Tucson is seeing more and more car washes and drive-thrus pop up all over the city.
City leaders say that has a lot to do with the city’s zoning code. Now they are looking at ways to change those restrictions to encourage more housing development.
Following success in other cities like Austin and Minneapolis, the city wants to encourage more multi-family, pedestrian and transit-oriented housing along arterial and collector street corridors.
This comes as the cost of buying or renting a home in Tucson has essentially doubled in the past nine years, according to Redfin and Zillow data compiled by the city.
“We have policies that say we want mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented, transit-oriented development, but we have a zoning code that really incentivizes things that support the automobile, such as drive-thrus, car washes, self storage,” explained Dan Bursuck, planning administrator for Tucson Planning & Development Services.
“So what we’re looking to do here really is to realign our zoning code with what our policies say… It may not lead to a huge boom in housing. But it does allow for that redevelopment throughout the city.”