Other articles by Tom Beal:

Astronomer to explain why he let Pluto down Enthusiasm for Obama high for Tucson's blacks UA genomics lab tackles Holocaust puzzle Architect chosen for Historical Society's Rio Nuevo museum '06 cascade of boulders was rare, but a red flag, too Asteroid searcher hopes his discoveries won't produce direct impact Towering turbines coming to AZ Danny's gone, but he helped his O'odham culture live on Student group off and running with UA plan for sustainabilityUniversity of Arizona students have major plans to make campus 'green'

Education
Yavapai College
Teachers General
Prestige Maintenance USA
Area Manager Dental
Apache Dental
Porcelain Techs Health Care
Carondelet Foothills Surgery
Pre-Op Nurse General
GROUNDS CONTROL
LANDCAPE FOREMAN & LABORERS Retail
TOTAL WINE & MORE
WINE TEAM MEMBERS, CASHIER & STOCK MEMEBERS Health Care
Freedom Manor
Caregivers

Bob Schlanger couldn't make Wednesday night's meeting of the Jefferson Park Neighborhood Plan steering committee, but after Tuesday's vote, he wasn't sure he should even bother.

The goal of the group since it began meeting in April has been to devise a zoning change that would prohibit the building of "mini-dorms" in the residential area north of the University of Arizona.

Tuesday's passage of Proposition 207, which orders compensation for any land-use plan that reduces the value of property anywhere in Arizona, could make such a zoning change expensive and politically impossible, planners and government lawyers say.

Schlanger said he suggested to Dyer Lytle, president of the steering committee, to first discuss "whether we should even bother meeting anymore."

Lytle was a bit more optimistic before Wednesday's meeting. "There are some people in city government who say it may not have a huge impact," he said.

"As far as I'm concerned, we'll go to the Supreme Court if we have to."

The proposition, whose main topic is a tightening of eminent-domain laws, also requires governments to compensate property owners when laws regulating the use of land reduce the value of property.

"You're not going to be able to enact new zoning laws that would restrict the use of property," said Michael House, Tucson's former city attorney, who now holds the same post in Chandler.

House said the law will certainly be challenged by groups wanting to preserve government's right to zone and to restrict uses of land in areas such as slopes and flood plains.

If it stands, it would have its biggest impact on new towns and new problems, he said.

Arlan Colton, a Pima County planning official, said the law won't have an immediate huge impact on Tucson and Pima County, which have mature zoning and land-use codes.

Counties and municipalities that are just now experiencing growth and the problems that come with it, though, will have difficulty creating laws to deal with those problems, Colton said.

"The problem is, it's dynamic. There are always new issues, new uses, problems with old uses as growth has occurred. Our ability to deal with those things could be in jeopardy, depending on how anybody interprets 207," he said.

The picture won't be clear until the courts weigh in, officials say.

"I do hope and believe that there may be some option for things we can do," said Albert Elias, director of the city's Urban Planning and Design Department. "I wouldn't pack up the tent just yet."

Lori Klein, spokeswoman for the group Arizona HOPE, which advocated for Proposition 207, said the Jefferson Park neighbors "better hurry up and make their overlays before my initiative becomes law."

The law takes effect when the governor certifies the election, probably within weeks, House said.

The city of Tucson has not yet created enabling legislation for the overlay or "Neighborhood Protection Zone" in Jefferson Park, and neighbors are months from agreeing on a strategy.

Zoning may not be the best antidote to student housing taking over neighborhoods near universities, Klein said.

"This is a situation that has gone on for a long time, and a solution has not been found. Don't blame that situation on 207," she said.

She predicted that the initiative will withstand a legal challenge.

Colton, formerly with the State Land Department, said Proposition 207's impacts could go well beyond the municipal and county level, affecting the state's ability to limit growth in areas with groundwater shortages or to use its "super-zoning" powers to maximize revenue for state trust lands.

It could also affect the ability of the state Department of Environmental Quality to respond to pollution concerns, he said.