Hundreds of Phoenix residents showed up for an August meeting to hear the city’s answer to a new law adopted by the state legislature in May 2024. The new law (Section 9-462.13, Arizona Revised Statutes) requires municipalities to allow certain types of middle housing (duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and townhomes) on properties zoned for single-family use in locations within one mile of downtown, and up to 20 percent of the lots in any new subdivision of 10 contiguous acres or more.
The city is required to approve updates to the zoning ordinance by Nov. 5, and it must be effective by Jan. 1, 2026, and they have put forth two text amendments, Z-TA-1-25-Y and Z-3-25-4-7-8, to address the issue.
After the first scheduled community meeting, Aug. 11 at Burton Barr Central Library, drew an overwhelming number of residents, two additional community meetings were scheduled. Already on the schedule was an Aug. 26 meeting at Steel Indian School Park’s Memorial Hall. Added were two virtual community meetings, scheduled Sept. 4 and Sept. 16, both at 6:30 p.m., and the cases will begin making the “information only” rounds at Phoenix’s Village Planning Committee (VPC) meetings, also in September.
Learn more about the law, by visiting www.phoenix.gov and searching “z-ta-1-25-y.” Find public meeting information at www.phoenix.gov/cityclerk/publicmeetings/notices.
