How The County Is Trying To Restrain Growth. By Jim Nintzel AT THE RECOMMENDATION of Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, the Board of Supervisors has already tightened two county ordinances. More are on the way. Here's a thumbnail rundown on the agenda: Already Accomplished • The Buffer Overlay Zone: The county's current buffer overlay zone is designed to minimize development around county, state and national parks and wildlife areas. But under the current guidelines, golf courses count as open space and the restrictions only apply to developments 80 acres or larger. The board amended to code so that golf courses will no longer count as open space and removed the 80-acre limit. • Native plant ordinance: The supes added teeth to the county's native plant preservation ordinance. In addition, the supes passed regulations requiring utility companies to revegetate easements after infrastructure is installed. The Short Term THE SUPES HAVE several more ordinances to strengthen at the July 7 meeting. • Hillside ordinance: The proposed changes would increase the number of hills protected under the ordinance, as well as force developers to revegetate hillsides that are scraped clean in the development process. • Riparian habitat protection ordinance: Huckelberry recommended the Board expand the type of developments which are restricted by the county's riparian habitat conservation ordinance. He also urged the Board to include wildcat subdivisions, which aren't currently bound by the regulations. • Floodplain management and erosion hazard ordinance: Huckelberry recommended changes to make building in a flood plain more difficult. He also suggested that developers be forced to vegetate the bottom of any washes they build to alter natural water courses, eliminating concrete canals in future developments. • Water resources: Among a number of proposals, Huckelberry recommended the Board force future golf courses to use effluent or agree to participate in a recharge program to replenish groundwater withdrawals. He also urged the board to consider additional incentives to golf courses and other industries that agree to use CAP water. • Sewer connection fees: Huckelberry suggested the Board force more developments to hook into the county sewer system, rather than allow them to use septic tanks. He also suggested establishing a fee for owners of septic tanks who pump their waste into the sewer system. • Comprehensive environmental land-use and protection code: Finally, in a housekeeping measure, Huckelberry recommended supervisors combine the county's various land-use codes into a single policy and develop a standard set of regulations for development. For these new regulations to succeed, however, the county is also going to have to increase enforcement. "We're going to have to hire more staff," Huckelberry says. "We know that, and we're going to put that in the budget, probably in the order of $200,00 to $300,000 in staff." The Long Term ALTHOUGH THE ABOVE ordinances will close some loopholes, Huckelberry unveiled several other strategies designed to regulate development in Pima County, including: • Uncontrolled lot splitting: Huckelberry blames many of the county's sprawl problems on so-called "wildcat" subdivisions, in which a property owner splits his land up to five ways and develops it. Huckelberry says such subdivisions--which accounted for 41 percent of new home permits last year--often have substandard infrastructure which ultimately costs taxpayers when the county becomes liable to upgrade it. "Rightfully or wrongfully, if we approve a rezoning on a subdivision, it's gone through some regulatory review," Huckelberry says. "We could say all the decisions the Board made about, say, Rancho Vistoso were wrong and they shouldn't have happened. Well, they did, but at least you got them to stay out of the washes. At least you got them to put in (good) roads, you got a sewer system in there. With these wildcat areas, there is nothing the county can do the regulate it; and, in fact, state law prohibits us from enacting rules and regulations on wildcat subdivisions." Huckelberry recommended the Board prepare to lobby the state Legislature for some regulatory authority. • Growth fiscal impact analysis: Huckelberry reported the county was in the process of developing a model to determine the cost of future rezonings or development proposals. He estimated that when the project was completed at the end of the year, the county could take a look at imposing steeper impact fees. • Affordable housing: Huckelberry urged the Board to consider ways to ensure that average-income residents will still be able to afford homes if demand begins to outstrip supply as new restrictions come into play. "This is something brand-new and different and meets this whole criteria that we're so interested in in affordable housing," Huckelberry says. "We have to be very, very careful, because traditional growth-control ordinances, whether intentionally or not, drive up the cost of housing. And we already have about a $30,000 gap in the ability of a typical family in Tucson to afford a new house. One of the areas we're most interested in now is the issue of affordability and what government can do to help in this market." • Infill and growth-guidance projects: Huckelberry recommended supervisors take a pro-active role in directing growth through incentives to areas of the county where infrastructure already exists to accommodate it. He suggested the Board work with county municipalities to subsidize growth in such areas through a series of demonstration projects.

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