Related Practices

Education

LL.M., Washington University School of Law, 1971
J.D., University of Kansas School of Law, 1970
B.A., University of Kansas, 1965

Bar Admissions

Arizona, 1975

Frank S. Bangs Jr.

Partner

vCard

Tucson

One S. Church Avenue
Suite 700
Tucson, Arizona 85701

Phone 520.629.4405

Fax 520.879.4701

About Frank Bangs

Mr. Bangs is a senior partner in the firm’s Tucson office, practicing in the areas of land use, zoning and real estate. He has extensive experience in state and local government legislation, administrative law and related litigation. His land use practice includes representation of clients in rezoning, variance, subdivision, development agreement, initiative and referendum matters.

Mr. Bangs was an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Tucson from 1975 to 1983, providing legal advice in the area of land use controls—zoning, subdivision, floodplain and sign regulation as well as representation of the City in both state and federal courts. Collateral assignments included redevelopment, economic development, representation of the City in utility regulation matters and liaison with City’s bond counsel.

Mr. Bangs served as the editor of the Land Use Controls Service of the American Society of Planning Officials (now the American Planning Association) from 1971 to 1974.

Mr. Bangs is listed in the 2011 edition of Chambers USA America’s Leading Business Lawyers, by Chambers and Partners Publishers, in the category of Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use.

Memberships and Affiliations

Pima County Bar Association, Member
American Planning Association, Member
Arizona Planning Association, Member and Former Board Member (1984-1986)
Metropolitan Pima Alliance, Public Policy Committee, Member (2009-present)
Southern Arizona Water Resources Association, Former President (1993-1994) and Board Member (1989-1994)
Arizona Theater Company, Former Board of Trustees Member (1989-1991)

Publications

Co-Author, “Public and Private Land Use," Chapt. 3.1, Arizona Environmental Law Manual, State Bar of Arizona, 1995
Author, “The Hearing Officer: Alternatives in Zoning and Subdivision Procedure,” Land Resources: Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Institute on Zoning and Planning, Bureau of Urban and Regional Planning Research, Univ. of Ill., June 1975
Co-Editor, “Transferable Development Rights," Planning Advisory Service Report No. 304, March 1975
Co-Author, “Zoning for Family and Group Care Facilities," PAS Rpt 300, March 1974
Co-Author, “Planned Unit Development Ordinances,” PAS Rpt 291, May 1973
Author, “PUD in Practice: The State and Local Legislative Response,” in Frontiers of Planned Unit Development: A Synthesis of Expert Opinion, Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers Univ., 1973
Author, “Urban Land Policy: Some Proposals for Change,” Planning, Vol. 38, May 1972
Co-Author, “Local Planning and Development Control: One Bad Apple Spoils the Barrel,” 1971 Land Use Controls Annual 27

Speaking Engagements

Speaker, "Planning Ethics," APA Arizona State Planning Conference, September 2011
Speaker, "Proposition 207: Dollars or Diminished Value," State Bar of Arizona Real Property Section Luncheon, March 2007
Speaker, "Proposition 207: How Does it Affect My Property?" Sponsored by Inside Tucson Business, February 2007
Speaker, "The Zoning of Big Boxes and McMansions: Controlling Land Use, Competition or Social Preferences?" The Center for American and International Law Annual Program on Planning, Zoning and Eminent Domain, San Francisco, California, December 2003
Co-Chair and faculty member, "Land Use Update," State Bar of Arizona, Arizona Planning Association and the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (1989-present)
School of Planning, College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona, Adjunct Lecturer on land use law, 2001-2002

Court Admissions

U.S. District Court, Arizona, 1980

Other Distinctions

Mr. Bangs has an "AV/Preeminent Attorney" rating with Martindale-Hubbell. He is listed in the 2003-2012 editions of The Best Lawyers in America ®, by Woodward/White, Aiken, S.C. in the categories of Land Use & Zoning Law and Real Estate Law. He has been named Best Lawyers'® Lawyer of the Year in 2012 in Land Use & Zoning Law. In 2009, Mr. Bangs was recognized in Best Lawyers as Tucson's Lawyer of the Year in the Real Estate Law category. He is listed in the 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2012 editions of Southwest Super Lawyers in the category of Land Use/Zoning. He has been listed in the 2005-2010 editions of Chambers USA America’s Leading Business Lawyers, by Chambers and Partners Publishers, in the category of Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use. Mr. Bangs was also included in the April 2010 edition of AZ Business' Top Lawyers, in the category of Construction & Real Estate Law.

Mr. Bangs received a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Tucson for serving on the Zoning Code Revision Subcommittee in 1995. He also received the Award for Excellence from the American Planning Association in 1998 for participation as a juror on the National Planning Awards Committee.