Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for February, 2012

Neighborhoods Protest Main Gate UOD

Posted in Conversations, Main Gate UOD, Politics and Editorials, Preservation on February 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Locals protest Main Gate plan, building criteria – Arizona Daily Wildcat   

Read Full Post »

The Streetcar’s Zoning Zig Zag

Posted in Edges and Overlays, Infill, Modern Street Car on February 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The Tucson Modern Streetcar, now slated to begin running in early 2013.  Read about zoning headaches and transition issues along the route in Zocalo Magazine’s  The Streetcar’s Zoning Zig Zag, published in December 2011.    Get more information in the official website of the Tucson Modern Streetcar.

Read Full Post »

Sacrifice Zone

Posted in Edges and Overlays, Modern Street Car on February 14, 2012| 1 Comment »

Sacrifice Zone,Tucson Weekly 2/9/12.  The Tucson Weekly quotes several neighborhood and historical leaders on the potential impact of a new transition zone called the Main Gate District.  This is a new overlay which is part of a growing collection of proposed overlay plans called UODs.  This amounts to an up-zoning of targeted properties to answer to pressure for development.  UODs (Urban Overlay Districts) are increasingly relied upon by the University, the RTA, developers and our city planners.   The first, was the Infill Incentive District (IID) in 2006 which can have its own sub-districts, like the Downtown Core District (DCD).  It enabled The District student housing project which is a 5 story housing compound in the West University Neighborhood.  The Main Gate District and the DowntownLINKS are two UODs pending final approval that can significantly impact U of A and downtown neighborhoods and edge development.  Future UOD’s can include the street car linkage, Fourth Avenue, and all RTA funded widening projects along arterial streets.  This appears to be the future of planning that presents a huge challenge for neighborhoods.   Read more about the Main Gate District in the Daily Wildcat.   To see where the MGD started.  You might also recall two articles in the  Arizona Daily Star about the genesis of the MGD:   November 2011 /  December 2011

Read Full Post »

Group Dwellings; AKA Mini-Dorms and “R” Zoning

Posted in Preservation on February 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“The clarification we’re poised to adopt will make it clear that the prohibition against Group Dwellings stands, because Group Dwellings stress the infrastructure and community fabric of low- and moderate-density neighborhoods.” K. Uhlich, Ward 3

Read more  The Official Website for Ward 3, Tucson, Arizona.  

“In an effort to find a middle ground, representatives of the building community and the neighborhoods met and hammered out some deal points. Those came before us, and before you all in the form of the public hearing we held.”  S. Kozachik, Ward 6

AMENDMENT LINK Group Dwelling Amendment (as of 2/7/12)

Read Full Post »