Blog Post 8-21-07
Tubac is undergoing some significant land use changes as development both adds to and takes away lifestyle options for it's residents. We who live here, may have thought things would never change as we came to like the idea of a "good" coffee shop & "upscale" food market in Tubac. But even that is a change from the way things were and represents "growth".
This article by Tony Davis in the Arizona Daily Star Tubac mired in debate: Stay rural or go suburban? poses an interesting question. Will Tubac be able to grow up AND remain an attractive community for it's residents and visitors? Will the community be able to achieve growth with constraints that will foster and preserve the essence of Tubac's rural character?
Given some of the projects that have been proposed and ones in the process of trying to gain county and community support it appears that there is a clash of intents. Large scale development like so many other things "American" has gone toward "super sized" to bring an economy of scale to the projects. This makes sense given that there are some very expensive hurdles to building out a high density development east of the Santa Cruz river. Such improvements as access roads and bridges will be necessary for these types of developments and they come with a price.
The clash that developers have with long time residents and would be residents is one of expectation. Current Tubac residents and many people who hope to live there like the town the way it is. Their expectation is that things will pretty much stay the same. They do realize however, that some improvements would be desirable and enhance their lifestyles. Some developers on the other hand, see the potential in building out the Tubac area with more homes & the roads needed for traffic flow, as a plan to build the kind of developments they have built elsewhere. These developers expect things to go as they have gone elsewhere and after overcoming some community and county imposed hurdles they will begin to change the area for the better. An earlier blog post on commuting I made, discussed the process of community reaction to development.
Most of the people I have discussed this with don't want Tubac to become like all the other areas and loose the unique character it has now and those developers who work with small scale or "boutique" style projects vs "super-sized" ones could be in a better position to actually improve the community and gain support for their projects.
If Tubac didn't have such a rich history of settlement by the Spanish, a lovely siting in a valley of the Santa Cruz River, wonderful mountain surroundings and a fine Arts Community, it probably wouldn't matter if the area developed into more residential subdivisions and retail shopping.... But Tubac IS different and is not likely to support any development that compromises the character of the community.