Tucson microshelter site may expand before opening

For residents near North Estrella Avenue, a microshelter project that has sat empty for years could grow before its first occupants arrive. The Homing Project is seeking permission to add 10 cabins to the 10 already built in the Keeling neighborhood, near North Stone Avenue and East Fort Lowell Road. The expansion could allow as many as 29 people to live at the site, but the proposal has divided nearby residents, with some questioning why the original cabins are not operating and others saying additional shelter is urgently needed.

The existing cabins are 64 square feet each and occupy a dirt lot in the 2900 block of North Estrella Avenue. The nonprofit, founded by former doctor Kristin Olson-Garewal, owns the structures and leases the property rent-free from the Southern Arizona Land Trust. That arrangement is connected to a longer-term plan for an apartment complex on the land. The Homing Project agreed to install permanent utility improvements that would remain on the property and help make a future apartment development more affordable. The lease expires in June 2028.

The project has been in development for more than four years, and the first 10 shelters remain unoccupied. Although the cabins can be assembled in about an hour, the permit for the original group was not issued until March 2025. The nonprofit initially hoped to open in August, then moved the target to mid-October. Neighbors William Lekas and Donna McDermott, who live two doors from the site, said they have sometimes struggled to reach someone at the nonprofit and have seen work stop for periods of time. They support seeing the first phase completed before the site becomes larger.

One major delay involved fire protection. The city told the nonprofit that every cabin would need a sprinkler system, a requirement Olson-Garewal disputes because of the cabins’ small size and the project’s plan to remove matches, lighters and cigarettes from residents. Under the proposed exception, the shelters would still have smoke alarms and fire extinguishers, according to Koren Manning, director of the city’s Planning and Development Services department. Public comments have raised concerns about reducing fire protections, while city officials say other safety measures would remain in place.

Tucson’s February declaration of a housing emergency opened the door for property owners to request temporary exemptions from certain development rules. The Homing Project applied to waive setback requirements, parking minimums, the required distance from another shelter and the sprinkler requirement. It also sought to reduce the number of parking spaces from 15 to seven. Olson-Garewal said those spaces would serve employees because the nonprofit does not plan to accept residents who have cars. The city has received only one application for these special exemptions more than seven months after adopting the emergency declaration.

The city’s approval process has also affected the opening timeline. The Homing Project will not be able to open the site until it receives a certificate of occupancy for the expanded number of units, even though the additional cabins will not be installed until the nonprofit raises enough money to buy them. Olson-Garewal said the project relies largely on individual donations and still needs $100,000 for the extra cabins. The site’s intended residents have changed as grant requirements shifted. It now plans to serve female survivors of domestic violence, focusing on particularly vulnerable residents ages 18 to 24 and those older than 50.

Neighborhood concerns extend beyond the cabins themselves. Laurie Clark, who lives about 200 feet away, is worried that the project could worsen parking pressure near Poverello House, a daytime shelter that provides meals, showers and a place to rest. Clark challenged the city’s zoning decision for Poverello House in 2023, arguing that the property’s classification as an adult daycare should not allow the city to bypass a requirement involving Arizona’s Department of Health Services. The Board of Adjustment rejected that appeal.

Manning said Tucson’s zoning code has no specific category for a daytime homeless shelter, so officials used adult daycare as the closest available description because Poverello House provides services during the day. Clark, a former architect, said she supports the original 10 cabins but worries that the city is moving too quickly and placing projects in lower income neighborhoods because it lacks better options. She said her experience with Poverello House has made her skeptical of promises about how a new facility will operate.

Other residents see the shelters as a possible improvement over current conditions. Debra Zeller, who lives across from Keeling Desert Park, described the park as a gathering place for unhoused people and said her home has been burglarized and she has encountered people carrying weapons. She said she sometimes changed her work schedule so she could return before dark. Despite those experiences, Zeller supports the expansion because she would rather see people have a designated place to stay than remain in the park. She also questioned how people can find work when they have nowhere secure to sleep or store their belongings.

The disagreement reflects Tucson’s broader shortage of temporary shelter. A 2024 EcoNorthwest report frequently cited by the city estimated that Tucson will need about 4,700 low barrier shelter units by 2045 to meet demand. Such shelters are intended to provide temporary housing along with services that help residents move into permanent housing or receive treatment for mental health or substance use conditions. The city had hoped its emergency declaration would encourage more projects, including sites modeled after Star Village, a tent community operated by the Primavera Foundation near East Grant Road and North Stone Avenue. Manning said high construction costs, limited federal funding and the difficulty of finding suitable land have slowed progress. The City Council is expected to receive an update on the housing emergency at its upcoming meeting, while public comments continue on whether temporary shelter code changes should become permanent.