The Scottsdale City Council amended during their Sept. 30 meeting the city’s zoning ordinance related to accessory dwelling units to comply with a state law.

The dwelling units are smaller, self-contained, and built on the same lot as a main single-family residence. While they are similar to guest houses, the buildings differ in that they must contain their own kitchen and sanitary facilities and may be rented out separately from the main house.

Scottsdale leaders opposed this legislation due to its potential impact on neighborhoods and the elimination of local control, but when the bill became law, the city then proceeded with updating its zoning ordinance via a text amendment.

What the law does and does not allow:

• One attached and one detached unit per single-family property may be built on residential lot. A third detached unit may be built on properties of 1 acre or more if at least one of the ADUs is an affordable housing unit.

• Per state law, Scottsdale’s text amendment restricts the size of multiple units on a single property to reduce impacts to neighborhoods, including potential impacts to water supply and sewer capacity. (State law and the Scottsdale zoning ordinance specify allowable sizes of ADUs in relation to the main dwelling or other units).

• Cities are restricted from requiring units to have fire sprinkler systems, on-site parking and setbacks of more than 5 feet.

• Cities are also prohibited from restricting the short- or long-term rental of a unit; Scottsdale requires an unit owner to live on site if it is used as vacation rental.
• Homeowner association rules may be more restrictive than the city ordinance.

While previous legislation passed in 2024 restricted building ADUs within the operating vicinity of airports, the new law reduced the size of those restriction areas and thus expanded areas in Scottsdale where ADUs can be built. (Portions of Scottsdale are within the operating vicinity of both Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Scottsdale Airport.)

As of Oct. 1, the City of Scottsdale has received one formal application for an ADU.

For information, visit ScottsdaleAZ.gov and search “ADUs.”