Arizona HOA ADUs & Modifications

Section 1: Overview — ADUs and modifications in Arizona

Start with what Arizona protects and what it leaves alone. State law shields a short list of property changes from an outright HOA ban — solar energy devices, certain flags, political signs, and for-sale signs. But the state’s accessory dwelling unit law is a different animal. It reaches cities and counties, not associations, and it deliberately leaves private covenants standing. So whether you can build an ADU inside a community still comes down to the recorded CC&Rs.

Arizona runs its associations through two separate statutes, and they do not borrow from each other. Condominiums live in Title 33, Chapter 9, the Arizona Condominium Act (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1201 and following).¹ Planned communities live in Chapter 16, the Planned Communities Act (§ 33-1801 and following).² Arizona is not a Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act state, so you cannot assume a rule from one chapter carries into the other.

The protected categories prove the point, because each one carries a different section number depending on the chapter. Solar sits at § 33-439 across both community types,³ with § 33-1816 adding protection for planned communities.⁴ Flags and political signs run through § 33-1808 for planned communities ⁵ and § 33-1261 for condominiums.⁶ For-sale signs sit at § 33-441.⁷

ADUs work on a different track entirely. Whether one is allowed turns on municipal or county zoning — § 9-461.18 for cities ⁸ and § 11-810.01 for counties ⁹ — layered on top of the CC&Rs. The state writes no HOA-level preemption here.

Four federal frameworks bind every Arizona association no matter what the state says: the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 for the U.S. flag,¹⁰ the FCC’s OTARD rule for antennas and satellite dishes,¹¹ the Fair Housing Act for reasonable disability modifications,¹² and ADA Title III for common areas that operate as public accommodations.¹³ The sections that follow lay out the architectural-review framework, the statutory protections, the compliance duties each one creates, and the recent moves in the Legislature and the courts.

Section 2: The legal framework

2A. Architectural review authority under the two statutes

Architectural authority in Arizona associations starts in the recorded declaration — the CC&Rs — not in a blanket grant from the statute. In a condominium, the unit owners’ association exercises the powers set out in Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1242, including the power to regulate modifications, subject to the declaration.¹⁴ In a planned community, § 33-1817 governs design and architectural review. Notwithstanding anything in the community documents, it requires that a design review committee, architectural committee, or similar committee include at least one board member as chairperson, and it commands that approval of a construction project’s architectural designs, plans, and amendments “shall not unreasonably be withheld.”¹⁵ The declaration typically sets up an architectural review committee, fixes the submission standards, and defines the scope of design control; for planned communities, the statute layers procedure on top. Where the community charges a security deposit for new construction or a rebuild of the main residence, it adds a final design approval meeting and at least two on-site formal reviews during construction.¹⁵

The real limit on adding or tightening architectural restrictions comes from Kalway v. Calabria Ranch HOA, LLC, 506 P.3d 18 (Ariz. 2022). There the Arizona Supreme Court held that a general amendment power lets an association amend only those restrictions the original declaration gave sufficient notice of — meaning any amendment has to be reasonable and foreseeable.¹⁶ Otherwise, Arizona courts read recorded restrictions to match the reasonable expectations of the affected owners, and they can “blue pencil” a provision that goes too far.¹⁶ A reviewing court treats an architectural decision as a matter of contract, enforcing the declaration as written while construing restrictive covenants narrowly.

2B. Statutorily protected modifications

Solar. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-439 sits in Chapter 4 and applies to both community types. It voids any covenant, restriction, or condition that “effectively prohibits” installing or using a solar energy device as defined in § 44-1761.³ For planned communities, § 33-1816 goes further: it bars an association from prohibiting a solar device and allows only reasonable placement rules — rules that do not prevent installation, impair function, restrict use, or drive up the cost or cut the efficiency of the device.⁴ Chapter 9 carries no condominium-specific solar section (it runs §§ 33-1201 to 33-1270),¹ so condominiums lean on the general § 33-439 void. Garden Lakes Community Ass’n v. Madigan, 204 Ariz. 238 (Ct. App. 2003), reads the “effectively prohibits” standard through a multi-factor, case-by-case analysis.¹⁷

Flags and political signs. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1808 (planned communities) and § 33-1261 (condominiums) bar an association from prohibiting the outdoor display of an enumerated list of flags: the U.S. flag (flown per the federal flag code), a flag of the uniformed services, the POW/MIA flag, the Arizona state flag, an Arizona Indian nations flag, the Gadsden flag, a first responder flag, a blue star or gold star service flag, and any historic version of the U.S. flag, including the Betsy Ross flag.^{5, 6} Both sections also bar prohibiting political signs, with one exception: an association may forbid display earlier than 71 days before a primary election and later than 15 days after the general election.⁵

For-sale signs. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-441 (Chapter 4, both community types) makes unenforceable any covenant used to prohibit a for-sale sign and sign rider, subject to industry-standard size limits, and it does so no matter when the covenant was recorded.⁷

Residential rental activity. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1806.01 (planned communities) and § 33-1260.01 (condominiums) cap an association’s authority over residential rentals, including limits on tenant-information disclosures and fees — and that matters the moment an ADU is rented.^{18, 19} Rentals can be prohibited or time-restricted only through the declaration, never by a bare rule.

EV charging. Arizona has no HOA-specific electric-vehicle-charging statute in Title 33.¹ Unlike California and Colorado, Arizona does not force associations to permit owner EV-charging installations; that question belongs to the declaration.

2C. Federal overlays and ADUs

Four federal frameworks bind every Arizona association, whatever the state statutes say. The Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 (4 U.S.C. § 5) stops associations from restricting an owner’s display of the U.S. flag on property the owner controls, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner limits.¹⁰ The FCC’s OTARD rule (47 C.F.R. § 1.4000) preempts restrictions that impair the installation, maintenance, or use of covered antennas and satellite dishes (one meter or less) in an owner’s exclusive-use area.¹¹ The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)) requires associations to permit reasonable modifications for residents with disabilities, generally at the resident’s expense.¹² ADA Title III reaches common-area facilities that operate as public accommodations.¹³

Now the ADU piece. HB 2720 (2024) added Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 9-461.18, effective January 1, 2025. It requires municipalities over 75,000 population — the 16 Arizona cities above that line — to allow at least one attached and one detached ADU on single-family lots, and it bars a range of municipal restrictions.^{8, 20} The 2025 amendments in HB 2928 extended comparable requirements to counties through a new section, § 11-810.01.^{9, 21} Here is the part that decides most disputes: the statute preempts local governments only. It bars a municipality from making a homeowner record a new restrictive covenant as a condition of an ADU, and it says plainly that it “does not prohibit restrictive covenants concerning accessory dwelling units entered into between private parties.”⁸ So the analysis has two layers: municipal or county zoning sets the public-law baseline, and the CC&Rs remain the binding constraint inside the community. That is the opposite of California (Cal. Civ. Code § 4751)²² and Colorado (HB 24-1152),²³ where state law reaches into HOA covenants. Arizona’s ADU law does not bind associations.

Section 3: Compliance obligations created by the framework

A. Architectural review process obligations

Associations have to run architectural review through the process the declaration sets up, and in both chapters that duty flows from the declaration. For planned communities, Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1817 (a mandatory Chapter 16 statute) demands that a design or architectural committee seat a board member as chairperson and that approval of designs, plans, and amendments not be unreasonably withheld.¹⁵ When a planned community charges a security deposit for new construction or a rebuild of the main residence, § 33-1817 adds three requirements: a final written approval acknowledgment, at least two on-site formal reviews during construction, and written reports within five business days of each review.¹⁵ Condominium review procedure, by contrast, is set by the declaration under the association’s § 33-1242 powers, and the statute does not impose the same committee-composition rule.¹⁴ Written decisions, denial reasons, reconsideration, and recordkeeping generally trace back to the declaration unless a statute supplies a specific requirement.

B. Protected modifications the association must permit

State statute forces the association’s hand on several fronts. It must permit solar energy devices (§ 33-439, both chapters; § 33-1816, planned communities, mandatory),^{3, 4} the enumerated flags and political signs within the statutory window (§ 33-1808, Chapter 16; § 33-1261, Chapter 9, mandatory),^{5, 6} for-sale signs (§ 33-441, both chapters, mandatory),⁷ and rental activity subject only to declaration-based limits (§ 33-1806.01, Chapter 16; § 33-1260.01, Chapter 9).^{18, 19} On top of that, four federal overlays bind both chapters: the U.S. flag (Freedom to Display the American Flag Act),¹⁰ antennas and dishes (OTARD, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000),¹¹ reasonable disability modifications (FHA, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)),¹² and common-area accommodations (ADA Title III).¹³ Those federal overlays are not Arizona statutes, and they apply on their own terms.

C. ADU obligations and limits on HOA authority

No Arizona statute obligates an association to permit ADUs. Sections 9-461.18 and 11-810.01 bind municipalities and counties, not associations, and both preserve private restrictive covenants.^{8, 9} Inside the community, the CC&Rs govern whether and how an ADU may be built or rented, and § 9-461.18 should never be treated as binding on the association. Where the declaration is silent or permissive on ADUs or rentals, Kalway limits how far the association can go in adding a prohibition by amendment without sufficient notice in the original declaration.¹⁶

D. Enforcement, dispute resolution, and appeal obligations

Before it imposes a monetary penalty for an architectural or other violation, a planned community has to give notice and an opportunity to be heard (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1803(B), a mandatory Chapter 16 statute),²⁴ and a condominium association owes the same (§ 33-1242(A)(11), a mandatory Chapter 9 statute).¹⁴ Both statutes require a written violation notice and a documented information exchange, and both direct the association to tell the owner about the option to petition the Arizona Department of Real Estate for an administrative hearing under § 32-2199.01.^{24, 14} Trial-level disputes run in Arizona Superior Court, with appeals to the Arizona Court of Appeals (Division One in Phoenix, Division Two in Tucson) and discretionary review by the Arizona Supreme Court.

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

Three signed bills define Arizona’s recent activity here — two on ADUs, one on signs and flags. Read them together and a pattern jumps out: the Legislature keeps expanding rights against cities and counties while leaving an association’s core authority untouched.

B. Recent appellate rulings

Two decisions matter here, and both turn on a single idea: an association can amend its covenants, but only inside the notice the original declaration gave.

C. Active legislative debates

ADU policy is still very much in motion. Watch two threads: how counties implement § 11-810.01, and how short-term rental use of ADUs plays out. Sign, flag, and amendment issues keep generating proposals every session, and HOA Weekly checks each one against azleg.gov as the bills advance.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

On modifications, Arizona is a strong-protection state. It voids covenants that effectively prohibit solar devices, and it bars prohibition of specified flags, political signs, and for-sale signs — which puts it near California and Florida on the solar-and-signs spectrum. On ADUs, though, Arizona goes the other way. It is a municipal-and-county-preemption state that preserves CC&Rs, unlike California (Cal. Civ. Code § 4751) and Colorado (HB 24-1152), where state law reaches HOA covenants directly. For a multi-state operator, the takeaway is clean: in Arizona, solar and sign rights are statutory and enforceable against the association, while ADUs stay a CC&R question, decided community by community rather than by state mandate.

HOA Weekly refreshes its Arizona ADUs and modifications coverage each quarter, as the Legislature and the courts act. The federal frameworks — the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act, OTARD, the Fair Housing Act, and ADA Title III — apply to Arizona associations no matter what the state framework says.

Footnotes

1. Ariz. Rev. Stat. tit. 33, ch. 9 (Condominiums), §§ 33-1201 to 33-1270 ↩
2. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1801 (Planned Communities Act; applicability; exemption) ↩
3. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-439 (Restrictions on installation or use of solar energy devices invalid; exception) ↩
4. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1816 (Planned communities; solar energy devices; reasonable restrictions; fees and costs) ↩
5. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1808 (Planned communities; flag display; political signs; caution signs; for sale, rent or lease signs; definitions) ↩
6. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1261 (Condominiums; flag display; for sale, rent or lease signs; political signs; applicability; definitions) ↩
7. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-441 (For sale signs; restrictions unenforceable) ↩
8. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 9-461.18 (Accessory dwelling units; regulation; applicability; definitions) ↩
9. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 11-810.01 (Accessory dwelling units; regulation; applicability; definitions) ↩
10. Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-243, 120 Stat. 572 (codified at 4 U.S.C. § 5 note) ↩
11. Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 (Fed. Commc’ns Comm’n) ↩
12. Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3) ↩
13. Americans with Disabilities Act, tit. III (public accommodations), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181–12189 ↩
14. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1242 (Powers of unit owners’ association; notice to unit owner of violation) ↩
15. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1817 (Declaration amendment; design, architectural committees; review) ↩
16. Kalway v. Calabria Ranch HOA, LLC, 506 P.3d 18 (Ariz. 2022) (No. CV-20-0152-PR) ↩
17. Garden Lakes Cmty. Ass’n v. Madigan, 204 Ariz. 238 (Ct. App. 2003) ↩
18. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1806.01 (Planned communities; rental property; member and agent information; fee; disclosure) ↩
19. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1260.01 (Condominiums; rental property; unit owner and agent information; fee; disclosure) ↩
20. H.B. 2720, 56th Leg., 2d Reg. Sess., ch. 196, 2024 Ariz. Sess. Laws (enacting Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 9-461.18) ↩
21. H.B. 2928, 57th Leg., 1st Reg. Sess., ch. 217, 2025 Ariz. Sess. Laws (adding Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 11-810.01; amending § 9-461.18) ↩
22. Cal. Civ. Code § 4751 (accessory dwelling units; void HOA covenants) ↩
23. Colo. H.B. 24-1152, Accessory Dwelling Units (2024) ↩
24. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1803 (Planned communities; assessment limitation; penalties; notice to member of violation) ↩
25. S.B. 1378, 57th Leg., 1st Reg. Sess., ch. 103, 2025 Ariz. Sess. Laws (amending Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 33-1261, 33-1808) ↩
26. Gross v. Shores at Rainbow Lake Cmty. Ass’n, 558 P.3d 216 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2024) (No. 1 CA-CV 23-0394) ↩