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Resident's Have A New Voice With Utilities |
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A year ago, utilities coming into Tucson had the attitude that they could run the development show, that residents had no effective voice in their plans, and the city was preempted by various laws so our involvement was minimal, at best.
First came the telecom’s. New 5G cell poles like this one started popping up in residential neighborhoods, right outside peoples’ front windows.
At first, city staff told me our hands were tied by FCC and state rules. But together we took on the telecom’s, and today we have a utility infrastructure manual that requires significantly more public outreach than before, and it restricts new cell poles to within 150’ of any other ‘vertical element.’ That means the utilities finally have to work together on collocating these new poles, and messes like the one in the picture will become a thing of the past.
And then there’s TEP. For months they’ve engaged in a public outreach that, while it included lots of members of the public, the message was ‘we’re the utility, the project is going forward, it will be above ground, pick your poison when it comes to choosing a route.’ This is a simulation of what TEP had planned for the Speedway/Campbell intersection.
My message, and that of many of you I’ve worked with on this is ‘the city is not zoned Industrial from end to end, this is unacceptable aesthetically, bury it.’ And last week the Mayor and City Council voted unanimously to join as a party in litigating against this visually obnoxious design plan TEP felt was appropriate for midtown.
Getting to this point with utilities has been time consuming, at times frustrating, and now rewarding. The reward is for the long term benefit of everyone in the city. That includes residents who live here and who happen to be employed by the utilities. Why? Because the visual appeal of a city affects the economic potential of the city. That means jobs, quality of life, aesthetic benefits, and we simply don’t have to live with the ugly that the utilities have felt was their right to inflict on residents – until now.
Each telecom pole will now go through the new, more rigorous siting process. And the TEP project will now enter an all new conversation about how the project will impact our city. And all utilities have now heard that we care about how our city looks. We value the service they provide, but that is only one piece of the quality of life issues that will now be integral to conversations surrounding new development.
Getting to this point has taken work and commitment. Many of you have been a part of that along the way. My staff and I will continue working with you in the months ahead, preserving your property investments, and standing strong in the face of inappropriately scaled development.
Thanks for your strong partnership along the way.
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