A Tucson city-sponsored pilot program to open a “tent city” for up to 25 women and “non-binary” people is creating a lot of anger.
Called the Serving Together and Rebuilding (STAR) Village pilot program, the plan has some city residents crying foul.
In fact, over 70 concerned residents gathered Monday night to voice their concerns at a location chosen by the Tucson Crime Free Coalition.
Tucson-STAR Village opens Oct 1, it will offer safe outdoor sleeping for 25 women and non-binary (homeless) people, according to a weekly newsletter. (off stone ave) Only 25? Where do straight homeless go?
— Ollie’s shitzu world (@Villa500Joe) August 24, 2025
Oliver Swan, a business owner, warned that the project might increase crime, disorder, and homelessness, according to local station KVOA.
Swan also suspects that the location chosen for the “tent city,” a dirt lot, wouldn’t even be beneficial for the people the mock shelter would serve.
“This is a dirt lot that’s adjacent to a low-income apartment community off of a major thoroughfare,” he said. “There is no services and no infrastructure for these non-binary individuals. It’s a physical problem.”
Jack Anderson Jr., another local and the president of the Sugar Hill Neighborhood Association, noted that crime is already a problem.
“There are stores that I don’t even go to because I get harassed just trying to get in the store,” he told attendees of the Monday meeting.
Tucson streets are filled with homeless drug users and mentally ill. Is a horrible thing to see. Crime is out of control. Mayor Regina Romero is opening an outdoor safe sleeping place for women and “non binary” people! Outrageous and ridiculous and not a solution.
— KC (@Karenca87388642) August 23, 2025
Jessica Allen, another local, reported similarly to station KGUN.
“A homeless man approached my autistic daughter in our backyard, while she was in our backyard, trying to talk to her,” she revealed. “So I started paying more attention in our neighborhood.”
And doing her part to lower crime and make things safer, which is why she isn’t happy at all with the city’s plans for her neighborhood.
“I was furious [when I found out,” she said. “I have worked so hard to make this a better neighborhood for everyone.”
She added that none of her neighbors even knew about the city’s plans to set up a homeless tent city in their community.
Speaking with local station KOLD, Anderson said that he, too, didn’t find out about the homeless encampment until the last minute.
“[W]e weren’t included in the planning, and that’s been a big issue for everyone,” he said. “Recently, we’ve made some progress over the years [on crime], and somehow this got snuck in on us.”
What he and others would like is for top city officials to stop covering their ears and start listening to their constituents.
“What we would like to see is for the city would take the feedback of the community because they have not gotten feedback,” Josh Jacobsen of the Tucson Crime Free Coalition said. “Remember, they have put out the message that they have already been in contact with the community; that’s not true.”
Tucson City Manager Chief of Staff Lane Mandle defended the project by claiming that providing housing for homeless women and “non-binary” people will make things better, not worse.
“We find, a lot of times, that these areas become better than they were initially by us having a presence,” he said. “I do anticipate that being the case here with STAR village as well.”
He added that he’s confident the program will, at the very least, be very beneficial to the homeless.
“Oftentimes, our pilot programs lead to very successful programs,” he said. “This may even be a case where we show through this program that other jurisdictions and other groups could perform a similar service to the community.”
The evidence suggests otherwise:
Tucson city government allowed this fentanyl encampment at Estevan Park in Ward 1. Now we’re about to have our first city-sanctioned low barrier encampment in Ward 3 at Grant and Stone. What’s going to become of that? Vote for common sense. Vote @janetfortucson. pic.twitter.com/m7Ak7jmLb3
— Tara Maldonado Oster (@FreedomLoverAZ) August 26, 2025
The evidence includes video footage showing Tucson’s other homeless encampments.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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