Archive for April, 2012
Street Car Construction Schedule
Posted in Modern Street Car on April 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »
UA-Area High-Rise Wins First Court Challenge
Posted in Uncategorized on April 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »
View – UA-area high-rise clears legal hurdle
“That’s not to say the petitioners haven’t been heard by the City Council”, said City Attorney Mike Rankin. “The council wants to engage the neighborhoods affected by the project”. Potential changes to the ordinance could be presented in a public hearing May 8th, 5:30PM @ the Mayor and Council Chambers, 255 W Alameda. Come voice your pro and cons on the design tweaks.
Judge Gordon’s Ruling
Posted in Main Gate UOD on April 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »
View a PDF copy of Judge Richard Gordon’s April 27th ruling for the City on their rejection of West University’s petitions to repeal the Main Gate UOD – RULING
An appeal was filed April 30th, 2012 in the Court of Appeals. The case is heading to the Arizona Supreme Court
Land Use Code Simplification Project
Posted in Land Use Code on April 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Tucson Overlays Challenged by City Residents
Posted in Edges and Overlays, Main Gate UOD on April 24, 2012| 1 Comment »
As West University and the City of Tucson fight their first court battle over the validity of petition signatures, planning officials are hearing a quick redo of the northwest corner of the Main Gate Urban Overlay District (UOD) at council chambers on April 25th, 6:30PM. A verdict on West University’s court case is also due on the 25th. View the PDF file of West University’s update by Ford Burkhart: Referendum Court Case
In parallel efforts, the Broadway Coalition is battling the 71 million dollar RTA funded Broadway Corridor. Rincon Heights, Sam Hughes, El Encanto and other neighborhoods impacted by widening have been fighting its costly and destructive impact. View a PDF copy of the Broadway Coalition’s Statement. View also Steve Kozachik’s Press Conference Statement, and attend on April 30th @ 6Pm @ the First Assembly of God Church – Broadway and Campbell. Public Invited. Another RTA funded project; the Grant Road Widening between Oracle and Swan has a UOD component to deal with re-zoning. Jefferson Park is opting out of the UOD because of a lack of the right planning. Others will follow.
A theme with residents is a demand for more than a name on sign-in sheets. They want real input and major neighborhood focus. Maybe Tucson could look at Jaime Lerner, former 12 year mayor of Curitiba who turned the Brazilian City around to become emblematic of real “best practice urban design”. Lerner says 3 driving factors for success is mobility, sustainability and identity; things that Tucson struggles with. Curitiba worked because of the vision and commitment that Lerner was able to give. How does Tucson do this? How does Tucson find a balance with its neighborhoods.
Developer Lists Possible Damages From Zoning Delay
Posted in Main Gate UOD on April 16, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Developer Lists $21 Million Possible Damages From Zoning Delay in Posner’s Block Hi-Rise. Ford Burkhart Download PDF for article here CA Damages
Should the Neighborhoods back the Main Gate project?
Posted in Conversations, Infill, Main Gate UOD, Modern Street Car on April 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Click here to read: Neighborhood association ought to back Main Gate project, by Robert Lanning, Architect. Published by the Daily Star. Here are some other points to consider: An edge / transition strategy is necessary. It is missing. One way it can happen is with a sub-regional downtown / U of A master plan that outlines what is coming so neighborhoods know what kind of final input they need to be prepared to engage in. The MGD skirts this. It is a fast track style re-zoning which is developer driven. If the project is like the $35 million dollar“Vue on Apache” in Tempe, Neighborhoods might have reservations. Not only is neighborhood input necessary in driving our best urban planning but to imply neighborhoods can not be part of a plan omits a key part of the picture. Watching the frustration of developers and neighborhoods year after year speaks for itself. Many agree that the transition is or should be the stretch of property just east of Euclid, but what does it look like? Are there plazas, hard-scape, sidewalks, trees and base development of low masses, including some of the fine historic structures creating the idea of being walkable and pedestrian friendly. A good transition insures this and when you look at historical structures that might be part of this, you have to see beyond the weeds. Map courtesty of WUNA.
Josh Brodesky: Opposition by 12,000 underlies the overlay
Posted in Main Gate UOD, Politics and Editorials on April 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »
The April 1st Sunday Star features a key moment in a referendum initiative by West University Neighborhood. After celebrating in front of City Hall, the initiative ran into an anticipated brick wall at the clerks office as this citizen’s tool for process was not very well received by the City Attorney’s office. View Josh Brodesky: Opposition by 12,000 underlies the overlay. Since Josh wrote this update, roughly 6,000 of the signatures were disqualified on a very minor clerical technicality which had no bearing on the quality and intent of the signatures, as West University painstakingly followed every rule. Photo shows clerk rejecting petitions. Stay tuned for whats next. Here are some recent updates from April 2nd: Josh Brodesky, Daily Star → Fox 11 News
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Bill Ford
Urban University Interface.com 