Voters in Tucson have the chance to weigh in on Proposition 417 in the Nov. 4 local elections.
Unlike many propositions, the ballot measure would not raise taxes or pass any new laws. Instead, it asks voters to adopt Tucson’s general plan, also known as Plan Tucson.
General plans are non-binding documents that provide roadmaps for development and propose future policies. Arizona law requires cities with a population over 50,000 to adopt general plans every 10 years.
Plan Tucson was adopted by the Tucson City Council on June 3. It must be approved by voters to go into effect.
The plan emerged from a multi-year public outreach process, said Koren Manning, the city’s Director of Planning and Development Services. It included forums, tabling, online surveys and longer-term working groups. The outreach process reached over 4,000 people, according to estimates in the plan’s executive summary.
Manning told AZPM that housing emerged as a key theme.
“That has been elevated in our community as a top priority,” she said. “Housing affordability and housing diversity.”
City hopes to balance types of housing growth, planning official says.##
Tucson will grow by over 20,000 people by 2035, the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity projects. Satisfying that growth, as well as existing demand, will require about 35,000 new units of housing, Plan Tucson estimates.
The plan influences where that housing will go thanks to its future land use map, which it calls a Future Growth Scenario Map. Generally, developments that align with cities’ land use maps have fewer permitting hurdles to clear than those that don’t.
Manning said the city is going for a “balanced” approach between three types of housing growth.
In one, higher-density housing would grow along Tucson’s major thoroughfares: “more mixed-use developments on our corridors, more transit-oriented developments on our corridors, like Speedway, Grant, 22nd,” Manning said.
Compared to Tucson’s last general plan in 2013, the new map designates longer stretches of Tucson’s major streets as mixed-use areas. That includes Broadway Boulevard between Country Club Road and Swan Road, Golf Links Road between Wilmot Road and Kolb Road and most of 22nd Street between Campbell Avenue and Alvernon Way.
The second type of growth would fill gaps in neighborhoods: “looking at where we have vacant lots and seeing how those can be turned into more housing,” Manning said.
The third would see low-density suburban neighborhoods spread out from Tucson’s southern edge, especially along Houghton Road and south of Interstate 10.
“There’s a lot of opportunity for residential development in those areas, and we want to allow that,” Manning said.
Manning said Plan Tucson mostly follows existing zoning and land use designations adopted by area and neighborhood plans, rather than imposing new land use changes from the top.
Manning said the city waited for the COVID-19 pandemic to abate before beginning the Plan Tucson outreach process, explaining the 12-year period since the last plan’s passage.
Plan Tucson includes 14 broad goals for city’s future.##
Plan Tucson also sets the following goals for Tucson’s future:
+ Foster Inclusive, Transparent, Efficient, and Equitable City Governance + Support the Development of an Equitable Community + Be a Leader in Carbon Reduction and Resiliency to Extreme Heat and Climate Impacts + Improve Health, Wellness, and Safety Across the Community + Expand Affordable and Accessible Housing Options + Expand Access to Quality Education for All Ages and Abilities + Promote the Responsible Management and Use of Water + Promote a Clean Community and Reduce the Harmful Effects of Pollutants in Our Environment + Preserve, Protect, and Enhance Natural Ecosystems + Preserve and Protect the City’s Unique Historic and Archaeological Resources + Foster and Promote Tucson’s Arts, Culture, and Heritage + Strengthen the Local and Regional Economy to Provide Opportunities for All Tucsonans to Thrive + Expand and Improve Access to High-Quality Transportation Choices, Enhance Safety, and Improve the Condition of City Streets and Other Infrastructure + Ensure Comprehensive and Inclusive Land Use Planning for a Well-Designed, Vibrant Community
Manning said the goals reflect Tucsonans’ wishes, as collected during the plan’s engagement process. There are almost 200 proposed policies spread between the goals.
“Those policies are really meant to be guiding policies for our Mayor and Council,” she said.
The policy recommendations run a wide gamut. They include deconstructing, rather than demolishing, old buildings to recycle their materials; creating a publicly-accessible repository of city planning documents; and reducing light pollution.
At least one local political figure is against Plan Tucson. Janet “JL” Wittenbraker, the Republican candidate in next week’s Ward 3 City Council election, denounced the plan in a social media post Monday, arguing that it “imposes a top-down climate agenda while sidestepping the pressing issues of crime, homelessness, and poverty.”
“Prop 417 promotes ‘transit-oriented development’ and ‘affordable housing’—terms that often translate to denser, government-controlled neighborhoods with less parking and fewer options for drivers. This so-called 15-minute-city model prioritizes bicycles and buses over the needs of families and commuters. Tucsonans deserve the freedom to choose how they live, not mandates dictated by ideological experiments,” she wrote.
