City officials are working to get the word out about a proposed zoning update that aims to transform unused spaces into homes and communities by providing flexibility to developers and incentivizing different types of projects.

A recent housing needs assessment study found that while Tucson faces a shortage of 8,000 homes, projections show that number will grow by another 35,000 by 2035. The new Community Corridors Tool seeks to address that shortage.

But some community members are concerned that the updates open the door for multi-story apartment complexes to be built on virtually every undeveloped lot, if the developer will agree to meet a few requirements.

A drive around Tucson will turn up plenty of unused spaces, including abandoned buildings and large, vacant parking lots. The spaces represent untapped opportunities for the community, but current zoning laws make it difficult to transform them into housing and neighborhoods, Planning Administrator Dan Bursuck said in a promotional video for the tool.

Regulations that limit building height, restrict density, and set high parking requirements make it easier to build a car wash or self-storage facility than to create new housing or mixed-use developments on many of these sites, according to Bursuck.

The tool is designed to allow for diverse housing types, create bikeable, walkable streets, and regulate parking location and access. The city's goal with the tool is to remove barriers to affordable housing, promote transit-oriented development that supports the city's climate action goals, simplify redevelopment of vacant lots, and update zoning to make it easier to build different types of housing.

Outreach efforts for the draft of proposed changes began last fall and have included public meetings, study sessions, an online survey, virtual and in-person office hours, town halls, and more.

During a Ward 3 town hall earlier this month, a few dozen community members turned out to learn more about the tool in advance of the final plan’s presentation to the mayor and council.

Officials with the Planning and Development Services Department said the tool isn’t a change in zoning laws but rather an “overlay” that developers can use for projects. It includes all streets, from “arterial” roads, including Speedway and Grant, to “collector” streets that pass through neighborhoods, like Pima or Columbus.

“The policy documents we have, like Plan Tucson and Tucson Resilient Together, they all essentially create a vision and a plan for the city,” Bursuck said during the town hall. “Our zoning code was developed in the (1960s), so it is very auto-centric.”

The tool creates flexibility for developers in exchange for incentives like wider sidewalks or extra building height. Developers using the tool will be allotted extra building height if they meet certain requirements, like providing 20% affordable housing, maintaining historic properties, or providing a mix of commercial uses on the ground floor of buildings.

Developers are allowed one extra story per incentive, with a maximum building height of six stories, or 75 feet.

Councilman Kevin Dahl, who represents Ward 3, said he hasn’t taken a position on the tool yet since it’s still in the community engagement phase.

“This is an opportunity for residents to see the presentation and ask questions to be more informed,” said Dahl. “Impacts on neighborhoods are what residents have been concerned about. Developers deal with the planning terminology all the time, and because they use this language, it is harder to get residents updated.”

The town hall was an opportunity for residents to address concerns and hear more from city officials about the project. 

“I’ve been very concerned about it, and there hasn’t been much publicity about it, so many people are unaware that this will be happening,” Ward 6 resident Meg Johnson told Tucson Spotlight. “The CCT is going to be impacting every neighborhood within Tucson because they are making flexible zoning changes on every collector and arterial street in the city limits.”

Johnson said she also has concerns about the language used in the city’s messaging about the tool.

“They don’t call it rezoning, but it is,” she said. “It’s a change in development standards, and buildings could be up to six stories if they take advantage of the incentives.”

Johnson complained that there aren’t enough neighborhood notifications about projects, saying that no resident should find out that a four-story building is being constructed next to them when their neighborhood is zoned for only three stories.

“We had an incident with rezoning recently. The developer had to contact the neighbors, which was good, but it was a two-story building right next to a house with balconies looking right into someone's backyard,” Johnson said. “Because it was a rezoning and the neighbors were notified, they talked to the developer and changed the design plans so the design wouldn’t look down into her yard.”

Johnson said she had no trust that developers using the CCT would be considerate of neighbors and think about the impact of a building on the neighborhood.

She also shared her concerns in an opinion piece published by the Arizona Daily Star, writing that state law prohibits cities from requiring developers to include affordable housing in their plans.

She wrote that the Community Corridor Tool cannot guarantee that more affordable housing will actually be built.

The city’s planning commission is hosting a public hearing on the tool Wednesday at 6 p.m. The hearing can be attended in person at the Mayor and Council Chambers (255 W. Alameda St.) or online via Zoom. An agenda and support materials can be found online.

There will be another public hearing on the tool during one of the mayor and council meetings next month.

Colton Allder is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact him at callder1995@arizona.edu.

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