractor interviews:
- Bright terra cotta — too saturated; reads as orange against the
sandstone backdrop. The city ordinance specifically calls out
"candy-bright" colors as non-compliant.
- Dark grays + blacks — block solar reflectance + read as "industrial"
against natural rock.
- Mixed-blend tiles with high contrast — even if individual tiles
are approved colors, a blend that creates strong striping reads as
"non-harmonious" and gets kicked back.
Pricing impact
Sedona's color restrictions narrow the available SKU pool, which drives
prices up. Expect:
| Tile type | Sedona-compliant | Open-market AZ |
|-----------|------------------|-----------------|
| Concrete (Eagle) | $4.85-$5.40/sq ft | $4.10-$4.75/sq ft |
| Clay (Boral) | $7.20-$8.40/sq ft | $6.40-$7.50/sq ft |
Plan for ~12-15% more than the rest of Yavapai County for the same
square footage.
Submission timeline
- Sample request to your tile distributor — 5-7 business days
- City pre-application review — 5 business days
- HOA submission (if applicable) — 2-4 weeks depending on HOA
meeting schedule
- City building permit — 2-3 weeks after HOA approval
- Order + delivery — 4-6 weeks for special-order Sedona blends
Total: budget 10-14 weeks from "I want to re-roof" to "tile on the
truck." Start early.
Find a Sedona-experienced contractor
Match with vetted Sedona roofers → — we filter for contractors
with documented Sedona view-corridor + HOA approvals in the last 18
months. Skip the "they don't know the local code" tax.