Each August Tucson– like college towns nationwide– sees a flurry of activity as students move back to town and scramble to find lodging.

In recent years, local mini-dorm developers have gone wild– buying up cheap houses (thanks to record foreclosures and a glut of houses for sale), unceremoniously leveling the said houses, and constructing mini-dorms– the scurge of Tucson’s University-area neighborhoods.

This year– with a 15.9 percent rental vacancy rate– Tucson is a renters’ market. For rent signs abound. Good for students and other renters. Not so good for landlords and mini-dorm developers.

Back in April, I pondered the fate of the mini-dorm market– given dramatic hikes in tuition at The University of Arizona. Tucson’s recent designation as the “sickest housing market in the US”, its recent designation as the most impoverished city in the Sunbelt, and its glut of unrented rentals make my question even more poignant: Will mini-dorms become empty monuments to greed?

How much you wanna bet that mini-dorm developers Michael Goodman and Richard Studwell try to sell these architectural behemoths to the city when they can’t rent them?

Adobe casita in downtown Tucson. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

When we first went house-hunting in Tucson in the early 1980s, our realtor thought we were crazy because we wanted a house with architectural style and wooden floors. Having lived in Columbus’ city core in an old Victorian-era brick double, we didn’t realize what a tall order this was in Tucson, our new home.

We spent several weeks driving around older neighborhoods in July in our AC-free Toyota Corolla with Judy (our chain-smoking realtor) and our baby daughter searching for style, affordability, and a house worth the sweat equity we were going to have to invest. We finally settled on a California Bungalow handyman special in the Pie Allen Neighborhood, priced at $34,000– the cost of some new vehicles today.

If Judy thought we were crazy while we were house-hunting, she probably really thought we were nuts when we bought that place, but we saw style and potential in that little house with the inviting front porch, the volcanic rock columns, the cozy fireplace flanked by wooden built-ins, and the large back yard– ready for a swing set and sandbox. Little did we know we were downtown pioneers before downtown was hip.

Thirty years later, many other urban pioneers have joined the struggle to breathe life into Tucson’s older neighborhoods and help downtown become livable and even fashionable.

At yesterday’s City Council Meeting, historic preservationists in Tucson won a major battle against the mini-dorm industry. The Council approved the Neighborhood Preservation Zone (NPZ) overlay for the Jefferson Park Neighborhood. The NPZ will restrict mini-dorm development by limiting the scale of new construction, making it more difficult to build a second story and limiting the size of a building to no more than 35 percent of the lot size. This is the second NPZ the Council has approved– the first being the Feldman Neighborhood NPZ in 2009, which developers are fighting.

This week, Tucson is hosting historic preservation conference, which will include a heritage discussion on Wednesday, June 22 at Hotel Congress.

Also, this week, a new guide to historic homes in Tucson was published.

Next week, at the June 28 City Council Meeting, the Council will consider a proposal to amend the sign code protect and preserve historic landmark signage older than 1975. Although I am a bit concerned about inclusion of “transitional” signage between 1961-1974 in this amendment, I think it is a worthwhile effort to protect the funky neon signs that mark Tucson’s past as a motor hotel haven.

With this volume of preservation activity, will Tucson save its unique architecture and sense of place? I hope so.  I don’t want developers to make Tucson into a place where there is no there there. I still remember the July thunderstorm clouds gathering over the old courthouse’s mosaic dome and the reflection of the Tucson Inn sign in the swimming pool that night in 1981 when we first visited Tucson.

Wooden doors in downtown Tucson. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

Crumbling adobe home in downtown Tucson. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

El Rapido sign in downtown Tucson. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

Fireplace with nichos in an old adobe home. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

The old Corner Market in downtown awaits TLC. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

Inviting entrance to restored downtown adobe home. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

1036 E. Waverly St.-- an old house being destroyed by Michael Goodman. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

Approximately 50-60 Tucsonans — representing several neighborhoods, including Jefferson Park, Feldman, Palo Verde, El Rio, and others– gathered Friday evening to morn the destruction of yet another old house (above).

Mini-dorm developer Michael Goodman and two squad cars of Tucson Police watched as neighbors sang, read poetry, and gave speeches decrying the destruction of older neighborhoods which are being scared with mini-dorms. Goodman tried to disrupt the gathering before it started by parking his big truck in front of the house where the protest was to be held. Luckily, one of the protesters got there before he did and parked in front. This allowed neighbors to set up large signs reading “Tucson has cancer” and “Pure Greed” in front of the demolition site

Police cars blocked East Waverly Street at both ends– even though the event was entirely peaceful. This most likely stopped some people from attending the event. Police also told the neighbors that they had to end the event by 7 p.m.– allowing only a half hour for the vigil. (I’ll give you one guess who called the cops.) The police presence was totally unnecessary. Why don’t the police break up the infamous mini-dorm parties?

The entire vigil is captured on the video below. At about 4 minutes you can see Tucson Police officers questioning neighborhood activist Bob Schlanger. They tried to intimidate him by asking for his identification, birthdate, etc. His reply was that he didn’t need an ID to walk down the street in his own neighborhood. (I guess he doesn’t realize he lives in Arizona.)

At about 9.5 minutes, in the video Schlanger gives a speech about activism against mini-dorm construction and the destruction of older neighborhoods in Tucson. In his speech, Schlanger announced that the city approved the building plans for 1036 E. Waverly. The single-family home above will be replaced with a seven-bedroom mini-dorm. This is a rooming house– not a single family home.

One question I have is: If this neighborhood and other neighborhoods in Tucson are plumbed for single-family homes, what happens to that infrastructure when the single-family homes are replaced large apartment buildings and rooming houses?

Don’t forget to voice your opinion about mini-dorms with the poll attached to this article.

Mini-dorm in the Feldman Neighborhood. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

The destruction of historic neighborhoods to create mini-dorm villages near the University of Arizona has been a hot topic on this blog, on Facebook, and on the JOLT (KJLL, 1330 AM) this week.

The JOLT’s John C. Scott conducted multiple interviews with Jefferson Park neighbors, developers, and Councilman Steve Kozachik on this topic.

I was heartened to hear Kozachik tell the JOLT audience that he believes the current mini-dorm construction is not in keeping with the intent of the single-family zoning laws, that he feels the scale and design of the buildings in the Feldman and Jefferson Park Neighborhoods do not blend well with the existing homes in these older neighborhoods, and that he supports future mini-dorm development along major arterials– rather than in neighborhoods. Kozachik also announced on Thursday on The JOLT that he planned to organize a meeting amongst the stakeholders.

Jefferson Park leaders reminded the JOLT audience that mini-dorms can be built on any single family lot. One is currently being constructed near Blacklidge and Country Club.

For those of you not familiar with these neighborhoods and how they are changing, I shot video footage yesterday which shows an entire block of the Feldman Neighborhood that has been destroyed and rebuilt. Don’t forget the candlelight vigil tonight (Friday, January 7) at 1036 E. Waverly at 6:30 p.m.

1036 E. Waverly St.-- an old house being destroyed by Michael Goodman. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

A full hour of yesterday’s John C. Scott Show on the JOLT (KJLL 1330AM) was devoted to promoting the value of mini-dorms. Ick. (Hopefully, they had to pay for this lengthy advertorial on mini-dorms. If not, the JOLT missed an opportunity to make some serious change.)

Michael Goodman, Richard Studwell, and another developer chatted on the radio about the selfless community service they provide by knocking down old houses in historic neighborhoods and replacing them with mini-dorms for UA students.

Their schtick is that since the state of Arizona is too poor to build student housing, big-hearted developers– like them– must come to the rescue and build mini-dorms. Not enough student housing has been a long-term problem at the UA. Since the state makes money on students living in dorms, I don’t understand why the UA rarely builds them– unless, of course, the developers lobby the state not to build dorms. (After all, dorms would cut into their action.)

The latest flash point of mini-dorm construction is in the Jefferson Park Neighborhood (between Campbell and Park, south of Grant). On the radio yesterday, the developers’ contention was that the Jefferson Park is a ramshackled neighborhood of decaying 1950s ranch houses that have no architectural value. They said that many of the houses are so far gone that they can’t be renovated and should be torn down and replaced with mini-dorms.

They also tried to paint the neighborhood activists who oppose the rape of their neighborhood and demolition of family homes as small group of NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) kooks who don’t like living near noisy college students.

Territorial style house directly across the street from the demolished house which will soon be a mini-dorm. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

To fact-check their statements on the radio, I drove around Jefferson Park on my way home yesterday.

Yes, there are some rundown rentals– as there are in all midtown and downtown neighborhoods in Tucson, thanks to local slumlords. (BTW, City Council Members, isn’t there something you can do about slumlords who allow their unkempt properties to blight our older neighborhoods?)

The majority of the Jefferson Park houses were well-kept older homes with mature vegetation. There was a mix of 1930s Territorial style homes and 1950s brick bungalows. I didn’t see any traditional ranch houses, as there are on the east side. The houses on East Waverly Street that surround 1036 (above), which is being demolished by Goodman, are all very nice. It’s sad that this residential street filled with well-appointed older homes will be plagued with the blemish of a mini-dorm.

Another Territorial style house on East Waverly, near the new mini-dorm site. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

Many long-time Tucsonans lament the loss of Barrio Viejo historic homes that were demolished when the Tucson Convention Center was built. I believe that in 10 years when the mini-dorms are crumbling we will lament the loss of historic homes in the city’s core.

Don’t forget the candlelight vigil in front of 1036 E. Waverly on Friday, January 7 at 6:30 p.m. Also, don’t forget to take the mini-dorm poll.