Perhaps the single biggest frustration to most business people in Tucson is the Land Use Code (LUC). It has been explained to me like barnacles on a ship. It is estimated that over 50% of local businesses are operating without a Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) due to the difficult process and LUC requirements.

If you’ve never had the pleasure to work with the LUC, in a nut shell it determines almost all aspects of how  things get built in the city. The LUC determines parking requirements, landscape requirements, ADA requirements, building set backs, fire supression decisions and much more.  Building owners and tentants must navigate through zoning, LUC, building codes, fire codes, ADA regulations, historic restrictions and if your a restaurant the Pima County Board of Health in order to recieve a CofO to open their doors.

A municipalities LUC attempts to bring everything up to a current standard. The problem is that the city’s desire for high density, infill runs into conflict with current LUC requirements. Without flexibility in the LUC older buildings in the Tucson core are made so restrictive that few if any businesses can even occupy the space. Is the goal of the City to render building obsolete?   

 It used to be that if a building changed use from, say an office to a restaurant a new CofO would be required and the building would have to go through the LUC/CofO process.  Now that process is triggered much quicker, even from a change of owners within the same use catagory.

 The biggest issue with the LUC usually cames down to parking requirements. Buildings built 15+ years ago were built with much lower parking requirements. Subsequent LUC revisions required substantially more parking spaces and the building owners are forced to keep the tenant mix as is.  There are examples all over town of half empty buildings that are only allowed to bring in a very narrow type of business based on the parking calculations. The Starbucks/La Salsa building was an example of just such a situation. It sat with vacant spots for over a year waiting for just the right tenant use.   

The biggest challenge with the LUC is that it doesn’t take into effect that different parts of the city require a different set of rules.  New buildings on the outskirts of town are starting with a fresh canvas. Although the LUC can be cumbersome the building can be built to code. In older buildings it’s almost impossible  to comply.  I can only hope that one of the changes of the LUC is that their are zones of the community that have a different set of requirements based on their unique character. Downtown for example, should have different parking load requirements than Houghton and Broadway. 

 As a work around to the antiquated LUC, the city has implemented a Planned Area Development (PAD) process which basically creates a zone that has a completely unique set of rules for building. . The scary part of the PAD is that it bypass ALL the current City of Tucson rules and processes and puts tremendous decision powers in the city council.  The pleasure of the council at the time determines everything. What typically happens is a developer that is seeking a PAD must negotiate with the council to get the PAD approved. The council can require yellow buildings with pink signs and the developer is stuck between the existing LUC and the PAD and all the concessions in order to get the project built. . The initial LUC code was adopted as the road-map for the city over time with a new addition here and a pet project there, what has ensued is a cumbersome, often contradictory set of rules that creates a maze of regulations.  What the business community needs to thrive is a level playing field with the rules clearly spelled out and limited government uncertainty. 

 The LUC revisions will boil down to; does the City of Tucson want to maintain a sense of it’s culture and work to maintain older builders in the city core?  The LUC must ensure public safety issues but be flexible enough to allow the business community to easily navigate the process.

My argument has always been that as a small business owner it is critical especially in the start up phase that there are affordable rents and low cost options to get your door open. An infill retail location on Grant road can run as little at $16 per square foot. Compare that to a new retail development on Oracle and Magee at $42 per square foot and you can see how hard it is to get started. Typically the national chains and major franchises jump in to the high end locations because they have the staying power.  Cheap rents allow a business to start, get some momentum then make a calculated leap when they are ready. Small business owners need a clear process and a buracracy that approaches the system with a ‘how do we solve this’ attitude not a ‘this is how we’ve always done it’ view that has cost our community dearly over the years. 

 Read the Rob O’Dell story HERE.  

The Tucson City Council said Tuesday that it is pushing forward with a comprehensive overhaul of the city land-use code. The code, which was last revamped in 1995, is seen by council members and other city officials as a suburban code that doesn’t reflect today’s realities, especially for Downtown and the area around the University of Arizona. The land-use code regulates zoning and the development of land and buildings inside the city. Councilwoman Karin Uhlich said there is a “real sense of urgency to fix this” among different parties. Planning Director Albert Elías told the council the city has hired Clarion Associates, consultants who will take two years to reform and reformat the code. Elías also said the city is finalizing an ad-hoc committee of between 20 and 22 interested parties, which will include developers, land-use attorneys, neighborhood interests and consultants. He told the council, in addition to the comprehensive reforms to the land-use code the consultant will also focus on changing code requirements for the reuse of existing buildings, to cut down on red tape that often holds up or prevents redevelopment. Principally, that involves reducing the amounts of parking required so it is not a determent to reusing existing buildings. Elías said codes also need to be tweaked for the Downtown and for infill incentive districts along major roads. Councilwoman Shirley Scott asked Elías to be careful to track redundant sections that are being deleted from the code. Elías said the group will keep a master list of all the changes as a log in case it needs to go back and re-examine changes it has already made. Critics have said the city’s land-use code promotes only low-density growth and has little or no flexibility for infill, which doesn’t mesh with the city’s goals of revitalizing Downtown, luring business and residential complexes to transit corridors or creating mixed-use communities and transit hubs on the city’s suburban edges. Uhlich asked about going to a form-based code, where the city would approve plans based only on their use and not their look or other restrictions such as parking and height. Albuquerque has used a form-based code to help revitalize its Downtown. Elías said a form-based code probably wouldn’t be used city-wide but could be used Downtown and for infill incentive districts. “Form-based takes it away from standards and instead focuses on the use,” Elías said. “As long as it’s commercial, we don’t really care what it looks like. The challenge with a form-based code is you have to have agreement with what you want.” ● Contact reporter Rob O’Dell at 573-4346 or rodell@azstarnet.com.