zoning; housing; historic neighborhoods

SB1601 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
zoning; housing; historic neighborhoods

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SB 1601

Introduced by

Senators
Alston: Diaz, Gabald�n, Gonzales, Kuby, Miranda, Sears;� Representatives
Connolly, Garcia, Gress, M�rquez

AN
ACT

amending section 9-462.13, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to municipal zoning.

(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 by the municipality.

11. Areas that are designated as
historic on the national register of historic places.

E. 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. This section does not change or otherwise impair
the terms of any development agreement that exists on September 14, 2024.

G. 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. 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

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.