Under Arizona law, almost every jurisdiction in the state must update its comprehensive plan, and 2013 is the year to begin the Pima County update.

“The County’s updated Comprehensive Plan will support the Economic Development Action Plan and the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, allowing businesses to compete and thrive, while maintaining community character,” says County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.

Today, the County released its Notice of Solicitation for Qualifications (SFQ) No. 72825, “seeking Statements of Qualifications from qualified firms to provide comprehensive plan update services.”  For detailed SFQ information, including Scope of Work, visit the Pima County Procurement webpage, under Design and Construction: http://www.pima.gov/procure/ifbrfp-dc.htm.

Interested, qualified firms should download the SFQ document from the webpage and address questions in writing to the Contracts Officer listed for this solicitation.

Planning Director Arlan Colton says, “The 2013-2014 Plan update will now address new state-mandated topics like Energy, beef up the economic and human needs components and be heavy on public participation—including open houses and social media. We want to hear from residents and businesses as we develop guidelines primarily for unincorporated Pima County’s future.”

Since 1992, the Pima County Comprehensive Plan has provided the primary land use and related policy guidance for the unincorporated County. In 2001, among other changes, the 1992 comprehensive plan was updated to consider new land uses throughout the County. The 2001 Plan integrated key aspects of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan with considerable focus paid to conserving indigenous Sonoran Desert vulnerable species and our cultural heritage.

As a living document, the Comprehensive Plan has been amended almost every year since adoption but this update in intended to focus less on land use changes and more on key policies including County social service delivery, transportation-oriented development, housing, recreation, economic development, and community design.

The policies, maps and land use legend of the current Comprehensive Plan for unincorporated Pima County can be found under the Long Range Planning icon at http://pimaxpress.com/Planning/Default.htm.