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HB2375 - 572R - H Ver
*Sponsorship has changed since the bill was introduced
House Engrossed
housing; zoning;
historic neighborhoods
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2375
AN
ACT
amending section 9-462.13, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to housing.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 9-462.13, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
9-462.13.
Zoning; development; middle housing; applicability; definitions
A.
On or before January 1,
2026, a municipality with a population of seventy-five thousand persons
or more must authorize
,
by ordinance and incorporate into
its development regulations, zoning regulations and other official controls
,
the development of duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and
townhomes as a permitted use on both of the following:
1. All lots zoned for single-family
residential use within one mile of the municipality's central business
district.
2. At least twenty percent of any new development of
more than ten contiguous acres.
B. The municipality may not do any of the following:
1. Discourage the development of middle housing
through requirements or actions that individually or cumulatively make
impracticable the permitting, siting
,
or
construction of middle housing.
2. Restrict middle housing types to less than two
floors.
3. Restrict middle housing types to a floor area
ratio of less than fifty percent.
4. Set restrictions, permitting or review processes
for middle housing that are more restrictive than those for single-family
dwellings within the same zone.
5. Require owner occupancy of any structures on the
lot.
6. Require any structures to comply with a
commercial building code or to contain a fire sprinkler.
7. Require more than one off-street parking space
per unit.
C. This section does not prohibit the governing body
of a municipality from allowing either of the following:
1. Single-family dwellings in areas zoned for
single-family dwellings.
2. Additional types of middle housing not required
under this section.
D. This section does not apply to any of the
following:
1. Areas that are not incorporated.
2. Areas that lack sufficient urban services.
3. Areas that are not served by water and sewer
services.
4. Areas that are not zoned for residential use.
5. Areas that are not incorporated and are zoned
under an interim zoning designation that maintains the area's potential for
planned urban development.
6. Areas covered under title 48, chapter 6, article
4.
7. Any land within the territory in the vicinity of
a public airport as defined in section 28-8486 or to the extent this
section would interfere with the public airport's ability to comply with the
laws, regulations and requirements of the United States related to applying
for, receiving or spending federal monies.
8. Any land within the territory in the vicinity of
a military airport as defined in section 28-8461.
9. Areas that are designated as a
district of historical significance pursuant to section 9-462.01,
subsection A, paragraph 10.
10. Areas that are designated as
historic on the national register of historic places.
E. Notwithstanding any other law, a
municipality may allow middle housing that is
developed
in an area designated as historic by the municipality or in an area that is
designated as historic on the national register of historic places only if the
middle housing is designed to be compatible with the historic character, scale
and setting of the surrounding area.
F. For middle housing that is
developed pursuant to subsection E of this section:
1. The municipality may require that
the middle housing comply with the historic preservation or design standards
adopted by the municipality or, If the municipality has not adopted historic
preservation or design standards, with the United States secretary of the
interior's standards for the treatment of historic properties, including the
standards governing rehabilitation and new construction.
2. The municipality may regulate
standards, including building height, massing, lot coverage,
setbacks, roof form, site layout and overall building volume.
3. Middle housing may not exceed the
maximum building height, lot coverage or floor area ratio that is allowed by
applicable zoning regulations that were adopted before January 1, 2025.
G. Unless stricter zoning regulations
are required by applicable historic preservation standards, a municipality may
require administrative site plan review solely for the purpose of confirming
compliance with applicable
standards, but may not require
a public hearing, variance, conditional use permit, special permit or other
discretionary approval process for developing middle housing pursuant to
subsection E of this section.
H. Notwithstanding any other law,
middle housing that is developed pursuant to this section may
not be developed on a site where a structure that is listed on the national
register of historic places or that is designated as historic by the
municipality was demolished unless the demolition of the structure was
necessary because a condition or conditions exist that constitute a danger to
public health, safety and welfare, as defined by a municipal ordinance, and the
existence of those conditions are certified by a licensed engineer or building
code official.
E.
I.
If
a municipality does not adopt the regulations required by this section on or
before January 1, 2026, middle housing shall be allowed on all lots in the
municipality zoned for single-family residential use without any
limitations.
F.
J.
This
section does not change or otherwise impair the terms of any development
agreement that exists on September 14, 2024.
G.
K.
Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, a
utility provider impacted by a development being developed pursuant to this
section shall have the opportunity to review and approve the site plan for the
development.
H.
L
.
For the
purpose
purposes
of this section:
1. "Building code":
(a) Means a construction code adopted by a
municipality.
(b) Includes a model building code, commercial code,
plumbing and mechanical code, electric code, energy conservation code, fire
code, property maintenance code, neighborhood preservation code, antiblight
code or other similar code.
2. "Central business district" means an
area or series of areas designated by a municipality that are primarily
nonindustrial and that attract community activity, including the entire
geographic area that the municipality has officially designated as its downtown
or equivalent on September 14, 2024.
3. "Duplex" means two dwelling units on
the same parcel or lot in attached, detached or semidetached arrangements that
are designed for residential occupancy by not more than two households living
independently from each other.
4. "Floor area ratio" means the ratio of
allowed square footage in a middle housing project to the square footage of the
parcel on which it is built.
5. "Fourplex" means four dwelling units on
the same parcel or lot in attached, detached or semidetached arrangements that
are designed for residential occupancy by not more than four households living
independently from each other.
6. "Household"
means either:
(a) A single person
living or residing in a dwelling or place of residence.
(b) Two or more persons living together or residing
in the same dwelling or place of residence.
7. "Middle housing":
(a) Means buildings that are compatible in scale,
form and character with single-family houses and that contain two or more
attached, detached, stacked or clustered homes.
(b) Includes duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and
townhouses.
8. "Permitted use" means the ability for a
development to be approved without requiring a public hearing, variance,
conditional use permit, special permit or special exception, other than a
discretionary zoning action to
determination
determine
that a site plan conforms with applicable zoning
regulations.
9. "Townhouses" means dwelling units that
are constructed in a row of two or more attached units in which each dwelling
unit shares at least one common wall with an adjacent unit and that are
accessed by separate outdoor entrances.
10. "Triplex" means three dwelling units
on the same parcel or lot in attached, detached or semidetached arrangements
that are designed for residential occupancy by not more than three households
living independently from each other.
END_STATUTE
(ENACTED
WITHOUT THE EMERGENCY)
Sec. 2.
Emergency
This act is an emergency measure that
is necessary to preserve the public peace, health or safety and is operative
immediately as provided by law.