PHOENIX, AZ — The Phoenix City Council voted 8-1 to lessen the restrictions on accessory dwelling units, also known as ADUs, Wednesday night. The move comes after the state legislature passed legislation lessening the restrictions.
Kirin Goff, Executive Director of the Arizona Neighborhood Project, said compromises were made to address various neighborhood concerns.
"It now allows cities to regulate STRs and ADUs, such that if an ADU is used as a short-term rental, cities are now allowed to require owner occupancy of either the main house or the ADU," according to Goff. "It's everything from housing affordability and being able to have choices about how to have your aging parent on your parent next to you and your family dynamics to things like private property rights."
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Phoenix City Councilman Carlos Galindo-Elvira of District 7 was the sole 'no' vote to change the ADU restrictions citywide.
Galindo-Elvira said "Begrudgingly many voted yes. I was the first in the roll call and so I made the decision that I would vote no to protest the fact that the people were being left out of the process. Homeowners in the city would still need to meet requirements and obtain permits, but they can now put 2 or 3 ADUs on a lot, depending on the acreage. The negative is that if you want to build a casita that looks like Dracula's castle, the people have no say in that," stated the Councilman. "While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the property owner might like it but what about the rest of the neighborhood?"
Phoenix resident Nicole Rodriguez is in favor of easing restrictions to help with housing affordability.
"We have two young adults, children, one is going to be graduating from high school soon and one is in college. Ideally, I'm sure they would like to live separately but they can't afford their own home so this would be a benefit," Rodriguez shared. "I was able to buy my home 15 years ago. That has made it easy for folks like me during that housing market crash for some to be able to buy a house, but it hasn't been that way for many years since."
