City parking fees to help neighborhoods

"Really what we're doing is asking high-impact users to subsidize amenities for both themselves and lower-impact users," said Chris Leighton, Tucson parking program coordinator.

Areas west and north of the University of Arizona main campus will see the most improvement, Leighton said. The city will resurface streets, widen sidewalks, add more lighting and beautify the landscaping.

"Then we have the money to maintain the streets afterwards," he said.

The city projects a return of $200,000 per year from the sale of permits on the streets directly north of East Speedway Boulevard and west of North Park Avenue, Leighton said.

But Marlis Davis, the UA's director of Parking and Transportation Services, said she will believe in the improvements when she sees them.

"If you look at the original concept of TEAM, that was their idea all along," Davis said. "The question to ask is, 'When will that happen?' "

Although Davis supports city improvements, she said it is unlikely they will take place anytime soon.

"It's certainly going to benefit the neighborhoods - if they don't have to wait five to 10 years," she said.

Starting Feb. 1, motorists who wish to park in the affected areas will need to buy permits ranging in price from $300-$400, not including the option of football or basketball parking.

UA officials have repeatedly voiced opposition to the plan, although a compromise to keep the city out of core-campus areas has softened some of the criticism.

Still, university plans to eliminate vehicular traffic and build a pedestrian-access campus neighborhood may be in jeopardy because of city parking permits.

The area bounded by Speedway to the north, East Sixth Street to the south, Park to the east and North Euclid Avenue to the west would reap the greatest rewards from permit fees, Leighton said. Lighting, sidewalk improvements, street paving and landscaping already completed on East University Boulevard reflect plans for areas west of campus.

"That really is setting the tone for the whole area to make it much nicer and more pedestrian friendly," said Tom Warne, a consultant for the Marshall Foundation. "There's no question, I absolutely think it will benefit businesses, residents and property values in the area."

The foundation, a private philanthropic organization that donates to university-related charities such as scholarships, is the major landowner in the neighborhood west of the UA, Warne said.

Warne, who sits on the Transportation Enterprise Area Management Oversight Commission that governs the Tucson parking program, said the foundation will work closely with the city on the renovation project.

The most drastic change to occur on area streets will be the conversion of North Tyndall Avenue to a pedestrian corridor from East Second Street to Sixth.

That project should be completed before January 2000, Leighton said.

The city also plans to create a free, high-frequency shuttle service to replace the SunTran bus line that runs from the UA at Old Main to downtown Tucson, he said.

The TEAM commission also wants to increase operation of the University Boulevard trolley, which runs from University and Park to North Fourth Avenue and East Ninth Street.

"If we could run the trolley seven days a week every 10 minutes as a free service, people would use it I'm sure," Leighton said.

About 10 years ago, voters shot down a proposition that would pay for the trolley service with tax dollars.

But user fees, such as those created by permit sales, were not included, Leighton said.

While the deal is not set in stone, Tucson hopes to keep everyone happy by relying on permit sales as a revenue source rather than tax dollars, he said.

"Joe Schmoe on the east side, who won't use the trolley, won't have to pay," he said.

Tucson's long-term plan for the west-campus area is to link it with downtown, Leighton said.

"We want you to be able to park once in the city center and easily get around to all of your destinations," he said.

The north campus neighborhood bounded by Campbell to the east, Park to the west, East Drachman Street to the north and East Helen Street to the south will also see significant improvements, Leighton said.

He has said residents of that neighborhood feel like they are in a "forgotten no-man's land."

Jim Kluger, president of the Jefferson Park Neighborhood Association, agreed that the North University neighborhood has been without representation for almost a decade.

Jefferson Park begins near North University's northern boundary.

"The neighborhood association collapsed a while ago," Kluger said. "There's nobody in the neighborhood to prevent a whole slew of problems. That's what we - and all neighborhood associations - are trying to prevent from happening to us."

Kluger said he would not approve of city permit parking in front of his home.

Leighton said run-down streets, heavy traffic and the North University neighborhood's location within UA planning boundaries have generated a lackadaisical attitude on the part of residents.

"We think if we can maintain the infrastructure better than we do today, we hope it will set the tone and stop the downward spiral," he said.

By 2001, students, faculty and residents of the university area will see a completed downtown shuttle service from the UA, "huge" improvements in street lighting, landscaping, bike lanes and street repaving, he said.

"It's a big cooperative effort," Warne said. "The bottom line is that it will make it a much nicer place for everyone."

For Davis, the possible neighborhood improvements still don't outweigh potential damage to the UA's long-range plans.

"I'll say this again: The university does not support them coming into the campus planning boundaries," she said.

Michael Lafleur can be reached via e-mail at Michael.Lafleur@wildcat.arizona.edu.