TUCSON, Ariz. — Tucson is asking residents to help choose the next round of pre-approved housing plans, and the window is short: rankings are due by 5 p.m. on Oct. 22.
City officials said Friday that people can look at 50 designs collected in a contest that ran from July through September and pick a top three, including where those designs might fit. The Tucson Sentinel reported the deadline and the contest window. Staff will weigh the votes alongside a committee of architects and designers, then select 15 plans.
The winners go into Tucson’s Casita Model Plan Library. Right now that library holds pre-approved plans for casitas, the small backyard units the city has been trying to make easier to build. The point of this round is to widen the library to other “middle” types — duplexes, triplexes, and similar buildings that sit between a single house and a large apartment block. Putting a plan on the list is meant to cut the time and uncertainty of plan review. Selected designers also get review fees waived and a $1,000 award.
The survey follows a zoning change that is already in effect. The City Council voted in December to allow middle housing on most residential lots starting at the beginning of 2026. Before that local vote, the Legislature required cities of at least 75,000 people to allow these buildings on single-family lots within a mile of the downtown core, or on at least 20 percent of a new development of 10 or more contiguous acres.
A design contest does not put a duplex on a specific block next month. It creates a shelf of plans a builder can pull when a lot qualifies. Neighbors who care what that building looks like have until Oct. 22 to say which of the 50 drawings they would rather see saved. After that, the choice moves to the committee and to city staff.