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  Pima County has proposed changing zoning rules to allow someone to run a small bakery business from home and to make it easier for developers to include \"green\" amenities in buildings. The changes are part of the county's efforts to promote developments that use resources more efficiently and \"to eliminate potential barriers\" to green building, said Assistant Planning Director Chris Poirier. \"We're opening the door to allow for that,\" he said. \"They're still subject to all the other standards, and they still have to get a state permit.\"

While the county already requires larger subdivisions to have a \"recreational access plan\" that ensures access to parks and other amenities, those requirements don't apply to projects with 65 or fewer homes. Those developers can pay an in-lieu fee to avoid the rules. \"We want to break down barriers to access,\" [Chris Poirier] said. \"There may be things in the code that are getting in the way of access, and we want to take a look at that.\" \"That's a pretty large part of the problem,\" he said. \"We find that in a number of locations. You might have a series of east-west streets without enough north-south streets crossing them. The kids end up walking far out of their way on busy arterial streets.\"

\"We just don't see that type of development in more rural settings,\" [Chris Poirier] said. \"You'll see that within the city, maybe downtown, or the University of Arizona. That was just not a very pragmatic.\" \"They're stripping all the good stuff out, reducing density, making it less usable for people with limited income,\" he said. \"I realize that they've had a very difficult time economically, but we have to be concerned about the quality of our communities.\" \"As long as they're not increasing the yield, we think that we could be flexible,\" he said, referring to attempts to upzone, or increase development density. \"We're responsive to changing times, and we're trying to stay ahead of things.\"

\"When someone buys 20 acres, they assume you're going to build as much as you can,\" [David Mahmoodi] said of his plans. \"I think it was a relief to (area residents) that it was only one house.\" \"This is not something that we've dealt with,\" said David Petersen, a senior planner with the county's Development Services. \"For the longest time, golf was a thriving industry.\" \"It's not going down well with millennials,\" [Tom Starrs] said. \"All signs are pointing to golf as probably being a sport that's diminishing very much in popularity with upcoming generations.\"

\"What we did early on is advised the church to work with neighbors, even though if they're able to design to our regulations, they don't need to,\" [Chris Poirier] said. Insisting on a spire would have required a public hearing, he added. \"I don't think there is any secret that the concerns of association members of any project have to do with typical things like height, color, traffic patterns and lighting,\" he said. \"(The church) responded and addressed all of those issues.\" \"The office complex would have occupied much more of the land and been much nearer to the neighborhood,\" [Stan Kartchner] said. \"The temple will be situated in such a way that there is a large buffer between the temple, its land and the adjoining neighborhood.\"

The proposals for about 300 acres of development are up for consideration at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, but they've been in the pipeline for a while, said Chris Poirier, assistant planning director at Pima County's Development Services Department. Though Development Services hasn't seen an increase in housing development zoning applications, it has seen a lot of other activity during the recession, Poirier said. \"We still seem to see a steady flow of time extensions, requests to keep rezonings alive,\" he said. People are also requesting changes to rezonings already approved. \"December was a strong month,\" Poirier said. Anecdotally, we're seeing a little more across the board.\"

The county's planner, Arlan Colton, told [Curtis] that it now takes developers longer to get plans approved and projects ready to start construction because of the slow economy. Add delays in financing for some projects and it became evident the county's deadlines may be too strict, he said. As Tucson City Councilwoman Regina Romero said of a similar extension process passed unanimously last month by the City Council, \"It's a win-win. If we can provide regulatory relief to developers in this economic climate, it's a smart thing to do.\" Ed Taczanowsky, president of the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, told us at the time that an administrative extension \"would be a great help,\" and the proposed fee schedule did not seem unreasonable.

\"I think the studio was kind of built on the premise of if you build it they will come,\" says [Darren Magierowski]. \"It's kind of the same caliber studio you would find in New York or L.A. or Nashville.\" \"People are looking to go out and be interactive and find something to do and the whole pool hall era is passing on,\" [Kevin Huynh] says. \"I think ping pong is the next big thing.\" From left: [Gianmarco Silano], [Adam Clermont] and Kevin Huynh are opening Serve Ping Pong Bar & Lounge. Far right: Chris Poirier with a sample of his leather goods. Darren Magierowski, head engineer, works the console imported from the Abbey Road studio. John Rennison, The Hamilton Spectator Gary Yokoyama, The Hamilton Spectator Handout photo, Chris Poirier

  \"It feels so good,\" [Jesse Wall] said of winning the event. \"It feels amazing. I've been sick and injured the last two and a half months and that's been in my head and I just wanted to win one time,\" he said. \"You know, we've been on the podium for four years in a row and I just can't quite crack it, so I'm really glad it finally happened.\" Wall and [Christina Arsenault] have been competing since 2010, when she said she was \"wicked small\" and Wall was \"wicked strong.\" They hoped then to \"make some waves in the wife-carrying world,\" but had only managed two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes. \"Every year, it seems like there's been a roadblock for us,\" Wall said. \"We lost to the World Champion, Taisto Miettinen, shoulder to shoulder at the log hurdle in 2012.\"

His research is aimed at treating insulin resistance syndrome, which increases the risk of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, \"all of special concern in the Latino population,\" the UA said in a news release. In 2009, he received the American Diabetes Association's Cure Award. He will coordinate all land-use and zoning-code changes and oversee implementation of the Pima Prospers Comprehensive Plan. \"One aspect of this plan I am extremely excited to address ... is promoting in-fill and re-use of land,\" [Chris Poirier] said in a news release. \"Anyone who has lived here over time has witnessed the expansion of our urban and suburban areas. It is now time to take a hard look at promoting development in areas that already have infrastructure.\" [Patrick Dooley] has more than 23 years of experience in accounting and has been Sundt's assistant controller for three years. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting from the University of Arizona, and is a certified public accountant.