Paradise Valley is the one Phoenix-area town where the answer is no. Arizona's casita law, A.R.S. §9-461.18, says in subsection H that it "applies to a municipality with a population of more than seventy-five thousand persons" — Paradise Valley has about 12,251, so none of the state protections that transformed Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale and Peoria reach it. The Town has no ADU ordinance at all. What it has is a guest house, defined in Zoning Ordinance Section 201 as "an accessory building of one or more rooms designed for occupancy by not more than one family" with its own sanitary facilities — and you can build one. What you cannot do is rent it. The Town's own current FAQ is blunt: "Whether the property is rented short-term or long-term, the entire property must be rented as a whole. Accessory buildings may not be leased, subleased, or rented separate and apart from the main building." Section 1005.B goes further and bars an accessory building from being "used for dwelling purposes other than by residential staff employed on the premises or as otherwise permitted herein." So a Paradise Valley guest house is a guest house: family, visitors, live-in staff. It is not an income unit, and no amount of design work makes it one.
In Paradise Valley you will also hear an ADU called a casita — Arizona's ADU statute (A.R.S. §9-461.18) and most local codes use it. The rules on this page apply either way.
Zoning & Size Requirements [1][2][3][4]
No — Paradise Valley does not allow ADUs under current zoning. Paradise Valley has no accessory dwelling unit use in its Zoning Ordinance and is exempt from Arizona's casita law, A.R.S. §9-461.18, whose subsection H reaches only municipalities over 75,000 people (the Town has about 12,251). A guest house may be built as an accessory building, but Zoning Ordinance §1004.D bars leasing or renting it separate and apart from the main house, and §1005.B bars dwelling use of an accessory building except by residential staff employed on the premises. The Town's own FAQ states that "the entire property must be rented as a whole."
| Allowed Zones | A guest house is an accessory building, permitted in the Town's residential districts — R-175, R-43, R-35, R-35A, R-18, R-18A and R-10 — subject to the accessory building rules in Zoning Ordinance Sections 1004 and 1005 and the accessory setbacks in Table 1001B. There is no accessory dwelling unit use anywhere in the ordinance. On a Cluster Plan lot (R-43CP, R-35CP) there is an extra hurdle: Section 2109 of Article XXI provides that "no guest house shall be permitted on any such lot which does not meet the minimum area regulations applicable to the district in which it is located," and Town Planning Policy #25 reads that as meaning a CP lot later reduced in size by right-of-way dedication or replat can no longer have a guest house at all. Confirm your parcel with Paradise Valley Community Development at (480) 348-3692 |
| Max Size (Detached) | No square-foot cap on a guest house as such. Two other limits bind instead: all accessory buildings and structures on the lot together "shall not occupy more than one-half of the total ground area of the main building" (Zoning Ordinance §1005.A), measured between the faces of the exterior walls at ground-floor level plus the horizontal projection of any roof over covered patios, ramadas and gazebos (Town Planning and Building Policy #59, Accessory Structure Area); and the guest house counts against the lot's 25% floor area ratio in R-175, R-43, R-35, R-35A, R-18 and R-18A, which is "inclusive of all areas under roof, including any second story" (Town FAR Certification handout, revised 6-29-26) |
| Max Size (Attached) | Not a recognised category — Paradise Valley's ordinance has no attached ADU. Zoning Ordinance §1004.C allows only one main building per lot, and additional living space inside the house is simply part of the house, counting fully against the 25% floor area ratio |
| Max Size (JADU) | Not a category in Arizona, and Paradise Valley has no junior ADU designation |
| Max Height | Accessory buildings are capped well below the main house: 16 feet and one story in R-175 and R-43; 15 feet and one story in R-35, R-35A, R-18, R-18A and R-10 (Zoning Ordinance Table 1001B). The main dwelling by contrast may be two stories in R-175, R-43 and R-35. A guest house in Paradise Valley is a single-storey building, full stop |
| Max Units | One dwelling unit per lot. Zoning Ordinance §1004.C: "in no case shall there be more than one (1) main building on one (1) lot." A guest house is an accessory building, not a second dwelling unit, and the ordinance nowhere authorises a second unit |
Setback Requirements [1][2][3][4]
Paradise Valley requires a rear setback of about 20 ft for a detached ADU, and parking requirements vary by unit size or location. Owner-occupancy is set by local rules (confirm with the city).
| Rear Setback | 20 feet in R-175 and R-43; 10 feet in R-35, R-35A, R-18 and R-18A; 7 feet in R-10 — and 40 feet (35 feet in R-18A, 20 feet in R-10) where the rear yard has street frontage (Zoning Ordinance Table 1001B, Setbacks and Height Limits for Accessory Buildings and Structures). Nothing here is capped by state law: A.R.S. §9-461.18(B)(6)'s five-foot ceiling does not apply to Paradise Valley |
| Side Setback | 20 feet in R-175 and R-43; 10 feet in R-35, R-35A, R-18 and R-18A; 7 feet in R-10 — rising to 40 feet (35 feet in R-18A, 20 feet in R-10) on a side with street frontage (Zoning Ordinance Table 1001B) |
| Front Setback | 60 feet in R-175, R-43, R-35, R-35A, R-18 and R-18A; 20 feet in R-10, or as shown on a previously recorded plat (Zoning Ordinance Table 1001B). Note this is deeper than the main house's own front setback of 40 feet in R-43 and 35 feet in R-18A (Table 1001-A1) — an accessory building must sit further back than the home it serves. In the R-175 district with no primary building built before June 13, 1991 the accessory front setback is 100 feet |
| Parking Required | No ADU parking rule exists, because there is no ADU. Ordinary residential parking standards apply to the lot. The state prohibition on requiring extra parking for a casita, A.R.S. §9-461.18(B)(3), does not reach Paradise Valley — confirm requirements for your project with Community Development at (480) 348-3692 |
| Owner Occupancy | Effectively yes, and stricter than an owner-occupancy rule. Zoning Ordinance §1004.D provides that no accessory building on a residentially-zoned property "shall be leased, subleased or rented, separate and apart from the main building and no main building shall be leased, subleased or rented, separate and apart from an accessory building." The house and the guest house are one tenancy or none. Section 1005.B separately limits dwelling use of an accessory building to "residential staff employed on the premises or as otherwise permitted herein," and Section 201 defines Residential Staff quarters as occupied only by a domestic or agricultural employee and their immediate family, and "may not be rented for profit" |
| Min Lot Size | No guest-house-specific minimum in the standard districts — the district minimum lot size governs: 175,000 sq ft in R-175, 43,560 sq ft (one acre) in R-43, 35,000 sq ft in R-35 and R-35A, 18,000 sq ft in R-18 and R-18A, 10,000 sq ft in R-10 (Zoning Ordinance Table 1001-A1). On Cluster Plan lots the lot must still meet the underlying district minimum area for a guest house to be permitted (§2109; Town Planning Policy #25) |
Permit Process & Fees [5][6][7][8][9]
An ADU permit in Paradise Valley goes through a standard permit review. Typical timeline: Plan review takes up to fifteen business days per review round, and once plans are approved a further three to five business days to issue the permit (Town of Paradise Valley, Building Permit Application Information). Hillside lots on Camelback Mountain, Mummy Mountain and the Phoenix Mountain Preserve foothills also go through Article XXII Hillside Development review, which is longer — confirm at (480) 348-3692. Permit fees: Valuation-based. The Town's minimum valuation for livable space is $225 per sq ft, and the building permit fee is $930.84 for the first $150,000 of valuation plus $6.75 per additional $1,000 to $750,000; in-house plan review is a further 65% of the building permit fee, covering two reviews, with additional reviews at $145 per hour (Building Permit Application Information). On that schedule an 800 sq ft guest house valued at $180,000 runs roughly $1,130 in permit fee plus about $735 in review — call it $1,900-$3,500 all in for a typical guest house. A 9% Haul Fee is added on projects valued at $500,000 or more. The Town's current Master Fee Schedule now lives on Municode and could not be opened from here — verify current numbers with Community Development at (480) 348-3692.
| Approval Process | A guest house is permitted over the counter as an accessory structure — a building permit application to the Community Development Department, with a separate permit for each structure (the Town's Building Permit Application Information sheet lists "guest house" among the structures needing their own permit, and warns that because permits are valid for only 180 days you should not apply for them all at once). What there is no process for is legalising a rental unit: a separately rented accessory building is a zoning violation under §1004.D, and the Board of Adjustment hears variances and appeals but cannot grant a use the ordinance does not contain. Community Development: (480) 348-3692 |
| Review Timeline | Plan review takes up to fifteen business days per review round, and once plans are approved a further three to five business days to issue the permit (Town of Paradise Valley, Building Permit Application Information). Hillside lots on Camelback Mountain, Mummy Mountain and the Phoenix Mountain Preserve foothills also go through Article XXII Hillside Development review, which is longer — confirm at (480) 348-3692 |
| Permit Fees | Valuation-based. The Town's minimum valuation for livable space is $225 per sq ft, and the building permit fee is $930.84 for the first $150,000 of valuation plus $6.75 per additional $1,000 to $750,000; in-house plan review is a further 65% of the building permit fee, covering two reviews, with additional reviews at $145 per hour (Building Permit Application Information). On that schedule an 800 sq ft guest house valued at $180,000 runs roughly $1,130 in permit fee plus about $735 in review — call it $1,900-$3,500 all in for a typical guest house. A 9% Haul Fee is added on projects valued at $500,000 or more. The Town's current Master Fee Schedule now lives on Municode and could not be opened from here — verify current numbers with Community Development at (480) 348-3692 |
| Impact Fees | Confirm with Paradise Valley Community Development at (480) 348-3692 — no ADU or guest house impact fee schedule was found in a Town source, and the Master Fee Schedule was not reachable |
| Plan Check | Full residential plan review in house; review covers up to two rounds. Verification of existing water meter size and installation date is required for properties on the Paradise Valley sewer. An ACCA Manual J load calculation using the Town's stated design conditions is required with new single-family applications. Setback, height and — where floor area ratio reaches 22% or more — Floor Area Ratio certification, each signed and stamped by an Arizona-registered architect, engineer or land surveyor, are required at framing or roof-nail inspection |
| Pre-Approved Plans | None — Paradise Valley publishes no pre-approved ADU or guest house plan library, and custom architecture is the norm in the Town |
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Construction Costs [10]
Building an ADU in Paradise Valley typically costs $300,000-$700,000 ($375-$800 per sq ft); a garage conversion runs $120,000-$275,000.
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| Average Build Cost | $300,000-$700,000 |
| Cost per Sq Ft | $375-$800 |
| Garage Conversion | $120,000-$275,000 |
| Prefab ADU (Installed) | Rarely viable — the Town's one-storey height caps, deep accessory setbacks and custom-home design context make a factory unit a poor fit; budget $200,000+ delivered and sited if you pursue one |
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Rental Income Potential [11][12]
A 2-bedroom ADU in Paradise Valley rents for around Not rentable separately — see above. Whole-property rentals are permitted and common; the guest house is included in that single tenancy, an estimated No rental return — a Paradise Valley guest house returns value through the sale price of the estate and through use by family or live-in staff, not through rent. Treat build cost as a lifestyle and resale investment, not a yield calculation.
| Avg Rent (1 Bedroom) | Not rentable — a guest house may not be leased separately from the main house (Zoning Ordinance §1004.D). For reference, Paradise Valley's median gross rent for a whole property is $3,500+ (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, 2020-2024) |
| Avg Rent (2 Bedroom) | Not rentable separately — see above. Whole-property rentals are permitted and common; the guest house is included in that single tenancy |
| Short-Term Rental | For the whole property, yes: A.R.S. §9-500.39 preempts Paradise Valley from banning short-term rentals, and the Town says so on its own FAQ. For the guest house alone, no — "the entire property must be rented as a whole" (Town of Paradise Valley FAQ, Short-Term or Vacation Rental). Whole-property short-term rentals owe Transaction Privilege Tax and the Town transient (bed) tax, need a TPT licence from the Arizona Department of Revenue, and must be registered with the Maricopa County Assessor. HOA CC&Rs can still prohibit the use — the Arizona Superior Court upheld exactly that in Camelback Country Estates Unit One HOA v. Forty Sixth Place LLC (2019) |
| Est. Annual ROI | No rental return — a Paradise Valley guest house returns value through the sale price of the estate and through use by family or live-in staff, not through rent. Treat build cost as a lifestyle and resale investment, not a yield calculation |
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Recent Law Changes
What's Changed Recently
- A.R.S. §9-461.18(H) — "This section applies to a municipality with a population of more than seventy-five thousand persons." At roughly 12,251 residents (U.S. Census Bureau, July 1 2025 estimate) Paradise Valley falls outside Arizona's casita law entirely. The five-foot setback ceiling, the no-extra-parking rule, the ban on exterior design matching, the 1,000 sq ft / 75% entitlement and the two-units-per-lot mandate all stop at the Town line
- Because HB 2720 never applied, Paradise Valley had nothing to adopt by the January 1, 2025 statutory deadline, and the §9-461.18(F) penalty — ADUs allowed without limits where a city fails to adopt regulations — does not bite either. No Town ADU ordinance was found in any Paradise Valley source as of September 1, 2026
- The Town has moved its Zoning Ordinance off its own website to Municode (library.municode.com/az/paradise_valley). The article-by-article PDFs the Town used to publish — including Article X, Height and Area Regulations, and Article XI — now return 404, although search engines still surface those URLs. Municode itself refused connections from this research session behind a Cloudflare block, so the Town's own live handouts, policies and FAQ were used to corroborate every section cited here
- Town Planning and Building Policy #74 (revised 3/4/2022, still published) quotes Zoning Ordinance §1005 A and B verbatim, matching the text relied on above; the Town's FAR Certification handout was last revised 6-29-26 and confirms the 25% floor area ratio and that guest houses count toward it
- Arizona's short-term rental preemption, A.R.S. §9-500.39 (2017), still governs whole-property rentals in Paradise Valley, but the Town's whole-property-only rule under Zoning Ordinance §1004.D means it does not open a route to renting a guest house on its own
Tips for Building an ADU in Paradise Valley
- Do not buy a Paradise Valley lot expecting rental income from a casita. The Town's own FAQ says the entire property must be rented as a whole — that is the whole ballgame, and it is not a grey area
- Check the accessory front setback before you site anything: 60 feet in every district but R-10, deeper than the 40-foot front setback the main house observes in R-43. On a shallow lot that alone can rule out a guest house
- Run the half-the-footprint test early. All accessory structures combined — guest house, garage, ramada, covered patio, gazebo — may not occupy more than half the main house's ground-floor footprint, measured wall face to wall face plus roof projections (Policy #59)
- Then run the 25% FAR test. Everything under roof counts, second storeys included, and you must file a stamped FAR certification once you are within 3% of the cap. Fully subterranean space is excluded — which is why Paradise Valley basements are worth the money
- A guest house is one storey and 15 or 16 feet, depending on your district. If your architect has drawn a two-storey casita, it is not buildable here
- The ordinance expressly permits cooking facilities only in Residential Staff quarters (Section 201), and the guest house definition mentions only sanitary facilities — while §1004.C allows just one main building per lot. Before you design a kitchen into a guest house, get that in writing from Community Development at (480) 348-3692
- If your lot is on Camelback Mountain, Mummy Mountain or the foothills, Article XXII Hillside Development Regulations adds a separate review track on top of the building permit — budget months, not weeks
- Ignore the generic "Arizona now allows ADUs statewide" articles. They are describing A.R.S. §9-461.18, which by its own subsection H reaches only municipalities above 75,000 people. Paradise Valley, Cave Creek, Carefree, Fountain Hills, Litchfield Park and Youngtown are all under it
ADU Builders in Paradise Valley
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Sources & References
All data on this page is sourced from official government records and verified market data. View our full methodology.
- A.R.S. §9-461.18 — Accessory dwelling units; regulation; applicability; definitions (subsection H, 75,000 population threshold) state_statute — Accessed 2026-09-01
- Town of Paradise Valley Zoning Ordinance Article X — Height and Area Regulations (Table 1001-A1, Table 1001B, §§1004-1005; effective 02/26/2021, Ordinance 2021-01) Municipal Code — Accessed 2026-09-01
- Town of Paradise Valley Zoning Ordinance Article II — Definitions (Section 201: Guest House, Residential Staff, Dwelling Unit, Accessory Building) Municipal Code — Accessed 2026-09-01
- Town of Paradise Valley Zoning Ordinance — current official host (Municode) Municipal Code — Accessed 2026-09-01
- Town of Paradise Valley — Building Permit Application Information (plan review timeline, fee structure, minimum valuation table) Planning Department — Accessed 2026-09-01
- Town of Paradise Valley — Floor Area Ratio (FAR) Certification handout, revised 6-29-26 Planning Department — Accessed 2026-09-01
- Town of Paradise Valley Zoning Interpretations — Planning Policy #59, Accessory Structure Area Planning Department — Accessed 2026-09-01
- Town of Paradise Valley Zoning Interpretations — Planning Policy #25, Cluster Plan (CP) Guest Houses Planning Department — Accessed 2026-09-01
- Town of Paradise Valley Zoning Interpretations — Planning Policy #74, Existing Accessory Structures & New SFR (quotes §1005 A and B) Planning Department — Accessed 2026-09-01
- Angi — ADU Construction Cost Data Market Data — Accessed 2026-09-01
- Town of Paradise Valley FAQ — Short-Term or Vacation Rental ("the entire property must be rented as a whole") Planning Department — Accessed 2026-09-01
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts — Paradise Valley town, Arizona (median gross rent, population) Government Data — Accessed 2026-09-01
- Town of Paradise Valley — Zoning Interpretations index (Community Development Director's written interpretations) Planning Department — Accessed 2026-09-01
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