Bookstore may move into the Sixth and Park neighborhood

Dan Hoffman Arizona Summer Wildcat A new bookstore is being proposed for this vacant lot. The site is just south of Jett's Wildcat Texaco at Sixth Street and Park Avenue.

Bryan Benz, property owner of 501 N. Park Ave., said that the Tri-Ro Corporation from Austin, Texas intends to build a 6,400-square-foot bookstore on the vacant area just south of Jett's Wildcat Texaco Star Mart.

"It's a good location for it," Benz said. "The neighborhood is happy with it."

However, city of Tucson regulations require one parking spot to be provided for every 200 square feet of a building, which would put the bookstore three to four parking lots shy of its requirement, he said.

Benz believes the additional spots are unnecessary since 75 percent of his customers travel by foot or bicycle to Jett's Wildcat.

"Our feeling is that we're in an area that's very high foot traffic," Benz said.

Benz also said he would provide about 30 bike rack spaces for his customers.

The bookstore would carry University of Arizona textbooks, clothing, and Greek paraphernalia, said Ron Rothers, regional manager director for Rothers' Bookstores and owner of Rothers' Bookstore in Tempe.

The Tri-Ro Corporation has 16 stores throughout Texas and the southwest, and has been at Arizona State University for eight years, Rothers said.

Benz originally considered finding a fast-food business for the property but believed the bookstore would provide a better variety of services for the location.

The city's Board of Adjustment will hold a public hearing July 30 to determine whether the bookstore can be built at the proposed site, said Cecilia Cruz, principal planner assigned to the board.