Citizen Staff Writer
GARRY DUFFY
gduffy@tucsoncitizen.com
An anticipated crush of new housing on the Southwest Side over the next 25 years has Pima County officials prepping to ensure that development will help pay for the costs of infrastructure improvements.
County engineers have come up with an 83-page Southwest Infrastructure Plan to project transportation capital improvements that will be needed to accommodate an estimated 44,600 new homes in an area bordered by Tucson Mountain Park, Mission and Sandario roads, and the boundary of the Tohono O’odham San Xavier District.
Much of the open space is state trust land, which by law must be sold or leased at auction to the highest bidders – almost always private development interests.
On June 2, the Pima County Board of Supervisors will discuss the establishment of a Southwest Benefit Area, a specific geographical area in which development impact fees collected from builders must be spent on transportation projects made necessary by new growth.
A typical development impact fee for a new single-family home would be about $10,220, according the Southwest Infrastructure Plan.
Creation of a Southwest Benefit Area will involve revising boundaries for the existing San Xavier and Avra Valley benefit areas.
Board members also will direct planning staff to look at existing benefit areas for possible amendments to boundaries, needed projects, project costs and changes to existing fees.