Affordable housing is important to many people in Tempe. The City is considering a new voluntary program that would provide long-term affordable housing by allowing more homes to be built in multi-family, commercial and industrial areas already designated for growth.

Arizona Revised Statues Section 9-461.16 restricts cities from requiring, conditioning or imposing on private development to provide affordable housing. This section, however, does allow cities to adopt voluntary incentive programs to increase the supply of affordable housing. Several cities in Arizona have adopted their own versions of a bonus program to achieve these guaranteed affordable units.

Tempe is asking residents to weigh in as the City explores this proposed approach. Community feedback will help guide next steps.

View the draft Zoning and Development Code Ordinance here.

View the Jan. 6, 2026 virtual meeting here.

View the Jan. 6, 2026 Presentation Slides here.

Let us know your thoughts through our online survey, open now through Jan. 20, 2026.

Key Points

Below are the proposed aspects of this Affordable Housing Development Bonus Program:

• In return for designating a percentage of dwelling units for households within a certain income range, new developments receive a bonus in density, building height, and reductions in required parking.
• The program functions as an opt-in Overlay Zoning district, which would be added through a staff-level process once proper documentation is received to confirm the project’s guarantee on the affordable housing.
• The bonus in residential density is derived from, and limited to, the Projected Residential Density for that property as shown in the voter-approved Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050.
• This program would be voluntary, with eligible sites being those with multi-family, commercial, or industrial zoning. The program would not be available to sites zoned for single-family.
• The affordability of the units would be guaranteed for 30 years, through a deed restriction which would be recorded onto the property.
• Depending on which range of affordability the units will be (i.e. 80%, 65% or 50% of the Area Median Income) the amount of units required to be affordable in development varies, with developers choosing which level of affordable housing they will offer in the development.
• Establish a new R-6, multi-family zoning district. Creating the R-6 district does not change zoning anywhere in Tempe. Instead, it establishes a new option in the City’s zoning code that could be requested through a separate rezoning process in the future. If adopted, projects in the R-6 district would be eligible to participate in the bonus program.

Past Public Input Opportunities

January 6, 2026 Public meeting via Zoom at 12 p.m.

January 6, 2026 Public meeting at the Tempe Public Library, Desert Willow Room, 3500 S. Rural Rd. at 6 p.m.

Upcoming Public Input Opportunities

January 7, 2026 Presentation at the Neighborhood Advisory Commission at the Tempe Transportation Center, Don Cassano Room, 200 E. 5th St. at 6 p.m.

January 12, 2026 Presentation at the Sustainability and Resilience Commission virtually via Teams.

January 13, 2026 Presentation at the Transportation Commission at the Tempe Transportation Center, Don Cassano Room, 200 E. 5th St. at 7:30 a.m.

January 27, 2026 Study Session at the Development Review Commission at the City Council Chambers, 31 E. 5th St. at 5:30 p.m.

February 12, 2026 Presentation at the City Council Work Study Session at the City Council Chambers, 31 E. 5th St. at 4 p.m.

One of several Bills passed by the State Legislature in 2024 to assist in increasing housing supply and decreasing costs, House Bill 2721 (HB2721), or “The Middle Housing Bill”. It is a mandate for Arizona municipalities with population of 75,000 or more to adopt an Ordinance to allow duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and townhouses on single-family lots within one mile of its Central Business District (downtown) and on residential lots of greater than ten acres.

View the language of House Bill 2721 here.

View Tempe's Adopted Middle Housing Ordinance here.

View Aug. 4 Meeting Presentation

View Aug. 4 Virtual Meeting

In order to comply with State Law, the Tempe City Council adopted the Middle Housing Overlay District as an amendment to the Tempe Zoning and Development Code on November 6, 2025. This Overlay Zoning District becomes effective January 1, 2026.

(Click on the image above for larger version of the map) 

Neighborhood Meetings

The same information was available at both meetings held on Monday, August 4. There was a virtual meeting at noon and an in-person meeting from 5:30 - 7 p.m. at the Clark Park Recreation Center, Cypress Room, 1730 S. Roosevelt St.

Informational Meetings on HB2721 Middle Housing were held on Feb. 19, one virtually at noon and one in-person at 6 p.m. at the Tempe Public Library.

View the Feb. 19 virtual meeting recording.

View the presentation from the Feb. 19 meetings here.

Public Process and Timeline

State statute requires that Cities and Towns adopt an Ordinance on Middle Housing on or before January 2026. This amendment followed the below schedule at the following public meetings for adoption:

• Development Review Commission
  Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 at 6 p.m.
  Tempe City Hall, City Council Chambers
  31 E. Fifth St.
• City Council 1st Hearing 
  Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 at 6 p.m. 
  Tempe City Hall, City Council Chambers
  31 E. Fifth St. 
• City Council 2nd Hearing 
  Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025 at 6 p.m. 
  Tempe City Hall, City Council Chambers
  31 E. Fifth St. 

Key Points

Some key points in the new law include:

• Duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and townhome will still be required to comply with the required setbacks and height restrictions.
• Municipalities are only allowed to require one off-street parking space per dwelling unit.
• Municipalities may not limit lot coverage to less than 50%.
• Municipalities may not set owner occupancy requirements.
• Municipalities may not limit the height of these housing developments to less than two stories.
• Municipalities may not set regulations that are more restrictive than what is required for single-family homes.
• HB2721 preempts the City’s control on density. Middle Housing types as described in this bill do not have to meet zoning density standards when proposed in eligible areas.

Exemptions in HB2721

Areas not affected by this mandate are:

• Land not zoned residential
• Land within the vicinity of an airport

As a result of 2025 State Legislative changes, HB2447 - Municipality Administrative Reviews, was signed into law. This change required Cities and Towns to develop a complete administrative review and decision making process for all site plans, development plans including design review decisions, and all types of subdivision plats without the requirement for conducting a public hearing.  This State law mandated this change to be in effect on and after December 31, 2025.

 View the language of House Bill 2447 Here

View Tempe's Adopted Zoning and Development Code Ordinance Amendment Here

View Tempe's Adopted City Code Ordinance Amendment Here

To comply with State law, the Tempe City Council adopted this amendment to the Tempe Zoning and Development Code on November 6, 2025. These changes to application review and approval processes will become effective on December 31, 2025.

Public Process and Timeline

State statute requires that Cities and Towns adopt an Ordinance on Administrative Review on or before December 31, 2025. This amendment followed the below schedule for public meetings for adoption:

• Development Review Commission
  Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 at 6 p.m.
  Tempe City Hall, City Council Chambers
  31 E. Fifth St.
• City Council 1st Hearing 
  Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 at 6 p.m. 
  Tempe City Hall, City Council Chambers
  31 E. Fifth St. 
• City Council 2nd Hearing 
  Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025 at 6 p.m. 
  Tempe City Hall, City Council Chambers
  31 E. Fifth St. 

Key Points

Some key points in the new law include:

• All Subdivision Plat applications must be processed administratively (no public hearing)
• All site plan and Development Plan Review applications must be processed administratively (no public hearing)

Arizona’s House Bill (HB) 2297 signed into law by the governor on April 10, 2024 has mandated all Arizona cities with population of 150,000 or more to allow multi-family or adaptive reuse on no more than 10 percent of existing commercial, office, or mixed use buildings.

HB 2297 is intended to help increase the supply of housing units by providing developers opportunities to convert or adapt eligible obsolete commercial, office, and mixed-use buildings to multi-family development. The following paragraphs provide the highlights of what is included in the state bill HB 2297.

City staff have created an Ordinance to comply with this State mandate. The Ordinance can be viewed here. This Ordinance was adopted by the Tempe City Council on December 19, 2024 and will become effective in January.

Key Points in the HB 2297

• Municipalities shall allow multi-family development in no more than 10% of the existing commercial, office, and mixed-use buildings without requiring any applications that require public hearing.
• Municipalities may designate up to 10% of such buildings in the geographical areas they choose to be excluded from the requirements of this section.
• Municipalities may modify both these percentages every ten years.
• To qualify for adaptive reuse, the existing buildings should be functionally and economically obsolete.
• The new proposed uses should have adequate water and sewer, and comply with building and fire codes.
• Sites should be minimum 1 acre and maximum 20 acres.
• At least 10 % of the units should be set aside for households making less than 120% of the area median income (AMI).
• New parking requirements may not exceed those for multifamily or mixed use development.
• Municipalities may not withhold demolition permit for applications that meet the requirements of this section.
• Setback requirements may not exceed the existing standards for multi-family development.
• Maximum height and density shall be equal to the highest allowable for multi-family development within one mile or the next closest building.
• Maximum height shall be 5 stories, or 2 stories within 100 feet of single-family zone.
• If the existing building’s setbacks are less than required for the proposed use, the setback will remain as a legal non-conforming standard.
• If the height of the existing building exceeds the maximum allowable height for the proposed use, the existing height may remain as legal non-conforming.
• The existing building may be expanded to include the maximum allowable density.

Exemptions in the HB 2297

• Sites designated as a district of historical significance.
• Sites designated historic by a local government.
• Sites designated as historic on the national register of historic places.
• Land in the vicinity of a military airport or ancillary military facility (inside 60 DNL noise contours).
• Land in the vicinity of a FAA commercial airport or a general aviation or public airport. (inside 60 DNL noise contours)
• Land in a municipality that is located on tribal land.

Adaptive Reuse Ordinance:

City staff has created an ordinance for adaptive reuse regulations that will comply with House Bill 2297. The Ordinance can be reviewed here.

Past Public Input Opportunities:

October 2, 2024 Neighborhood Advisory Committee Meeting

October 8, 2024 Public Meetings – Virtually via Zoom and in-person.

View the meeting recording here.

November 12, 2024 Development Review Commission Recommendatory Hearing

November 21, 2024 City Council Introduction and 1^st Hearing

December 19, 2024 City Council Final Hearing