[Source: Daily Star] -- Members of the City Council must give serious thought to how they want Tucson's neighborhoods to evolve. With the area's population growing and the amount of usable land diminishing, it will take a sensitive eye and a creative hand to blend the old with the new in a manner that enhances urban living. We saw the beginning of this shift in urban design in recent months as city planning officials grappled with a controversial attempt to limit the creation of "mini-dorms" in neighborhoods near the University of Arizona. The conflicts are a reflection of shifting demographics and changing economics. The noise and activity level in neighborhoods adjacent to the university inevitably changed as the student population grew to roughly 40,000. The neighborhoods also changed because the university is a ripe market for retailers and for those who own rental property. Some property owners built additions and larger homes that ended up being, in essence, miniature dorms. These places don't violate existing zoning regulations, but they change the character of older and once-tranquil neighborhoods where most homes were owner-occupied.
More students crammed into mini-dorms meant more late-night parties, more noise, more cars competing for limited parking, and a qualitative change in the ambience of the area. Absentee landlords raked in rent and were happy, while residents living in owner-occupied homes grew increasing unhappy. The city's initial remedy was to create an amendment to the land-use code that would create an "overlay" zone. It essentially said that existing zoning for a neighborhood would remain unchanged, but within a portion of a neighborhood the residents could choose to establish different conditions governing, for example, architectural styles or the size of setbacks (the distances between the property line and a structure). In a way, the overlay zone would create a village within a village. That change ran into problems because initially the process of creating the overlay zone, or Neighborhood Preservation Zone, NPZ, could be launched if only 25 percent of the property owners signed a petition requesting it. The residents could not establish the NPZ with 25 percent, but that amount allowed them to begin the process that might lead to one. The City Council would have the final say. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]
