Dawn Sinclair has lived in the Broadmor neighborhood of Tempe for more than a decade, and she and others are angry about proposed plans at a house off South Mill Avenue to build a two-story accessory dwelling unit for the property owner’s adult son to live in.
Sinclair and other neighbors are not happy with plans for the 18-foot-tall building at 36 E. Cairo Drive and claimed it was an invasion of privacy and would negatively affect property values.
Sinclair said she would support the project if it was only one level and she is not anti-ADU.
“All of us paid more than asking price because this is a super popular neighborhood,” Sinclair said referring to the other speakers from the neighborhood who opposed the new structure.
In May the Arizona state Legislature passed House Bill 2720 that requires all cities larger than 75,000 to allow ADU building on lots zoned for single-family homes. Days later, House Bill 2928 passed that “requires counties to adopt consistent, fair rules allowing both attached and detached ADUs on lots zoned for single-family homes.”
Tempe City Council adopted an ordinance on June 6, 2025, that allowed public feedback of future projects. Neither of the decisions speak to two-story units specifically, leaving the decision to Tempe officials.
Representing Cairo Drive, or the Harvey residence, was Tim Linklater from 3C contracting. He said the owners, the Harvey family, were trying to find a way for their son to live with them and that if the ADU was not approved, they would move to a new residence that is more accommodating.
Linklater said he had never seen this much backlash on an ADU before.
“A lot of the folks that have been in the community for a while are just used to the way that things used to be even though things are changing because of the housing needs,” he said.
Other neighbors complained about privacy and that a second story unit with a window would allow people to look into nearby yards.
Linklater said the unit’s second story would only be for storage and is not tall enough for most adults to stand in.
Many homes in the NuVista subdivision, where Sinclair and the Harveys live, are priced between $400,000 and $600,000. Sinclair argues a two-story building would decrease the value of homes in the subdivision.
Mark Stapp, the Fred E. Taylor Professor of Real Estate at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey school of business, said each property is specific, but impacting the entire neighborhood would be unlikely.
“I doubt it,” he said about the possibility of an ADU negatively affecting a property value. “I think it is just matter of the immediate properties around them.”
Stapp said factors such as the size of the property lot, and proximity to other private properties would affect overall value, but that many instances are very specific to the case.
ADUs can add value because of more square footage and other uses like another bathroom, kitchen and living space that can rented to make the property owner more money.
Linklater was clear the residence would not acquire new occupants and the only person in the space would be their son. If the property owners could not build the ADU, they would move to somewhere that would better fit the family.
The council went into executive session to discuss legal questions with City Attorney Eric Anderson and later voted on a continuance motion to get an opinion from the city zoning administrator before voting on the use permit. Councilmember Adams was not present at the meeting and did not vote on this item.
No dates for a vote to approve the appeal have been set, however Anderson said during the meeting that it could take over a month for a final opinion.
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