Though the information below focuses specifically on the Grant Road project, please consider that precedence will be established. All of us need to be aware of the potential negative impact rezoning changes can have on established neighborhoods if densification isn’t done correctly.
Dear NSN members:
I hope that your neighborhood will consider participating in Public Meetings regarding rezonings. It is important that neighborhood associations get involved, even those not immediately abutting Grant.
The city’s current vision for Grant Road does not include the setbacks, parking, and landscaping buffers currently required for intensive commercial uses. This is a significant departure from current code, and it’s not what the community asked for in the Grant Road planning meetings many of us attended several years ago. The community vision included more landscaping than is required by the current code, not less.
Why this change?
The city is in the process of applying a new approach, called form-based zoning, to arterials and collector streets. Form-based zoning specifies the shape of the building, not the use. Therefore, it is important that new zoning includes setbacks and parking that would be appropriate for intensive uses that generate high-volume vehicular traffic.
Grant Road Rezoning MeetingsFocus area: I-10 & Main AveWednesday, February 29th5:30 – 7:30 p.m.Ward Three Office1510 E Grant RoadTucson, AZ 85719Focus area: Stone & Country ClubMonday, March 5th5:30 – 7:30 p.m.Salpointe High School Cafeteria1545 East Copper StreetTucson, AZ 85719***There will be additional meetings scheduled for points east of Country Club.
Protect existing neighborhoods, do densification the right way.
This Grant Road effort and my call for neighborhood involvement in specifying details is very much in line with one of our shared regional values as identified through Imagine Greater Tucson: Appropriate infill development or redevelopment that is sensitive to protecting existing neighborhoods.
If we don’t stand up now, we can expect Campbell, Euclid, Stone, Speedway, Sixth, Broadway, every block along the modern streetcar route, and some of the nearby collector streets, to get the same treatment that Grant is currently getting.
Our City Council has for years made clear their support for densification along arterials and collectors. Densification is coming to your neighborhood, probably sooner rather than later. We need to send the message that densification must be done right, with adequate setbacks, parking, landscape buffers, stair-stepping of building height adjacent to neighborhoods and pedestrian ways, etc.
Tall buildings, zero setbacks, inadequate parking, and a massively wide Grant Road are about as pedestrian-unfriendly and as disrespectful of the community as it gets.
We must speak out now or forever live with the consequences of our passivity.
Sincerely,
Diana Lett
Treasurer & Co-Chair, Neighborhood Preservation Committee
Feldman’s Neighborhood Association