Home demolition rule shot down
by Carli Brosseau on Nov. 04, 2008, under Local, SpecialJudge: City can’t make property owners submit info
A Pima County Superior Court judge nullified a city ordinance that required property owners to submit historical information to the city before demolishing older buildings around downtown.
Judge John F. Kelly’s ruling is the latest development in a struggle between neighborhood associations around the University of Arizona and a handful of developers who have been replacing single-family homes in the area with apartments, or “minidorms.”
It’s yet unclear how the city will respond, but Kelly’s ruling may represent a setback for the neighborhoods that hope to stop that kind of development through historic preservation plans. It may be a victory for developers including Michael Goodman, the plaintiff, who say that they are supporting the city’s goal of urban in-fill and losing money because of the city’s rules.
Kelly’s decision to strike down the ordinance was based on questions about the procedure under which the rule passed. He found that the ordinance, approved by the City Council in 2007, was adopted improperly – as a building code provision rather than a zoning regulation.
The city maintains that the rule was passed legally and appropriately through a council vote that followed a public hearing.
“It is our position that this is not a land-use or zoning provision,” city attorney Mike Rankin said Monday.
Rankin said the council will decide whether to appeal, ask the judge to reconsider, repeal the ordinance or put the rule into the land-use code.
The suit was among the first in the state to test the state Property Rights Preservation Act, approved by voters in 2006. That law requires governments to compensate property owners if land-use laws reduce their property’s value.
Goodman claimed the change in the city building code sucked more than $12 million of value out of 23 midtown properties.
Neighborhoods, however, complained that their property values were decreasing because of the noise and “spring break mentality” that accompanies the students moving into the apartments.
But the city’s intention was somewhere outside of that zone of conflict, Rankin said. Its goal was to compile historical information important for preservation.
The ordinance allowed demolition to be delayed for up to six months while the information was reviewed and the city decided whether to try to buy the property, Rankin said. It affects buildings more than 45 years old and within the 1953 city limits.
“Nothing under this ordinance would actually prevent a demolition from occurring,” he said.
Neither Goodman nor his attorney, Clint Bolick, could be reached for comment. The Tucson Association of Realtors also could not be reached.
