Casita rules, sales taxes, and more

The public had a lot to say about new zoning rules ... Time for a shelter database ... Big mistake in Tucson public works projects.

Taking six months to make a decision might not sound rushed, but for a government body it’s lightning speed.

Thanks to state laws passed this summer, the City of Tucson has to overhaul its zoning rules for casitas by January 1. If city officials don’t satisfy the new requirements by then, they must allow casitas in every corner of residential area in the city.

The next step in the process, which we laid out for you last month, is coming up tomorrow when the Tucson City Council holds a public hearing on proposed new rules for casitas (formally known as accessory dwelling units, or ADUs).

Zoning for casitas is a touchy subject. City officials were taking a deliberate, step-by-step approach as they considered how to handle rules for casitas, before this summer’s state laws sped up the process and added new requirements.

Relaxing the rules would be a godsend for residents who see casitas as a way to solve the housing crisis, want to earn extra cash by renting out a casita or two, or would like their elderly relatives to move in.

But others see relaxing the rules as an invitation to turn quiet streets into raucous tourist areas or drastically change the look of a neighborhood.

So while city officials have hustled to tweak the rules for casitas over the past few months, they’ve also been reaching out to the public to hear what they have to say.

City staff broke down the differences between Tucson’s current rules and new state requirements.

The proposed changes to Tucson’s zoning rules include:¹

• Double the number of casitas allowed on a residential lot from one to two. A third is allowed if it’s affordable housing.

• Double the height of a casita so it can match that of a single-family home, generally 25 feet.

• No parking requirements

• Casitas can be built in front yards.

• Casitas can be up to 75% the size of the primary structure on the lot.

• The exterior design of a casita does not have to match the primary structure.

City staff already got a lot of feedback from the public about the proposed changes.

• The city should disregard the “preponderance of NIMBY public comments” from retirees, Nicole Sanderson wrote.² The city should “do what is right and remove maximum barriers to ADU building, above and beyond what the state is requiring.”

• Allowing two casitas on a single residential lot is the “stupidest thing I’ve heard yet,” Catherine Grossman wrote. City lots are usually small and adding casitas would “crowd people” and add to the heat-island effect, she wrote.

• Peter Williams of the San Carlos Neighborhood Association said loosening zoning rules “risks unwanted consequences and perverse results, such as flooding the market with short-term rentals instead of long-term housing.” The city should comply with state law, “while simultaneously underscoring an appropriate level of self-determination for neighborhoods.”

• Diana Lett of the Feldman’s Neighborhood Association warned against “stealth densification” and urged city officials to consider the strain on utilities and aging sewer infrastructure.

The “roost” casita design submitted in the city’s design competition.

City officials addressed some of the specific questions raised by members of the public in a memo to the council.

• Asking for permission: Under the new rules, casitas would be permitted by right. There would be no requirement for zoning changes or public hearings.

• Mini-dorms: Residents were worried casitas would end up being mini-dorms in the area near the UA. The city says state law limits how they can regulate casitas based on occupancy or behavior.

• Short-term rentals: The city is allowed to require owner occupancy for short-term rentals, but officials say it would be hard to enforce.

• Private agreements: The new state laws do not supersede covenants, conditions and requirements.

• Historic preservation: Review is still required in Historic Preservation Zones, but the city can’t require that a casita’s appearance match that of the principal structure.

If you want to tell the council what you think about casita rules, you can fill out this form on the city’s website.

You can watch tomorrow’s Tucson City Council meeting on the city’s YouTube channel. The council’s study session starts at 1:30 and the regular meeting (with the casita rules on the agenda) starts at 5:30.

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Zoning. It’s where people bump up against each other in the civic world. NIMBYs, YIMBYs, developers, historical associations, everybody has a hand in zoning. And we love covering it.

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The council also will get an update on what the city is doing to combat homelessness. One issue the city is trying to figure out is how to get real-time data on shelter availability. Right now, outreach staff have to make several phone calls to find out whether beds are available and who a shelter will accept. If they coordinate better, the city could create a database that shows whether beds are available at any given moment, staff wrote in a memo.

Local voters will decide next November whether to approve a 20-year, multi-billion dollar sales tax to fund transportation projects. The Regional Transportation Authority board approved a target date for the election in November 2025, city staff wrote in a memo to the council. The RTA board also started formal public outreach on a draft RTA Next plan. The board hired a consultant to get “balanced feedback” that shows the geographic and demographic diversity of the region, with an emphasis on underrepresented and hard-to-reach groups.

City of Tucson officials also are gearing up to ask voters to approve a sales tax next year, in March. At tomorrow’s meeting, they’re going to set up the oversight system for how that money would be spent, what they’re calling the “Safe and Vibrant City: Tax Oversight Commission” and a Truth in Taxation policy. That means if the city wants to move around the sales tax revenue, which right now is heavy on public safety, the commission has to take a look at the reasons why the change is needed, the city has to hold a public hearing, and then the council has to vote on it.

The city has been looking into switching up how electricity is provided to city residents, as a way to combat the effects of climate change. They hired GDS Associates to conduct an “Energy Sourcing Study” to explore establishing a municipal utility, adopting community choice aggregation, microgrids, and other issues. The city’s Commission on Climate, Energy, and Sustainability will take a look at the study’s scope on Friday.

Obama comes to town: More than 7,000 people turned out on Friday to hear former President Barack Obama rally support for Vice President Kamala Harris on the University of Arizona campus, the Tucson Sentinel’s Natalie Robbins, Paul Ingram, and Ruby McKeown report. Obama hammered former President Donald Trump’s character and said the audience probably would worry about their grandfather if he acted like Trump has in his campaign.

“No, no, I'm not joking, you would, right?” Obama added. “You'd call up your cousins and you'd say, 'Have you noticed?'”

Vance inbound: As polls show Harris and Trump in a tight race in Arizona, the parade of high-profile politicians continues this week when vice presidential candidate JD Vance returns to Tucson, this time for a rally at the Pima County Fairgrounds tomorrow evening, the Arizona Republic's Stephanie Murray reports.

From Tucson Mayor Regina Romero’s newsletter.

Dodging the question: Tucson-area state Senate candidate Vince Leach was coy when asked whether he thought Haitian immigrants were eating people's pets in Ohio, a bit of nonsense spouted by Vance, the Arizona Daily Star's Ellie Wolfe reports. Leach joked about it at a local Log Cabin Republican meeting last month. When pressed, he said he “didn’t know for sure” and pivoted the interview to issues like pronoun usage and civics education.

You’ve been served: The deputy who Sheriff Chris Nanos suspended is filing a lawsuit against Nanos in federal court, KVOA's Chorus Nylander reports. Sgt. Aaron Cross, who was suspended and put under a gag order alongside Lt. Heather Lappin, the Republican candidate running against Nanos, says Nanos violated Cross’ civil rights by silencing him during the last days of a political campaign.

Eeesh: After workers dug through several known archaeological sites, Tucson officials said they paused work at Christopher Columbus Park and a water utility on Silverbell Road, the Star's Henry Brean reports. The city’s “breakdowns” in communication led officials to dig up 118 truckloads of dirt from an area where Native American remains were later found and transport it to the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation, where it was used as fill material for a housing development.

Truth in advertising: All those political ads you're seeing have a lot of wild claims in them. Arizona Public Media’s Zac Ziegler and Steve Jess dissect one that targeted Kirsten Engel, the Democratic candidate in Congressional District 6. The reporters couldn’t help themselves after they saw the ad had “factcheckthisad.com” on it. It should come as no surprise that many of the claims in the ad weren’t exactly made in good faith.

68,014: Ballots returned by Pima County voters as of October 19. For a brief moment, younger voters had the edge in turnout, but that edge has disappeared as older voters once again dominate.

1. For those of you with more technical or legal knowledge, you can read the legalese of the changes in the proposed ordinance.

2. The form used by the city made it look like Sanderson was speaking on behalf of a neighborhood association, which we included in the newsletter. She reached out to the Agenda and made clear she was only speaking for herself.