Tucson expands low-barrier shelter plans and broadens violence-interruption strategy; council directs code review after Prop 3.12

City public-safety and housing officials told the mayor and council that the city will accelerate plans for a low-barrier congregate shelter and expand its place-based violence-reduction work while continuing daily outreach and services for people in encampments.

Housing and community-development staff described current shelter operations and outreach: the Housing First-operated Wildcat Inn and Desert Cove low-barrier shelters, interim hotel-based shelters used for Operation Deep Freeze, and an accelerated plan to stand up a 70-bed low-barrier congregate shelter at the Amphi Housing Resource Center (former Fire Station 8) by March 1. That site was funded in part by reallocated ARPA dollars the council had previously approved, staff said.

“Over the past year, Housing First has served approximately 2,000-plus individuals and families,” staff reported, and the city manages more than 200 supportive housing beds with more coming online through ongoing construction projects.

Police Chief Chad Kasmar and community safety staff described VIVA (violence interruption and vitalization action), a data-driven, place-based initiative originally focused on gun violence in three hot-spot locations and now broadened for a fourth site where chronic unsheltered-related quality-of-life crimes — trespass, theft, open-air drug use — had concentrated.

Kasmar said the program pairs targeted enforcement with community engagement, physical-place investments and multiagency services to disrupt criminal networks and support neighborhood revitalization. He highlighted the initiative’s shift from enforcement-only tactics toward “balance between enforcement action, accountability, and investments.”

Mayor Romero and others highlighted the interdependence of housing, public health and public safety responses. Council members praised the expansion of alternatives to incarceration such as diversion and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) options, and urged continued coordination with Pima County on detox and treatment pathways.

Separate but related: the council considered a city-attorney recommendation to prepare code cleanup to reduce the city’s exposure to claims under Proposition 3.12, a new state law that allows property owners to seek reimbursement of property taxes from the Arizona Department of Revenue (ADOR) when they allege a city has a practice or policy of not enforcing laws that affect their property. City Attorney Mike Rankin told the council that the measure’s mechanism shifts the burden of proof in litigation to the city and that removing or modernizing unenforceable or outdated ordinances (for example, solicitation-from-medians language that federal courts have since limited) would reduce the risk of claims.

Council then voted to authorize the city attorney to begin ordinance/code clean-up work in areas potentially implicated by Prop 3.12; the motion passed on a council roll call during the study session and subsequent regular meeting discussions. Council members also discussed the role of Proposition 4.14 (a proposed local revenue measure) in funding additional community-based service capacity such as community service officers, violence-interruption programs, and supportive housing.

City staff said they would continue regular reporting to the mayor and council on encampment management, shelter operations and VIVA progress and would coordinate with county partners to expand treatment and diversion opportunities.