The The Town of Oro Valley commissioned a study of apartments. "The purpose of this study is to provide information to assist the governing body in evaluating Oro Valley’s housing mix and upcoming apartment proposals." (Source)
The study is a follow on to action item 135 in the 2016 Your Voice Our Future General Plan. That action item called for "Developing a housing plan that addresses the needs
of a diverse community." (2016 General Plan Page 81).
Almost 3,000 apartments now
"Oro Valley currently has 12 apartment communities with a total of 2,961 units, 790 of which were completed in the last five years....Oro Valley has 19,295 housing units and apartments represent a 15.3% share of all Oro Valley housing units."(Source: Report Page 10). By our estimate, apartments house approximately 8,400 residents. The occupancy rate is 96%,
The town is zoned for an additional 95.5 acres of apartments. The Town is currently processing five apartment proposals that would add 1,036 units, housing approximately 2,400 residents. The average rent is $1,123 per month. There are two more anticipated requests that would add 712 units housing approximately 1,660 residents.
Many more on the way.. if council chooses
There are five apartment complex request under consideration and two more are anticipated. If all are approved, they will add 1,748 apartments to the town's inventory, increasing apartment capacity by 59%.
Two of these requests require no council approval. These are circled with a solid line in the map at right. They total 83 apartments.
The other five of these seven requests require rezoning of 83 acres to accommodate 98% of the planned units.
Thus, residents, through council, have 'control' over what happens with these as resident participation in the process will be required.
Oracle corridor the target
All but one of the seven complexes will be built on or near Oracle Road as can be seen in the panel map. These 1,665 apartments will add about 3,000 cars along Oracle Road daily.
Oracle traffic will increase substantially
Traffic on Oracle Road, which is already heavy, will be even heavier. The area most hard hit will be from Hardy to Ina Road, an area with high traffic accident rates and long light cycles. The problem is that Oro Valley does not have the businesses to employ these several thousand household workers. And it likely that Oro Valley will not have added jobs for many years to come. Like it or nor, Oro Valley is a commuter community.
The report is an advertising circular supporting apartment construction in Oro Valley
We urge each LOVE reader to download and read the report. It alleges that it debunks all alleged concerns residents have had regarding apartment growth. Some of the "concerns" are simply foolish such as the impact on our community of lower income families. We've not heard that voiced as a concern.
The issues it does address are done in a very superficial way.
For example, one alleged concern is that the school system does not have capacity to house a significant number of new students. Don't worry! According to the report: "Renter household sizes tend to be smaller, with fewer children, resulting in less of an impact on schools than new single-family homes. That may be true but it does not provide real data for consideration.
The report also dismisses the issue of possible crime increase because of an increase in household density as not supported by fact. Seems to us that a thief could ride the bus up and down Oracle Road and have a party since that's where all the apartments are.
There are many other, important issues that need to be considered such as the density of housing and its impact on Oracle Road, as we've mentioned, and the substantial increase in water use.
The report will be heard by the Planning and Zoning Commission tonight.
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