An Open Letter to Mayor Jonathan Rothschild Regarding the Overlay Ordinance (Tucson Weekly Article) “As I read through the new ordinance, it struck me that it could easily have been written by developers”…Click on title for rest of this telling piece by Cathleen Shirley.
Many core neighborhoods are on fire to see West University Neighborhood succeed in their petition drive to repeal what they see as a dangerous precedent for the debut of UOD re-zoning in Tucson. An understanding is setting in as to why the current public process hasn’t worked. The Main Gate UOD is Tucson’s debut for what is essentially a new tool for planners to insert large tracts of re-zoning along main roads and within targeted or “blighted” areas. This inaugural effort gives away the farm for a corporate plan. Several other UOD’s are lined up at the gate to also be adopted. Tucson needs to get this one right. Sending Tucson’s first UOD to ballot box is a citizen process. It is a difficult and challenging way to exercise a voice, but necessary if we want this to be for Tucson. Let’s hope the Mayor and Council appreciate its constituents for taking the heat off of them and asking the questions they couldn’t.
Bill Ford
Urban University Interface.com 