Mon, Jul 06, 2009

Opinion

Key leaders set to attend land-use forum Dec. 3

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.15.2008
Round up everyone — officials from all municipalities, developers, builders, business leaders, public and private sector policy makers — and discuss our region's land-use future. That was one of the conclusions from the Star-sponsored "Tucson Growth: Decision at the Crossroads" forum held in March at the University of Arizona.
It was a prodigious task at best. However, the Tucson Regional Town Hall, the Urban Land Institute, the Sonoran Institute and other hosts and sponsors wrangled principal players to participate in a "Community Conversation on Regional Land Use" on Dec. 3.
Note this date in history: We don't remember when key policy and lawmakers from all of our region's governmental entities were corralled in one room to talk about land-use planning and improved collaboration in the greater Tucson region.
The Tucson Regional Town Hall has brought together Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup; Marana Mayor Ed Honea; Sahuarita Mayor Lynn Skelton; Oro Valley Mayor Paul Loomis; Pima County Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard Elías; and Andy Gunning of the Pima Association of Governments.
Two keynote speakers, Robert Grow of Envision Utah and Grady Gammage Jr., a land-use attorney and senior fellow at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute, will be sharing ideas on communities that have planned, collaborated on and implemented regional plans.
In August, we spoke to Grow, the founding chairman of Envision Utah, which is the standard-bearer for regional planning for growth.
Grass-roots involvement is the hallmark of Envision Utah, which focuses on core values of a community and is not political or project-specific.
We're looking for ideas and ideals from Envision Utah that will help our regional community assemble our growth picture.
The "Community Conversation on Regional Land Use," which will take place at the Tucson Convention Center, is the sixth follow-up conversation on issues identified in the original Tucson Regional Town Hall held in May 2007, according to materials from Peter Likins, president emeritus of the University of Arizona and chairman of the Tucson Regional Town Hall.
The cost for the event is $45, which includes breakfast and lunch. Scholarships are available.
We hope you'll join the conversation.
On StarNet: Our story on Envision Utah and its history are available in a database that aggregates growth analysis, opinion and documents, including master plans for Southern Arizona's communities. The reports and analyses are available at at azstarnet.com/special/ growthresources