Tucson city council approves rezoning effort on Broadway Boulevard

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - Tucson city council rezoned a nearly 4-acre block on Broadway Boulevard between south Tyndall Avenue and Park Avenue on Wednesday night to the Planned Area Development.

“There are four or five different zoning parcels on the site plan,” said Ward 6 councilman Steve Kozachik. “Instead of going through and rezoning each one individually, what we did is went through and drew a circumference around all of it and said ‘what do we want to do on this site?’”

Kozachik said the new zoning allows for small-scale commercial buildings near Broadway Boulevard and residential homes on the southern side of the block, all while preserving the shops already there.

The rezoning means Betts Printing Co. will have to relocate its truck delivery area.

However, seven people attended the council meeting to voice support for the PAD rezoning and the measure passed unanimously.

Premier Pools & Spas is just two blocks west of the site. Construction scheduler Lurie Simons said she anticipates a bit of a pinch when road construction to widen Broadway Boulevard begins. Simons is hoping revitalizing the area will attract new businesses and customers and offset some of the construction pains.

“[Customers] are going to be in for a treat when all of this is competed on Broadway,” she said.

“We are not building a bunch of strip malls … we don’t want a big student housing project,” Kozachik said. “If you’re looking in one direction it’s a way to downtown, if you’re looking in the other direction it’s a gateway to the ‘Sunshine Mile’; both have historic elements. What we are doing to ‘Welcome Broadway’ is saying ‘Welcome to the conversation about Sunshine Mile, welcome to the conversation about downtown’.

Kozachik said the project goes hand in hand with what’s already happening on Sunshine Mile. Right now, historic homes along the corridor are being moved back instead of torn down to make room for the road construction.

“I think it’s really going to beautify the city,” Simons said. “I think down the road, it’s going to be worth it.”

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