Tucson needs more places to sleep tonight.
The City of Tucson is rewriting its zoning rules for shelters, and it wants to hear from residents. Take the city's short survey and tell them to make shelters easier to build, in every part of town.
Take the shelter survey
What's happening
In February 2026, the City of Tucson declared a Housing and Homelessness Emergency to remove zoning and permitting barriers and speed up the creation of shelter beds.
Right now, Tucson's zoning code limits where shelters can be located, which makes it hard to open them in many parts of the city. During the emergency, shelter providers have two main paths to approval:
- Permanent or semi-permanent shelters: buildings fixed to the ground, like motel conversions and tiny home villages. These need a commercial building permit and a special exception, and sites with more than 30 residents must go before a Zoning Examiner.
- Temporary safe sleeping areas: managed sites where people sleep in tents or vehicles, like Star Village. These use a one-year temporary use permit and are capped at 30 tents or vehicles and 50 people per site.
The city is now drafting a permanent change to the zoning code that will shape how and where shelters can operate going forward. This survey is one of the main ways residents can influence it.
What Tucson for Everyone supports
We believe every Tucsonan deserves a place to live, whether that's a shelter bed tonight or a permanent home. Here's what we're asking the city to include:
- More shelter beds, in every part of the city. Tucson doesn't have enough shelter beds. Shelters should be allowed throughout the city, not concentrated in a few neighborhoods.
- No extra hurdles for shelters that follow the rules. Shelters already have to meet the city's existing standards for noise, health, and safety. If they meet those standards, they shouldn't face additional barriers, like a community notification process that other housing doesn't go through.
- No minimum parking requirements. Most people staying in shelters don't own or drive cars. Requiring parking spaces they won't use adds cost and takes up land that could hold more beds.
- Many kinds of shelter, approved by right. Shelter doesn’t necessarily only mean large congregate facilities. Smaller shelters that fit the housing style of a neighborhood should be approved by right, without a special hearing. And often, larger congregate shelters don’t look much different from other forms of commercial buildings that are approved by-right without community input.
Want to say it in person?
The city is also holding public feedback sessions on the shelter code changes:
- Thursday, September 24, 5:30–7 p.m. on Zoom. RSVP required link: https://tucsonpdsd.info/ShelterCareVirtualFeedbackSession
- Friday, October 2 – Sunday, October 4 at Park Place Mall, Central Exhibit Space, 5870 E Broadway Blvd. Friday 5–8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday noon–4 p.m. RSVP optional link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/wFU8z4z2hH
It takes a few minutes. It could mean a bed for someone.
People who oppose shelters show up to these processes. Supporters need to show up too.