This item is preserved as part of MPA’s advocacy archive. It was originally distributed as a Be Heard alert regarding an April 29, 2026 City of Tucson Board of Adjustment hearing.

KB Home’s Enclaves at Tumamoc proposal involved 129 individually owned single-family homes on approximately 19 acres near St. Mary’s Hospital. The site included both R-1 and O-3 zoning and proposed use of the City of Tucson’s Flexible Lot Development (FLD) option for clustered residential development.

The project

According to the Be Heard alert, the project proposed approximately 90% more open space than required under the FLD provisions. Its location near St. Mary’s Hospital, downtown Tucson and Tumamoc Hill was presented as an opportunity for infill housing within an already developed part of the city.

The Board of Adjustment appeal

The appeal focused on how the FLD option should relate to Plan Tucson and applicable area or neighborhood plans. The appellant argued for a stricter standard of conformance, while the City’s Zoning Administrator had determined that FLD projects are required to generally conform with applicable planning policies rather than treat those policy documents as zoning regulations.

The Be Heard alert compared the dispute with arguments raised in the 2019 Mountain Enclave case, where a similar Zoning Administrator determination was upheld by the Board of Adjustment and later challenged in court.

Why Be Heard shared the case

The alert argued that the outcome could affect more than a single project. In Be Heard’s view, applying a strict-compliance standard to planning-policy documents could make the FLD process more difficult to use for medium- and large-scale infill housing in parts of Tucson covered by area or neighborhood plans, while also increasing review time for City staff.

The original communication encouraged the development community to participate in the hearing and support the Zoning Administrator’s interpretation of the FLD process.