Neighbors 'dreading' proposed subdivision on Tucson's west side

A new housing development being proposed on the city's west side has raised concerns for some neighbors in the surrounding area, who worry it will be densely packed, will block their views and won't fit in with the long-established home styles nearby.

KB Home's Tucson division sent out a notice Sept. 9 to homeowners in the Santiago Hills neighborhood area that it was "under contract" to purchase 19 acres of property on West St. Mary's Road, about a half mile west of Silverbell.

The plan is to develop a subdivision of 129 two-story, single-family homes featuring three and four bedrooms and two-car garages, the notice said. The subdivision will also include "open space/recreation areas" and landscaped borders around its perimeter, according to the notice.

The parcel, east of Pima Community College West, currently has two vacant buildings on it.

KB Home's notice said it intends to use the city's Flexible Lot Development option, a "site planning approach the City established to provide greater flexibility and creativity in the design of projects, especially on urban infill sites like this property." Included in this flexibility is the option of higher densities, with trade-offs such as providing open space areas.

Under the area plan, the property is currently designated for up to four units per acre, while KB is proposing nearly seven homes per acre.

But nothing is set in stone. Before the company submits its residential subdivision plat to the city, a neighborhood meeting has been scheduled for Monday night, Sept. 23. It will be at Morgan Maxwell K-8 School, 2802 W. Anklam Road, at 6 p.m. It is open to the public.

Craig LeMessurier, KB Home's regional vice president of public relations and communication, said it is against policy for the company to comment on land they do not own. The purchase isn't yet final.

What is an FLD?

A Flexible Lot Development is a tool within the city's code that allows for greater flexibility and creativity of residential development designs, with the trade-off being they "provide some incentives to achieve goals within the community," said Nicholas Martell, the Tucson Planning and Development Services department's principal planner.

"The most popular (option) is to provide extra functional open space," he said, "but there's several different options that (developers) can resort to, to kind of get those relaxed standards."

Other options a developer could take on, for example, would be to designate a portion of units for affordable housing, preservation of historic buildings or sites, housing for the elderly or providing dedicated trails or wildlife corridors. But most opt for providing "open space" to get these more lax dimensional standards, such as higher density, Martell said.

This can be achieved in a number of ways, according to city code, including landscaped areas that provide "visual relief" or shading, nature or exercise trails, "active recreation areas" such as playgrounds, fields or multiuse areas, or "recreation areas and facilities" such as a swimming pool or tennis courts. Adding these amenities will allow for building higher-density developments than what would be normally allowed under zoning regulations, Martell said.

Conflicting interpretations

But some homeowners in the area, while describing the idea of new neighbors as a positive, say they're worried the FLD option is being used in a way antithetical to the make-up and style of their current neighborhood.

The most pressing issue neighbors have is the potential obstruction of sightlines that neighbors have enjoyed for years, says Amanda Schreiber, secretary of the Santiago Hills neighborhood association and a next-door neighbor of the property.

If it ends up being a two-story subdivision, the neighborhood's view of Tumamoc Hill and downtown Tucson would be gone, an aspect that prompted Schreiber to purchase a home there, she said.

"Ever since we moved in, it has been my personal nightmare that somebody would come in, develop this land (with) egregious homes and block our view, without regard to the people who live here," Schreiber told the Arizona Daily Star. "We all accept that there is going to be a new housing development in that lot, and we're going to have neighbors (which) we're pretty excited about. So the general sentiment is positive, but mixed."

Schreiber lives in what is called Westwood Hills, in which she says all the homes are red-brick ranch style, are 1,300 square feet at most and are all two-bedroom with one to two bathrooms.

"Our houses are (about) 65 years old, and most of us still have very original features and haven't really had to do anything to upgrade, because they're very high quality and (developers) went for longevity. I think I'm afraid these houses just won't fit. They stand out, they're right at the base of Tumamoc so as you're driving up Anklam, it would be such a disruption in the whole vibe and whole view of this area," she said. "I think everybody in the neighborhood is totally okay with houses being developed there ... we recognize that it could be built to be something beautiful and harmonious."

"That's all we're asking, for it to have a little respect," she said.

Schreiber's concerns of building style and height have precedent, she said. The Tumamoc Area Plan , adopted by Tucson's mayor and council in 1998 and later amended in 2003, laid out general policies for future rezonings or developments in the area, but also how to develop specific areas such as the vacant property in question.

One of the general policies says any future rezonings or developments must "be consistent with residential density limits" of the surrounding areas, and additionally, that its policies "take precedence over these recommendations in the event of conflict between adopted policy statements and recommended density desigations."

The proposed seven homes per acre density, along with the design shift, leaves neighbor Shana West concerned the proposed development would be more like a transplanted community than a seamless integration of already-standing home styles. She moved into the neighborhood almost six years ago because it was "the perfect representation of Tucson." Living right down the street from Tumamoc Hill and minutes from downtown, she has scenic views and says the area is also home to mature vegetation and an abundance of wildlife.

"We all love the desert, but we also recognize the need for new houses and the market that they're looking to expand into. The first-time homebuyers (idea) fits really nicely with the people that we already have here, so I don't think anyone is opposed to expanding a place that we already love so much," West said. "I think the dread comes (because) it doesn't feel like an expansion of the neighborhood ... I think we're all dreading the change to our neighborhood culture, the change to the value of our homes, because a lot of what drew us in is the feel, and that's going to change."

"I see city lights. I can see Mount Lemmon (and) I can watch the fireworks (on "A" Mountain)from my front window. And that's all going to be changed," she said. "So the value that I have in my home and that my home has assessed, that is going to change, because I'm losing those views."

West, who sees a lot of subjectivity in how a developer uses the FLD option, says that while KB Home may be able to follow the letter of the law without making significant changes to its plan calling for 129 two-story homes, it's the spirit of how that option is used that should concern her neighbors and city planners.

"I would like to see (the city) assess it and scrutinize it from those perspectives, as opposed to saying, 'is it compliant (or) is it not compliant?'" she said. "You know, it's not black and white."

According to city code, a purpose in a developer using the FLD option is to implement "the goals and objectives" of area or neighborhood plans, such as the Tumamoc Area Plan. The code language also calls on developers to coordinate "architectural styles, building forms, and building relationships within the development and with surrounding land development."

Schreiber interprets that KB Home, in using the option, will have to not only work in conjunction with the density guidelines listed in the area plan, but also the style of homes like hers.

Some remediation ideas that both Schreiber and West suggested would be to essentially follow the Tumamoc Area Plan, they said: limit new homes to a single story with similar styles, keep mature vegetation as undisturbed as possible, and include "quality-of-life aspects" like mixed-use paths or sidewalks to allow for pedestrians, cyclists and neighbors to pass through the new neighborhood easily to get to amenities including Tumamoc Hill.

As KB Home has not formally submitted anything to the city, Martell said he could not comment on the concerns of neighbors.

"(KB Home) will have to formally submit if they go through this process, and we will hold them to (all applicable city codes)," he said.

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