The federal government plans to open a shelter in Tucson for unaccompanied migrant children crossing the border alone, but officials would have to seek zoning exemptions on the two locations being considered.
And that process could take months.
Southwest Key is seeking to turn a studio/apartment complex on North Oracle Road, north of downtown, or a southeast Tucson hotel into a shelter for children who are crossing the border illegally without parents or legal guardians, city and county documents show.
Last week, the city of Tucson gave the Austin, Texas-based nonprofit the permit to start interior renovations. But Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik, who represents Ward 6, said the certificate of occupancy will be denied because it’s within 500 feet of a residential area.
The group can seek an exemption with the zoning examiner, but he said, that would take several months. That’s time federal government doesn’t have.
Part of the issue is that the exemption requires a 30-day notice to residents of the surrounding neighborhood so they can voice their opinion. If the exemption is denied, Southwest Key can appeal.
City officials would not comment on Tuesday. However, they confirmed officials from the city’s planning and development services department met with Southwest Key representatives on Tuesday.
Pima County officials have said the organization would also have to go to the Board of Supervisors for a “modification of a rezoning condition” because the hotel had been previously approved for an assisted-living facility.
Southwest Key spokeswoman Cindy Casares referred questions to the Administration for Children and Families’ Office, which didn’t return a request for comment Tuesday.
The federal government is scrambling to deal with a surge of children and youth crossing the border illegally, mainly through South Texas, which is expected to climb to 90,000 this year.
Perla Trevizo 