Tucson residents gathered this week to protest a city plan to open a temporary homeless encampment for women and non‑binary people, chanting “Stop STAR Village” and saying they were not consulted before the project was announced. The encampment, scheduled to open next month on a vacant lot in the Sugar Hill neighborhood, is expected to operate for at least a year, city officials said.
Opponents at a news conference and through an online petition said the location on a busy stretch of Grant Road threatens recent neighborhood revitalization, poses safety risks for residents and customers, and will ultimately fall on taxpayers to support. Jack Anderson Jr., a longtime Sugar Hill resident, told local station 13News he was particularly concerned for elderly people who walk through the area. "From my experience, I’ve seen good intentions (end) in a very bad way," Anderson said. "The biggest of the concerns the community has is that we weren’t included in the planning, and that’s been a big issue for everyone."
Local business owner Lindsey Dooley, who started a petition against the plan, wrote that she and other merchants have worked to "clean up and revitalize" the area and fear a legal campsite could reverse progress by increasing foot traffic, loitering, theft and drug use that would deter customers. Members of the community group Tucson Crime Free said city leaders have not properly solicited neighborhood feedback and disputed the city's claims about funding and shelter capacity.
City officials have described STAR Village as a pilot program intended to provide a managed space and services for people experiencing homelessness who are not accessing traditional shelters. Tucson City Manager Chief of Staff Lane Mandle said officials expect the encampment to bring a stronger service presence and oversight to the site. "We find, a lot of times, that these areas become better than they were initially by us having a presence," Mandle said. "I do anticipate that being the case here with STAR Village as well."
City organizers say the encampment will be exclusively for women and non‑binary homeless individuals and that funding will come from a mix of city budgets, local nonprofit partners and private fundraising. Opponents, including Tucson Crime Free, have argued that there is no dedicated funding stream and warned neighbors will bear the costs if promises fall short.
Tucson has seen a steep rise in homelessness in recent years. A government report last year found a 60 percent increase in overall homelessness between 2018 and 2023 and a roughly 300 percent rise in unsheltered homelessness over the same period. Those figures have shaped city officials' push to experiment with new shelter and encampment models, officials said.
Public debate over the encampment highlights a broader tension across U.S. cities between efforts to expand shelter options and neighborhood concerns about public safety and local economic impacts. Supporters of managed encampments argue they provide concentrated services and outreach to people who avoid traditional shelters, while critics say such sites can displace problems to residential and commercial areas if not carefully sited and funded.
City leaders say they plan to move forward with STAR Village in the coming weeks and that the pilot will include monitoring and assessment to determine whether the model should be continued or adapted. Opponents have called on city officials to delay or cancel the plan and to engage in further community consultation before the encampment opens.
As planning proceeds, neighborhood activists and business owners said they will continue to organize, with some pursuing legal or administrative challenges and others seeking more direct talks with city officials. The city has said it will provide more details to the public about operations and oversight before the site opens.