COVID-19 PANDEMIC PROGRAM ENDING
Between 2020 and 2023, businesses had the opportunity to create their own Shared Space on City-owned property under the Temporary Expansion of Restaurant Seating / Expansion of Premises (TEOP) initiative. Due to the initiative's popularity as well as increased demand for outdoor dining and community gathering spaces, the City has created the ongoing Shared Spaces: Parklet + Streateries Program. Businesses can now sponsor an annual or pop-up Shared Space through the Temporary Revocable Easement (TRE) permitting process. If you are a business owner or resident and would like to sponsor a Shared Space, please review the 2025 updated Shared Spaces Manual for further directions on how to begin your application!
Any installations done under a TEOP will either need to be removed, or be officially approved with a Temporary Revocable Easement (TRE). In order for installations that were approved during the pandemic to remain in place, they must be re-permitted and deemed Code compliant by the City.
Do you need to do anything?
City of Tucson staff are available to assist businesses with their desired transition. For those wishing to keep their installations, applications are required, and it may take three to four months for the review processes to reach approval. Keep reading to learn what may apply to you.
Businesses with a Streatery
Figure 1.El Charro Platform Streatery Figure 2. Bombole Sidewalk Cafe
Expanded Seating in the Public Right of Way
Business owners that obtained a Temporary Expansion of Premises (TEOP) TRE between March 2020 and January 2023 are required to transition to a new longer-term TRE that will renew annually, or remove their installations. To apply to stay in place, a site plan demonstrating the proposed location of the outdoor seating will need to be submitted and review for compliance completed with applicable fire and accessibility codes. The draft Tucson Shared Spaces Manual (v20250701) can help provide guidance on what to include in your site plan submittal.
More information regarding seating on Right-of-Way sites:
Patio Seating Expansions
Figure 3. Prep & Pastry Patio Expansion
Expanded Seating on Private Property
Business and property owners that installed seating on private property between March 2020 and January 2023 must submit a site plan demonstrating the proposed location of permanent outdoor seating, which would be reviewed for compliance with zoning and applicable codes. A recent update to the City’s Unified Development Code (UDC) allows restaurants and bars to apply for an Individual Parking Plan (IPP) to reduce required parking if needed. If proven to meet certain findings, businesses may be able to reduce the number of parking spaces required by code on their site, which may support a more permanent outdoor seating design.
More information for private property sites and patio expansions on private property:
Mark Castro, Principal Planner, Planning and Development Services Department, mark.castro@tucsonaz.gov, 520.837.4979
We live in a city with a limited number of neighborhood parks.
Parklets provide valuable privately-funded and privately-maintained public spaces for people to read, play, and socialize. Parklets convert on-street parking spaces into community gathering places, creating more vibrant commercial districts.
Streateries are a new way to support these goals while also responding to the demand for more outdoor café seating in Tucson, particularly in areas where sidewalks are too narrow for sidewalk cafés.
Pop-up Parklets or Streateries are very temporary in nature, typically put in place for short durations of time for special events.
While Shared Spaces may take on different forms in the future, the City of Tucson is currently focused on the following applications:
Parklet
Streatery
Pop-Up Parklet or Streatery
On August 10, 2021, Tucson’s Mayor and Council approved a Resolution allowing businesses to begin using a draft manual to prepare their applications for “streateries.” As the title indicates, streateries are installations of seating on or near a street, typically in support of a commercial business, such as a restaurant or bar. The manual explains things that must be considered when designing a streatery, how to put together a conceptual site plan for review with City staff, and how to provide technical drawings as submittals.
The Shared Spaces Manual below is the finalized and most current version as of June 2025
ATTACHMENT_A_-_TUCSONS_SHARED_SPACES_MANUAL-2.pdf(PDF, 20MB)
Please complete the Pre-Application Conference process where you can submit the Site Eligibility Submittal checklist, Site Guideline checklist, Site Eligibility plan, images of the existing site, and the project narrative, as shown in the Shared Spaces Manual. The Pre-Application Conference will serve as the Site Eligibility Application noted in the Shared Spaces Manual. Below are step-by-step instructions for completing this application in the Tucson Development Center Online portal.(PDF, 612KB)
PRE-APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS(PDF, 612KB)