We support Accessory Dwelling Units in Tucson—Join us in encouraging the City to do the same
Image: drawings of six different configurations of Accessory Dwelling Units
Tucson Mayor Romero and City Council have been exploring an amendment to the Unified Development Code that could make it easy to establish Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)—often referred to as casitas or granny-flats—in Tucson.
We recently submitted a letter of support to Mayor and Council outlining why we support ADUs for Tucson. This is an important opportunity for our community as a whole. Here’s what we had to say:
Dear Mayor Romero and members of the City Council,
I am writing today, on behalf of Living Street Alliance, to express our firm support for the proposed Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) code amendment to the Unified Development Code. We believe that ADUs would be a positive addition to our existing housing stock in Tucson for a number of reasons.
We are in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis partly driven by increased demand and limited supply. ADU’s would allow for more housing options within the City of Tucson and could help create more affordable units in neighborhoods that are otherwise unattainable to people whose incomes are not high enough to afford the larger dwellings. Permitting ADUs more extensively across Tucson would also be a mechanism to support multi-generational living for families, “aging in place” for older adults, and other flexible arrangements for people whose needs are not adequately met by our existing housing options.
About a year ago, Tucson Mayor and Council adopted a resolution to declare a climate emergency and call for carbon neutrality by 2030. Working at the intersection of social justice, climate change, public health, and community development, Living Streets Alliance promotes improved and expanded multi-modal transportation options, which is vital to addressing climate change. In addition to providing an alternative to sprawl and greenfield development, ADU’s allow for increased density through small-scale infill development, which in turn supports multi-modal transportation and walkable neighborhood destinations. Additionally, this type of urban infill does not require new streets and has the potential to create more vibrant alleys fostering neighborhood connections.
For these reasons, among others, I encourage you to adopt the proposed code amendment to open up possibilities for new ADUs to be built while creating an avenue for the existing casitas to be brought up to code that would make them more suitable for long-term dwellings (as opposed to short-term rentals) once they’re equipped with a full kitchen. Living Streets Alliance supports the size limits included in the proposal (750 sq. ft. and 1000 sq. ft. depending on lot size) to allow for ADUs of different sizes that can cater to people and families with different needs. We understand that this falls within the ballpark of various jurisdictions that have adopted ADU regulations.
I also invite you to consider an amendment to the proposed code language as well as a supplemental component to promote equitable access to this new development tool.
1. Remove the off-street parking requirement as embraced by many other cities including Tempe, Portland, and San Diego, which would make the code consistent with AARP’s model ordinance. (Parking requirements often make it more costly to build and may impose additional lot size and configuration-related challenges in the case of ADUs, at times making it impossible to create a parking space. Off-street parking requirements also further incentivize auto-centric development and travel patterns while undermining the potential for streets to be utilized for parking.)2. Simultaneously focus on programs that make both funding and technical expertise available for Tucson residents of all income levels to help ensure equitable access to this development tool and expand any efforts to facilitate affordable ADU construction through incentives, subsidies, and financing options directed to those with low and moderate incomes.
I look forward to seeing an ADU code amendment in place that can deliver robust outcomes in terms of affordable ADU production and that can be revisited and modified in the future to better meet the needs of our communities.
Sincerely,
Emily Yetman
Executive Director
Since submitting that letter, we’ve learned more. Some have voiced concern that the lack of an owner-occupancy requirement in the amendment could result in increased short-term rentals (STRs) and absentee landlords, which is a valid concern in Tucson, especially near the University of Arizona. However, we recommend against including that kind of language for the following reasons:
STRs and absentee landlords are not an issue that can be solved at the city level—the city’s ability to limit them is constricted by Arizona state statutes; this is a fight that needs to happen at the state level.
Even if Tucson had the legal ability to tackle STRs, zoning would not be the best course of action for addressing them, changes to the proposed code don’t have an affect on broader standards and sleeping quarters and second units are already allowed throughout the city.
The scale of ADUs attract a different type of builder/owner than the predatory/land-grab property owners many residents are concerned about; they are more likely to be local and integrated into the neighborhood. Allowing residents to be in charge of promoting density/solving the housing crisis in their OWN neighborhoods, while either saving money living multi-generationally or potentially earning additional income that can help them financially to stay in existing housing, is actually a good defense against deterioration of neighborhoods by absentee landlords.
Group dwelling regulations already apply, limiting the number of unrelated persons residing on a site in R-1 and in a building in other districts.
Owner-occupancy requirements have downsides, including issues with financing, complicating/restricting change of ownership, and enforcement (i.e. they are nearly impossible to enforce and would be a waste of limited resources to try)
Take action!
Mayor and Council will be making a decision about the code amendment on Tuesday, October 19th.
If you support ADUs, there are two quick ways to voice your support:
Sign the petition generated by Tucson For Everyone in support of ADUs
Email the Mayor and your City Council person (or all of them) with a quick message of support: