South Tucson's El Independiente, 1976-05-07

              New Mexican plaza to generate jobs, revenue
By LINDA HILL
Plans for a Mexican
marketplace which could bring
jobs and thousands of dollars
to South Tucson now are being
finalized, Assistant City
Manager Richard E. Kaf-fenberger
said.
The city will lease one block
of land at 1600 S. Sixth Ave. for
$1 per year to a firm which
would build a plaza including
restaurants, craft shops and a
Spanish -language movie
theatre, he said.
A "call for preliminary
proposals" will go out to
developers in June or July, he
said, adding that he hopes the
project will be completed in 18
to 20 months.
A plaza with permanent
structures and vending booths
would be a tourist attraction
and "capitalize on the unique
heritage of South Tucson,"
Kaffenberger, who also is the
director of community
development, said.
"South Tucson's great
hope," Kaffenberger said, "is
to become a focal point for the
whole Mexican- American
culture of the Tucson area."
The plaza would directly
benefit South Tucson residents
by providing construction jobs
as well as sales jobs. The
stores would bring increased
tax revenue to the city, he
added.
Retail stores that would
attract city residents as well as
tourists may be included in the
plaza. Now, many city
residents do their shopping
outside South Tucson, Kaf-fenberger
said.
To help finance the plaza,
South Tucson's
El Independiente
Volume 1, Number 1 South Tucson, Arizona
`Desirable place to live'
Friday, May 7, 1976
City's first zoning ordinance
may attract new businesses
By CHDCK VIAL rOht
A proposed zoning or-dinance,
the first in South
Tucson since it was in-corporated
in 1936, will attract
higher quality businesses and
make the city a more desirable
place to live, officials say.
A 15- member land -use
committee met April 29 at
South Tucson City Hall to
review the proposed ordinance
and zoning map, presented by
Assistant City Manager
Richard M. Serrano.
Serrano explained that the
proposed ordinance would
prohibit businesses which the
community feels are un-desirable,
such as junk yards,
mobile home parks, and new
bars from being built in the
city.
At present," Serrano
pointed out, "We have
warehouses, bars and
junkyards in the middle of
residential areas. A zoning
ordinance would give the city
legal power to prohibit this."
Under the ordinance, areas
of South Tucson would be
designated for specific uses-single-
family residences,
mobile homes, industrial, and
three classes of commercial
use.
Serrano described the three
commercial zones as:
C -1: Neighborhood com-
Inside
today
Mariachis 4
Police controversy 5
Sister city 10
School segregation? 16
Crisis center 18
mercial- atrocery -,orec, beauty
shops, and restaurants.
C -2: Light industry-4
including wholesale
warehouses, welding and auto
parts shops and light manufac
turing.
C -3: Industrial park area -u
similar to C -2, but with higher
standards for setback, spacing
and landscaping.
Apartment buildings and
other multiple -family dwellings
might be classified as
residential or C -I, Serrano said.
Industrial classification
would be for heavy industries
which might offend residents
with noise, vibrations and
pollutants, he said.
Anyone who violates the
ordinance could be cited and
fined up to $300 or imprisoned
for up to six months under the
proposed draft, Serrano said.
"Under any zoning or-dinance,"
Serrano said, "We
could not close down any
existing business or residence
which violated the ordinance
unless the property were
vacated for 90 days, according
to state law."
Because of this, Serrano
said, benefits of the zoning
ordinance will not be seen
immediately.
Serrano said he hopes to
have a final draft of the or-dinance
ready for a vote by the
mayor and council by the
middle of June.
"We saw we had a problem in
February 1974, when the city
adopted a building code, which
set standards for things like
electrical wiring, plumbing,
ventilation and structural
support," he said.
"As long as a business met
these standards, we had to give
them a building permit
regardless of what kind of
business was being opened,"
said Serrano, who is the city
ldh'r ^ffic=ai, a d insuas the
building perriits.
"A man set up a warehouse
in the middle of a residential
area, another man opened a
'junkyard in his back yard,"
Serrano said. "We would get a
rash of complaints every time a
new business opened, and
legally there was nothing we
could do."
When the land -use com-mittee
was formed in December
1974, it designed a plan which
called for a zoning ordinance
and a building moratorium on
new businesses in the city.
"The moratorium is still in
effect until a zoning ordinance
is approved," Serrano said.
$150,000 in federal money has
been requested from the U.S.
Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD).
These funds are part of a
$350,000 preliminary grant
application the -city has sub-mitted
for next year.
"However, we will definitely
go ahead with the plans for the
plaza regardless of whether or
not we get this sum," Kaf-fenberger
said.
South Tucson has already
received approval for a $76,000
grant from HUD for home
improvements in the Yaqui
village.
The funds should arrive
within three weeks, according
to the community development
director.
A five -member Citizen's
Grant Review Board will be
formed to distribute funds in
the form of grants or loans to
owners of the 33 homes in the
village.
Home owners would use the
funds to bring the residences
up to building specifications,
by improving such things as
plumbing and roofing, he said.
Kaffenberger said he is
hoping "dramatic im-provements"
would be seen in
the village within a year.
The village is located on
37th, 38th and 39th streets
between South 10th and South
12th Avenues.
The $76,000 HUD grant was
awarded under the Housing
and Community Development
Act of 1974.
Kaffenberger said half of the
$200,000 requested for building
improvements in next year's
grant is designated for a "high
Please turn to page 3
Wanted: New owner
for Pima Hospital
By SUSAN TRYNISKI
and JOHN BULLOCK
Despite a formal request by
South Tucson officials to
maintain Pima County General
Hospital as a medical sub-station,
the county Capital
Planning Committee (CPC) has
recommended the facility be
sold for commercial use.
The old county hospital,
2900 S. Sixth Ave., built in the
1930's, will be phased out when
Kino Community Hospital
opens in October.
James J. Murphy Jr.,
c,)d'r!nan n CPO and d3puty
Pima County manager, said the
committee could not foresee a
need to use the building as a
county facility.
The recommendation was
made in a CPC report planning
nine -year county space needs
and five -year capital im-provements.
The report was
forwarded to the Pima County
Board of Supervisors for
consideration last week.
The supervisors will make
the final decision concerning
the use or demise of the
facility.
The South Tucson mayor and
city council had requested the
facility be kept open for a 24-
hour out -patient clinic and
emergency service facility for
South Tucsonans unable to
reach Kino, 2800 E. Ajo Way.
Mayor Dan W. Eckstrom said
South Tucson can do nothing
to fight the CPC's recom-mendation
to the supervisors
except "exert some influence in
the form of a request or
resolution."
Board of Supervisors
Chairman Joseph A. Castillo
said the board will begin study
sessions concerning the Pima
Please turn to page 2
A} á1t,,Lá1O:i
en Esparot
Entre los artículos que
publica en este numero "El
independiente' figuran unas
sobre la desegregación,
medicaid, yyla educación de
adultos. Están en las paginas
12, 13, y 15.
Hay también un ensayo en
fotos y un articulo sobre Ures,
Sonora, la nueva ciudad -
hermana de South Tucson, que
están en las páginas 10 y 11.
Se incluiran artículos en el
idioma español en "El In-dependiente"
sobre temas y
asuntos locales.
Two clients at the Gateway LARC participate in a game of checkers. LARC, open 24 hours a day,
provides counseling and referral services to alcoholics. See story page 6.
- Photo by H. Darr Baiser