Proposed zoning changes could alter development in Tucson

The Tucson City Council will soon consider a set of zoning code changes that could promote infill development while removing bureaucratic hurdles that often hinder housing construction.

Last June, mayor and council discussed common issues they hear from constituents when working with the Planning and Development Services Department, or PDSD, which grants building permits and ensures compliance with the city’s various zoning and land use codes, including slow processing times that don’t keep up with the speed of business.

The council’s discussion came with directions to improve the city’s Unified Development Code, the text that determines zoning regulations throughout Tucson.

After nine months of public outreach and interdepartmental coordination, PDSD will present a package of seven amendments to the zoning code for mayor and council to consider at its March 7 meeting.

The Planning Commission, a 12-member body appointed by the mayor and council charged with advising them on development-related regulations, reviewed the recommended changes. They include minimizing parking requirements to maximize a lot’s capacity for housing, fixing code provisions that diminish the ability to build townhouses and changing the rules that determine buildings’ setbacks.

After Tuesday’s discussion, the City Council is set to hold a public hearing on March 21 and vote on officially adopting the changes.

“What we’re trying to do is streamline the code so that there are not as many unnecessary processes where we see regulations that we don’t see are adding benefits anymore to our community,” said Koren Manning, Tucson’s planning administrator. “One of the components of this package is to reduce barriers to small-scale infill, and that’s the type of development we’ve really heard people want more of.”

Code changes

Bill Mackey, a local architect, said he wasn’t able to proceed with four housing projects he began planning in 2022 due to the city’s parking requirements for multifamily dwellings — a type of housing supply Tucson is in dire need of as prices rise and supply runs low.

The city’s zoning code currently requires the number of parking spaces in multifamily housing projects to align with the number of bedrooms in a unit. For a three-bedroom unit, at least two parking spaces are required. The proposed change from PDSD is to instead tie the parking requirement to the number of units so that only one parking space would be required per unit.

The proposal would also amend current requirements that mandate certain amounts of space for vehicle maneuverability to pull out of parking spaces, which takes up more room on housing lots. If adopted, the zoning change would allow some developments to configure parking so cars can pull out onto streets or alleyways as a space-saving measure.

“It costs more money to make a parking lot than it does to just make a place for a car to sit, which is the difference between single-family residents and three units,” Mackey said. If the proposed parking changes were in effect last year, he said, he would have been able to build his housing projects.

The package of changes also includes a provision that would allow developers to build townhomes, which usually consist of single-family homes attached by a shared side wall.

The current code requires individual property lines to be spaced at least six feet apart, a rule that “restricts the development of townhomes unless a special approval process is used,” Manning said. The change suggests removing the required space to allow construction of attached single-family homes.

Daniel Bursuck, the principal planner of PDSD, told the Planning Commission the change could facilitate a type of “missing middle housing” in the region that provides more “home size and cost options for people” while “allowing more efficient use of space on sites.”

Developers also run into issues maximizing lot spaces when setbacks are taken into consideration. Currently, the height of a building is directly tied to the distance a building can be from the perimeter of a lot, also known as the building’s setback. PDSD says the rule “limits developable area” and “leads to unpredictable and poor walking conditions.”

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The code change would standardize setback requirements along major streets, with the type of development — residential or nonresidential — becoming the determining factor for a setback instead of building height. The current consideration is to make the setback for non-residential areas 10 feet, and 20 feet for residential areas on major streets and routes throughout the city.

Sharayah Jimenez provides architectural services through her company CUADRO Design, which focuses on small projects and infill development. In her experience with the city’s code, she said, “the setbacks that we have in Tucson really, more than anything, make it almost impossible for you to ever actually max out your underlying zoning.”

“On a typical residential lot, there is usually enough space to easily add two to four homes, but by the time the parking and setback requirements are added in, the buildable area is greatly reduced,” Jimenez said. “This means fewer housing units are able to be produced, which contributes to the housing shortage.”

Problems continue

While both Mackey and Jimenez support the code changes that promote infill, both also report difficulty working with PDSD as progress lags with low response times and limited access to resources.

After City Council discussed the department’s issues in June, it authorized hiring 14 more full-time employees and spending $250,000 to digitize many of the department’s records that are currently stored on microfiche, creating difficulty retrieving important documents.

Digitizing all the department’s records could take up to five years to complete, said PDSD Deputy Director Lynne Birkinbine. And while the department has hired 13 of the 14 authorized positions, it can take about a year for new employees to be properly trained on the complicated processes built into the city’s codes.

Turnover is also an issue. The department currently has 17 vacancies, a decline from the 15 vacancies it reported during the council discussion last June.

And while resources are scarce, demand has not slowed. Birkinbine said volumes have doubled since the pandemic, and PDSD is using outside contractors to conduct building code compliance reviews.

To help streamline the permitting process, the city launched an online permitting system called TDC Online that acts as a database between PDSD, Tucson Fire, Tucson Water, Transportation and Mobility and Code Enforcement. The idea is that anyone can see what part of the process a permit is in, from the initial plan review to more complicated water infrastructure needs.

Since the system launched on Oct. 31, it’s seen its fair share of hiccups. Jimenez said she had a variety of issues with 12 projects on the system that did not automatically move through the correct workflow. Birkinbine said she’s aware of some of the technical issues with the system and runs training classes on the program every other week.

“When we launched (TDC Online), like most launches, it wasn’t perfect, we had some glitches. I always liken it to when you go to the doctor, and they switch systems on you, and you suddenly have to give them the same information all over again,” Birkinbine said. “We aren’t totally done yet, and we’ll keep on improving our system from there.”

Both Jimenez and Mackey said they understand the short-staffing issues compounding PDSD’s issues and that the department’s doing its best through a tough transition process. They hope, however, proposed zoning changes lead to a city code that keeps up with the need for housing without as many hurdles to develop it.

“I actually think the biggest hurdle is the the zoning code, it’s not the people that have to enforce it,” Mackey said.