I was recently showing land to a couple from Iowa who were put off by the idea of building a custom home on a parcel that had a regulated wash going through a portion of it. This led to a lengthy conversation about washes in Tucson and how they effect the value, desirability and buildability of a lot. Without getting too technical (I’ll leave this to the excellent staff of Hydrologists that are readily accessible to anyone by visiting the Pima County Flood Plain Dep’t), here are some brief thoughts.

Washes, also referred to by some as runoff, arroyos, riparian areas or flood plain,  are found throughout every area in Tucson. Generally, wash areas create wonderful habitat for both flora and fauna unlike other parts of the desert. We’ll see animals roaming and hunting in them, large shrubs and trees growing in them and thick, diverse vegetation, including big saguaros, growing on their banks. The more active a wash is, the more of a defined, sandy bottom you’ll see. Depending on the size and amount of water a wash carries, the County has established safe setback areas which determine how close  a home can be built to the wash. For small washes this distance is typically 50 feet but it is encumbent upon a buyer to find out the exact setback for any wash on a property they’re considering. Washes on property lines or just outside property lines are the best case as they provide shade, beauty, privacy  and a buffer from neighboring lots with no negative effect on the land. This type of wash will generally add value to a parcel and make it more desirable. When a wash traverses, or goes through a parcel, we have to be more diligent in understanding it’s impact on the value and buildability of a lot. This is when its time to make  a quick trip to the flood plain office. In general, I’m always more concerned about washes when buying unsubdivided land versus parcels in a platted subdivision as subdivision developers are required to do extensive engineering to identify any flood plain impact on the lots and disclose the results on the recorded plat map. Buyer’s of unsubdivided land must find this out on their own.

Many people prefer having a wash area on or next to their homesite and I’d put myself in that camp. I think they are a big part of what distinguishes Tucson Land from building lots in many of the places from around the country we all come from.

They let us live at close, but safe proximity to nature and help us appreciate the natural beauty of Tucson.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 8th, 2010 at 3:20 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.