Tucson Development Thread

[acatalanb]

Looks like a Walmart will be built at the former location of Macy's (west end of El Con). My opinion, I love it. Of course, the NIMBY's had their stupid reasons not to build it such as being a crime magnet.

I would love to see a Walmart and/or a Target store built downtown.

[acatalanb]

This is a nice template for an overpass at the rail tracks downtown - Newport Station, Wales, UK . Here's some more photos of this station . The Diamond Back snake bridge over Broadway Rd. is nice but I think Tucson needs to have more modern looking structures ... stop building 19th century structures and start building 21st century bold architecturally unique modern looking structures .

[Anqrew]

Fifth and Congress, that’s Scott Stiteler’s domain
By Teya Vitu

Scott Stiteler made waves in late 2008 with an ambitious master plan to reshape a broad swath of Downtown stretching from Sixth Street to Armory Park.

That grand plan these days boils down to the intersection of Congress Street and Fifth Avenue.

“I underestimated the revitalization effort by a factor of five,” Stiteler recently admitted within the empty shell where An Congress was supposed to go until restaurateur Kwang C. An decided to expand to Casino Del Sol. “You have to be tenacious and you have to care or you won’t last.”

Stiteler controls three quarters of the intersection, which includes 65,000 square feet of commercial space on three blocks.

He owns the One North Fifth Apartments and the attached street-level retail strip; the historic retail storefronts across from One North Fifth from 262 to 278 E. Congress Street; and he is in a 50-50 partnership with Don Martin for the Rialto Block.

The news right now in Stitelerville is the opening of HUB Restaurant & Ice Creamery. It’s the latest signing for Stiteler that in the past year or two have brought Xoom Juice, Yoga Oasis, Cricket, and the Bodies and Titanic exhibitions to the eastern end of Downtown.

Stiteler carefully selects his tenants.

“I’m an unrelenting perfectionist,” he said. “I’m a steward of a huge opportunity. I want to make sure to deliver something that will be special. The ultimate challenge is to be part of the revitalizing a Downtown because you’re dealing with so many passionate people.”

Stiteler has space available in all three buildings. One North Fifth still has 1,400 square feet open; the An Congress area has 6,000 square feet that could be split into two or three spaces; and nothing is slated to follow Titantic in the Rialto Building.

Stiteler said he has a dozen businesses looking at all three buildings.

Stiteler also has a claim to a pad in the city’s Depot Plaza project to build a three- or four-story housing complex behind his One North Fifth and opposite the city’s Martin Luther King Jr. Apartments. He does not know when that will be built.

“There’s a lot that has to happen with the city,” he said. This includes the city and Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District resolving the intergovernmental agreement between them.

The fact that Stiteler is saying anything at all stands in stark contrast to all the time the San Francisco resident has spent in Tucson since 1994, involved in some 25 development bringing some 1,000 homes to the Northwest and central Tucson. Among them are Rancho Vistoso, Honeybee Ridge and Sky Ranch.

He very quietly made his first investment Downtown in 1999 when he got 75 percent ownership in the Corbett Building on Sixth Avenue just north of the railroad tracks.

“I thought it probably makes sense to buy property Downtown and look back and say it was a good idea,” Stitler said.

Stiteler didn’t became an active player Downtown until 2005, but he remained entirely undercover as he let Williams & Dame be the public face for One North Fifth.

“My whole career I’ve liked to be off the radar screen. You can get a lot more done,” Stiteler said.

But when he realized Williams & Dame and An had their attentions elsewhere as well, Stiteler shelved his cherished public silence.

“I believe if you’ve going to be successful downtown, you have to have singular focus,” Stiteler said. “They did not have a singular focus. If I don’t get in there and take charge, I will let the community down and let myself down. I’m having fun now.”

http://www.downtowntucson.org/news/?p=3075

[Ritarancher]

Originally Posted by Anqrew

Six-mile urban greenway planned
Doug Kreutz

A planned urban trail for walkers and cyclists will trace a route where trains once chugged.
The six-mile El Paso and Southwestern Greenway is designed as a car-free corridor - following the line of an abandoned railway from north of downtown Tucson through South Tucson to the Kino Sports Complex.
One short segment of the route has been completed, and funding is in place for the next phase of the $10 million, multi-year project.
"The downtown area lacks low-stress ways to get around by bike or foot. This corridor will be an alternative to traveling on the main streets," said Tom Thivener, project manager with the Tucson Department of Transportation.
"The greenway also provides an important historic connection," Thivener said, noting that the route passes a onetime depot, a railroad roundhouse and a century-old railroad bridge.
"It will connect neighborhoods such as Dunbar Spring, Barrio Anita, El Presidio, Barrio Viejo, Barrio Santa Rosa and the city of South Tucson."
RAILWAY TO GREENWAY
The planned route of the greenway trail:
• Begins at West University Boulevard and North Main Avenue, at the western end of the University Bikeway.
• Runs south and passes along the western edge of downtown parallel to Interstate 10.
• Continues south past St. Mary's Road, Congress Street and 22nd Street.
• Enters South Tucson near West 29th Street and angles southeast along the old railroad corridor.
• Proceeds past Tucson Greyhound Park and exits South Tucson.
• Continues generally east, crosses South Park Avenue, and then runs southeast to cross South Kino Parkway and ends at the Kino Sports Complex.
WORK IN PROGRESS
After preliminary planning work, one short segment of the greenway - extending from Cushing Street to Simpson Street - was completed in 2009.
Planning, funded by the Regional Transportation Authority, is continuing.
"The next piece will be from Simpson Street to 22nd Street," Thivener said. "That will cost about $600,000. We have a federal grant for $500,000, and RTA funds are secured to pay an additional $100,000. It's going through the environmental clearance and design process."
Construction of the three-quarter-mile segment is expected to begin in about two years. Thivener said the overall construction time frame is indefinite because it depends on how quickly additional federal funding becomes available.
He said the route is being designed with street overpasses where necessary and with connections to other pedestrian and cycling paths.
One example: "There will be a connection to 18th Street," Thivener said. "It's a great bike route that connects to the Santa Cruz River Trail."

I think that this is a big waste of money. Really 10 million dollars?!?!?! That money should be used to help expand Houghton Road. Houghton will take until 2019. Traffic is a problem now but in 2019 it will be even worse. An extra 10 million will defiantly help Houghton be finish faster. Besides hasn't the city spent enough on bike routs already?
Whatever -.-

[acatalanb]

man, looks like someone 'snap'. i'm glad we're at an electronic forum...

these are the type of high rises that need to be built in Tucson. If you look closely, there's that famous 'golden arch' . Every now and then, when I navigate downtown, I'd like to buy a cheap $1-$3 burger ( Wendy's has the best basic burgers around ).

[Anqrew]

Apply now for new round of facade improvements

With the paint barely dry on the Beowulf Alley Theatre’s façade renovation, applications are now available for a second round of Downtown historic façade improvements.

This new round will have maximum grants of $5,000 that must be matched by the property owners/tenants. This round is funded entirely with private sector money, amounting to $25,000.

“That will allow us to do up to five minor renovations,” said Teresa Vasquez, the façade improvement program manager for the Downtown Tucson Partnership, which administers the program.

Vasquez suggests painting and awning projects for this phase.

“You can achieve an awful lot to improve the historic character and the overall ambience of Downtown with a little paint,” Vasquez said.

Applications must be submitted by 3 p.m. March 18. A selection committee will pick participants by April 8, and these paint-and-awning projects must be completed within six months after that.

Buildings that will be considered must be within a defined Downtown area and should have retained major elements of the original façade and be listed on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Applicants must supply a letter of conditional financing or proof they are able financially to complete the project.

This second phase is drastically scaled down from the first phase, where $530,000 in city funding was available and the four projects received from $30,000 to $125,000 for much more substantial façade improvements.

No city funding is in play this time, and Vasquez welcomes any private sector donations to build the façade improvement fund to allow for more and larger scale projects, such as Beowulf, The Screening Room, the Rialto Block and The Scott at 64 E. Broadway.

These four first-phase façade improvements played a far greater role than simply prettifying four early 20th century structures. They were at the core of a veritable Downtown renaissance.

Each façade improvement led to unexpected success.

“There was a domino effect,” Vasquez said.

The 64 E. Broadway façade work directly led to Providence Service Corp. moving its corporate headquarters into the building, and CEO Fletcher McCusker subsequently buying 44 E. Broadway and talking the Sonoran Institute to move into that building.

McCusker was also behind launching 2nd Saturdays and convincing Buffalo Exchange to open a Downtown store.

The Rialto Building façade improvement led to prominent Bodies and Titanic exhibitions.

The Screening Room and Beowulf Alley each redid their facades and added marquees. Since The Screening Room marquee was turned on in fall 2009, the theater has become a favored Club Crawl venue, many events and parties seek to use the theater, and The Screening Room’s own attendance has grown 30 percent.

Beowulf Alley just got its marquee a month or so ago, but had already been building its offering to a half-dozen different series beyond its Main Stage plays.

Applications can be picked up at the Downtown Tucson Partnership office, 110 E. Pennington St., Suite 150, which are also the Parkwise offices.

http://www.downtowntucson.org/news/?p=3082

[Anqrew]

UA, city, Rio Nuevo renewing arena talk
COULD BE PART OF ATHLETIC COMPLEX WEST OF I-10; FUNDING IS UNCLEAR
Rob O'Dell

The city has resurrected the possibility of a new downtown arena - killed in 2008 because of its high cost - at the request of the University of Arizona, which may be interested in a larger basketball venue.
Mike Hein, then-city manager, tried to sell the UA on a joint arena four years ago, but multiple efforts were rebuffed by then-athletic director Jim Livengood and basketball coach Lute Olson.
With a new athletic director and head basketball coach, the UA is pushing the idea of a new downtown arena, possibly with seating up to 18,000. The likely location is property west of the Tucson Convention Center that the city put up for sale after the previous arena plan was dropped.
One other major change since then: Since scrapping the proposed $196 million, 12,000-seat arena because it was too expensive, Rio Nuevo ran out of money after spending $230 million mostly for planning.
And it's not just a new arena the UA has talked with city and Rio Nuevo officials about. Discussions have also included a potential baseball, softball and general athletic complex west of Interstate 10, near downtown. That could include everything from an indoor driving range to a domed, multiuse facility.
There's even been talk of a new football stadium, although those talks are on a slow track because of probable opposition from west-side neighbors and the UA's current $85 million in upgrades being done at Arizona Stadium.
The talks date to at least mid-December, when a meeting was held at McKale Center between Greg Byrne, UA athletic director, and other top Athletic Department officials and City Manager Mike Letcher, City Attorney Mike Rankin, Rio Nuevo Board Chairwoman Jodi Bain and Rio Nuevo board member Alberto Moore.
On Thursday, Byrne met with a dozen members of the business community to try to gauge their interest and get their backing for a plan to bring the University of Arizona downtown.
"We've got a number of different facility issues we need to address," Byrne said. "All we've done so far is talk to different people in the community."
Byrne cited numerous facility issues at Arizona Stadium, McKale Center, Kendall/Sancet baseball stadium and Hillenbrand Stadium for softball, mainly related to concessions and restrooms. There's also an interest in potentially putting skyboxes or club seats into wherever the basketball team will play - whether that be a renovated McKale, a downtown arena or elsewhere, Byrne said.
There's been no real talk about how the new arena and athletic complex would be funded, although several people said it could be through a partnership of the UA, Rio Nuevo, the city of Tucson and potentially the Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority.
The previous arena proposal died in 2008 because its estimated cost ballooned from the original $130 million to $200 million. City officials limited the arena size they were considering after experts told them the second concourse required to accommodate 18,000 seats would boost the cost to as much as $350 million.
Byrne said a new arena would help the UA compete with schools like Pac-10 opponent Oregon, which just opened a $247 million, 12,541-seat arena. With 14,545 seats, McKale Center, which opened in 1973, is the 37th-largest college basketball facility in the country.
Byrne: facilities dated
Many of the University of Arizona's facilities are dated and need improvement at a time when its competitors in the Pac-10 are upgrading facilities or building new ones, Byrne said.
The upgrade of Arizona Stadium's north side won't correct pricey concession and restroom issues on the east and west sides, he said.
McKale has several fan-amenity issues, most notably the "restrooms are not conducive to handling 14,000 people in an efficient manner," he said. He also wants to see if club seats and skyboxes could be added to McKale or at a potential new facility.
"We like McKale, we do," Byrne said. "Where we'll be long term, we have to look at what our options are."
Byrne declined to address issues such as how the UA will sell out 18,000 seats - it doesn't sell out McKale now - or taking the college's games off-campus, because, he said, the talks are in such early stages they haven't been thought about yet.
How to pay?
The project could only be paid for by a partnership of the UA, Rio Nuevo, the city and potentially the Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority, said Bain, chairwoman of the Rio Nuevo Board.
Rio Nuevo could pledge the future tax-increment financing generated from the sports complex to pay off construction bonds, she said. Funding through a stadium or community-facilities district was also discussed at the December meeting, several people said. The UA Athletic Department could also solicit gifts and donations, they said.
No clear funding source exists, however. Rio Nuevo is out of money, and most of its known future tax revenues are already committed. The city has a perpetual budget crisis. The UA is facing yet another round of budget cuts. The Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority has been in the middle of the talks, but its only current funding is $60,000 from ticket surcharges from the Tucson Padres minor-league team.
Sports and Tourism Authority Chairman Tom Tracy declined to comment on the talks.
Moore, from the Rio Nuevo Board, said the price and financing don't matter right now. He said finding the right plan and the people to lead is key, and if that happens the money will take care of itself.
"I think the community will really jump behind this," Moore said.
Early Support
Even without the money issues, there are challenges. For example, Moore said he would be "scared to death" if the city were involved with the project because administrators and the City Council are incompetent - underlining the ongoing bad blood between the Rio Nuevo Board and the city, one of a number of potential stumbling blocks.
The plan would also have to overcome community skepticism from the past failures of the city, Rio Nuevo and the UA in downtown redevelopment.
It was that history that prompted state Rep. Bruce Wheeler, D-Tucson, to say that, while the arena concept makes sense in theory, he is dubious about how it would be paid for and who would be in charge of building it.
"If it's a Rio Nuevo scheme, it's dead on arrival. They have no credibility. We've already been burned for $230 million with nothing to show for it," he said.
The plans are in the early stages, but they are worth exploring, said Councilman Paul Cunningham, as long as "we don't have to put the taxpayers at risk."
Councilman Steve Kozachik said because of the history of downtown, the project has "got to be private-sector driven." Because Kozachik works for the UA Athletic Department, he said, he will recuse himself from any vote on the project.
Moore also backed the private sector leading the project. "It has to be developed by those people in the industry. ... The city doesn't know how to build a football stadium, a baseball stadium," he said.
Bain said she would be happy to take the issue before the Rio Nuevo Board, because the project has the potential to be the catalyst Rio Nuevo has been seeking.
"It has the potential to change the landscape of downtown in a positive light," Bain said. "This has the potential to do this for all of us."

[ComplotDesigner]

Hi guys, I've been following Tucson's thread recently and finally decided to register and contribute to it. Last saturday (02.12.2011) while I was waiting for a bus at RTC, I took some pics. So here we have the well known TEP/UniSource Tower from different corners.

[Anqrew]

very nice! i love the 2nd one!

[acatalanb]

ComplotDesigner, your photos of the TEP building is the best to date! I hope more 'nice' photos of Tucson would come up in the Tucson threads....hoping some rich investor(s) would want to invest or open business in Tucson.

[ComplotDesigner]

Thank you guys, now here are some I took that same saturday from Plaza Centro.

[Teacher_AZ_84]

Thanks for the pictures. The building is looking good!

[Mattic505]

Originally Posted by Anqrew

it's hilarious reading all the outraged people's comments claiming how downtown is dead and that the streetcar is an awful idea, clearly they have not been downtown in years. Can't wait for the day they actually visit downtown and realize how wrong they have been. I swear... only the crabbiest unpleasant people comment on News articles.

I couldn't agree more! You would think people would have something more constructive to do with their time... how about you guys crawl out of your cave and come see whats happened in the last two years! Probably couldn't find their way out of their caves anyway! .... hahaha

[Ted Lyons]

Hey all, I'm a longtime follower of this thread and I haven't seen this mentioned here so . . .



Borderlands Brewing is a new brewery slated to open at 119 E. Toole this year.

http://borderlandsbrewing.com/
http://www.downtowntucson.org/news/?p=3096
http://www.facebook.com/borderlandsbrewing

The renovation pictures on their Facebook page are pretty impressive. It looks like it'll be a nice setup.

[acatalanb]

Finally, a microbrew downtown! Thanks for letting us know.

[acatalanb]

Maybe Fox should consider playing mainstream films instead of films you can rent at Netflix. Or how about partnering with Tucson's own homegrown successful theater, Loft Cinema. If your old business plan doesn't work (for years), how about trying something else.

Fox can't repay loan, Rio Nuevo Board told

Rob O'Dell Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Friday, February 18, 2011 12:00 am

The Fox Theatre downtown lost $400,000 to $500,000 last year and won't be able to make its $1.5 million loan payment to Rio Nuevo this year, its foundation leaders revealed Thursday.

Fox Theatre Foundation President Michael Harkins and Executive Director Craig Sumberg gave the bleak financial news during a presentation to the Rio Nuevo Board. The board owns the theater, and the first payment of $1.5 million on a $7.4 million board loan to the foundation is due in September.

The pair didn't bring detailed financial numbers to the meeting, but Sumberg said the $400,000 and $500,000 loss last year was bigger than in 2009 when the Fox was run by the city, which took control of the downtown theater to keep it from going out of business.

Sumberg said this year's losses are smaller than they were in 2007 and 2008 when the Fox Tucson Theatre Foundation and its for-profit event company lost a combined $884,000 in 2007 and another $551,000 in 2008, according to profit-and-loss statements for both entities.

When asked if the Fox Theatre could make its September loan payment, Sumberg said he wasn't prepared to talk about the issue Thursday. However, he said that because the theater is operating at a loss, there is no money to pay back the loan.

Rio Nuevo loaned the foundation $5.6 million in 2005 to finish renovations to the theater after fundraising efforts fell flat.

The $7.4 million the foundation owes includes interest, said Rio Nuevo lawyer Bob Gugino.

Rio Nuevo also gave $3.5 million as a grant to help repair and refurbish the theater. Additional Rio Nuevo and city expenditures for the theater have pushed the taxpayers' costs to nearly $11.5 million.

During their presentation, Harkins and Sumberg gave conflicting assessments of the theater's outlook. They said the Fox Theatre had revived itself, with phrases like the "momentum is with the foundation," and the "buzz is back." They also said, "We desperately need the community's help to keep the lights on and the doors open."

Strategic mistakes were made by the previous group that ran the Fox, Harkins said, but he blamed much of the theater's situation on the economic recession, the downtown projects that failed to materialize and the "debilitating negative presses" that "destroyed the Fox's brand."

The theater's programs and fundraising have improved in the past six months, said Sumberg, who has been development director with the Fox since October 2009 and has been executive director mid-2010. The fundraising effort is not back to where it was several years ago when "the Fox's brand was not yet tainted," he said.

Board member Alberto Moore questioned the absence of financial data from the foundation for the presentation and asked why it didn't think about shutting down the theater.

Other board members said they weren't ready to have the Fox close down. Board member Mark Irvin called the Fox an "incredible asset to downtown, adding, "I'd hate to see you guys not be here."

The Rio Nuevo Board decided to have two members - Irvin and Carlotta Flores - meet with the Fox to figure out a way to move forward.

The board decided against assigning a subcommittee to meet with the Fox foundation, in part because it would have been subject to public-records law.



Contact reporter Rob O'Dell at 573-4346 or rodell@azstarnet.com

[davidmperre@gmail.co]

[QUOTE=ComplotDesigner;5166671]Hi guys, I've been following Tucson's thread recently and finally decided to register and contribute to it. Last saturday (02.12.2011) while I was waiting for a bus at RTC, I took some pics. So here we have the well known TEP/UniSource Tower from different corners.

[QUOTE]

What will the building look like when its done?

[ComplotDesigner]

Like this.

[acatalanb]

I recently saw the 50's movie, A Kiss Before Dying from Netflix. It has scenes of Tucson including one on top of the current Chase building downtown. The Chase building clips includes shots of downtown from the top of the Chase building where you can spot the old Santa Rita Hotel and the County Courthouse ( another scene from the front of the west end of UA, back of the County Courthouse and the front of the Tucson Children's Museum ).

Damn! There's even a youtube video ( trailer ).

[Ritarancher]

Home / News / Local / Government And Politics
Idea of Pima secession from state is real, organizers say
Could Baja Arizona be 51st state in US?

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Could Baja Arizona be 51st state in US?

Rhonda Bodfield and Andrea Kelly Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Thursday, February 24, 2011 12:00 am | Comments

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Poll
Do you think Pima County and other like-minded counties of Southern Arizona should form a separate state?
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Yes, Southern Arizona should secede from the rest of the state.
No, the state should stay united.

Pima County the 51st state?

A political committee made up of attorneys, including the former chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party, has been formed to try to get Southern Arizona to secede from the rest of the state.

Start Our State, which is asking other like-minded counties to join the effort, hopes to put the question before Pima County voters in 2012.

The concept of a Southern Arizona state - Baja Arizona - has been around for ages as a way to differentiate the region from its more conservative brethren to the north. The notion of secession has been bandied about, but there was never a serious effort in that direction - until now.

Overcoming that historical inertia, and the initial reaction from political observers, highlights the problem the group will face.

Pima County Supervisor Richard Elías teased that given his generational roots in Tucson, his family could serve as a namesake for the new state.

And Pima County Republican Chairman Brian Miller joked that his position would make him the leader of the new state's GOP. "I'm all for a promotion," he quipped.

But Paul Eckerstrom, co-chair of Save Our State, said it's not a ploy and not merely a political statement. He said the state Legislature has gone too far to the right.

In particular, a round of legislative measures challenging federal supremacy "really does border on them saying they don't want to be part of the Union any longer," he said.

"Well, I want to be part of the United States," Eckerstrom said. At a minimum, he said, the drive will send a message that Pima County doesn't want to go along with the priorities being outlined in Phoenix.

"It's no longer a laughing matter to me," Eckerstrom said, adding that his kids' futures are at stake. "I'm tired of hoping and praying that rationality will come to Phoenix."

The group's treasurer, Libertarian and public defender David Euchner, comes from a different political mind-set.

Euchner said Republicans were swept into office nationwide on a promise of helping to fix the economic and spending problems. "Meanwhile, every bill we've heard about here is either anti-abortion laws or anti-Mexican laws. These are not laws that are geared toward solving the real problems that we have."

Organizers concede that there are daunting hurdles. They must first get on the ballot, then get approval from the Legislature or from state voters to allow the exodus. A new state constitution would have to be approved, plus they'd have to get the OK from Congress and the president.

The committee hit its first hurdle hours after announcing the effort. It wanted the Pima County Board of Supervisors to put the issue on the ballot, but Chris Straub, chief civil deputy attorney in the County Attorney's Office, torpedoed that idea, saying the board doesn't have the authority. Straub also said citizens don't have the right to do something by initiative that the board can't do.

Eckerstrom said that doesn't matter. His group is prepared to circulate petitions statewide if need be.

"Our attitude is whatever it takes, we are going to follow that process," Eckerstrom said.

But is such a state viable?

Pima County has more than 1 million residents. That's comparable to the size of Rhode Island, and the county actually has a bigger population than seven other states, including Montana, Vermont, the Dakotas and Wyoming, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2009 estimates.

At 9,186 square miles, the county is also bigger than seven states, including Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware, according to the World Almanac.

And it has been done before, although the circumstances were far different.

Maine, once a province of Massachusetts, petitioned for statehood. It took a long time, and the Missouri Compromise, to get it done in 1820.

And West Virginia broke away from Virginia after Virginia seceded from the Union. It was granted statehood in 1863.

Republican Supervisor Ray Carroll said the move doesn't make a lot of sense, and he chalked it up to political opportunism.

"The better solution would be to find candidates that better represent them to win campaigns and win seats, and take government in the direction they want to take it," Carroll said.

But Elías, a Democrat, said it's been clear that sections of Southern Arizona identify themselves with "a very different set of politics than our friends to the north. And as those sides become more polarized, those differences become more pronounced, and people's frustration level grows. That's what we're talking about here."

For this idea to go anywhere, the community needs to discuss the financial impacts, Elías said. That means looking at what services the people here would expect from the new state government, "and what impact it would have on the local economy," he said.

Peter Hormel, a Democrat and the other co-chair of the effort, said the group has gotten a positive response since it put the concept up on Facebook, but he knows there are skeptics.

"It isn't a new idea, but it's gotten so bad in Phoenix that at some point, you're obligated to do something about it," he said. "All we can do is put it on the ballot and see what happens."



Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at rbodfield@azstarnet.com and 573-4243. Contact reporter Andrea Kelly at akelly@azstarnet.com or 807-7790.

Copyright 2011 Arizona Daily Star. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.