TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The City of Tucson's Planning and Development Services Department (PDSD) partnered with U of A's Drachman Institute to hold a community event Sunday to review current zoning codes, identify what changes are needed to build more homeless shelters, and gather feedback from residents.
Amanda Smith, lead planner with the Tucson's PDSD, said the session was designed to inform the community about the scope of the homelessness crisis and what potential solutions could look like.
"In February of 2026, mayor and council declared a housing and homelessness emergency declaration and that set the direction for us to look at our current policies about where shelters are allowed and how they get approved, to look at what kind of barriers we might be presenting and how we can alleviate some of those barriers, provide opportunities for more providers to build homeless shelters, and provide that kind of first step to getting people off of the streets and into more permanent housing," Smith said.
According to the most recent Point-in-Time count, more than 1,200 people are unsheltered in Tucson.
"And that's a notorious underestimate because they can't always find people and so that's a seriously high number," Smith said.
She said the pipeline for new shelters is limited.
"This is what's really interesting to me is the number of projects that are actually in the works to provide more emergency shelters, only two right now and it's gonna take several months and it's probably only like 30 or 40 beds that will come out of those two projects," Smith said.
In order to build more shelters, zoning regulations will need to change.
"So our current zoning code, when you combine the current rules with the amount of land that's actually vacant and an opportunity for this, there really aren't that many opportunities," Smith said.
"A lot of them are on the outskirts of the city where you don't have public transportation, you don't have access to services, so they aren't really viable for homeless shelters and the parcels that are available in the middle of the city, you're competing against a whole variety of other people that want to use that land. And so if you are a nonprofit provider and you have limited time, limited money, and you know all of these things, we just need to make it a little bit easier."
Community members at the meeting were able to write down their thoughts. One attendee wrote, "We need more shelters, more sites where they can be built and less restrictions/processes making it difficult to provide services." Residents also placed pins on a map to indicate where they would want a shelter to be located if they were in need of one.
Marcellina Rojas, project supervisor for shelter operations for Tucson's Housing First, oversees the Wildcat Inn shelter. She said the facility stands out because it accepts entire families and allows nonagressive pets — accommodations many shelters do not offer.
"We take in the family as a whole and it's a low barrier shelter which they have their own room. In the room they have a bed for each person and they have a microwave and fridge, so it's kind of like a hotel setting but shelter," Rojas said. "And pets are allowed as long as they have the documentation such as shot records, even if it's emotional support."
Rojas said she would like to see more low barrier shelters established across the city.
"Just to help them get acclimated into coming from off the streets into their own dwelling, in their own unit, so they can be able to gain the skill set if they need it from living outside to being indoors. You know, we wanna be able to help them be able to sustain and help them in whatever situation they're in, breaking their barriers and just meeting them where they're at so we can better serve them," Rojas said.
Rojas said they have care coordinators on site at Wildcat Inn, as well as HSA housing service agents. They also assist in seeking employment, getting daycare for their kids, applying for food stamps, applying for access, and getting them services that they need.
Residents in need of shelter can visit the Tucson-Pima Shelter & Community Resource Dashboard, which shows real-time bed availability in the area.
Additional community feedback sessions are scheduled.
"It's really important that people come out and share their opinions, concerns, preferences with us. It really helps the process a lot," Smith said.
She said after some public hearings with the planning commission, the proposal will be brought to to mayor and council for adoption next year.
"February 2027 is when we hope to be completed or close to completed with the zoning code amendment process," Smith added.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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