Can I add an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or casita in Queen Creek?

Detached ADUs are allowed as an accessory use in the single-family districts where Table 4.6-1 marks accessory dwelling unit as accessory (A), subject to yard standards, a cap of 50 percent of the primary home's under-roof square footage, one ADU per lot, and on-site parking (Sec. 6.1.D). The Town adopted an ADU text amendment in 2024 (Ordinance 850-24, approved unanimously by Town Council on November 6, 2024) responding to Arizona HB2720 (A.R.S. Sec. 9-461.18), which requires municipalities with a population of more than 75,000 to allow ADUs by right (one attached and one detached per single-family lot, plus a third on lots an acre or larger with an income restriction), capped at 75 percent of gross floor area or 1,000 square feet, whichever is less. At the adoption hearing, Town planning staff stated on the record that Queen Creek's population did not meet the 75,000 threshold as of the last census and that the Town would phase in full HB2720 compliance at the 2030 census. Queen Creek's official 2020 census count was 59,519, below the threshold, even though current population estimates (roughly 84,000 to 95,000 depending on source) exceed it; HB2720 itself does not specify whether "population" means the census figure or a current estimate, so this is a genuinely open legal question, not settled fact. The exact ADU standard in force today, including size caps (either 75 percent of habitable living area or 1,000 square feet, whichever is less, under the 2024 amendment) and whether HB2720's full by-right standard now applies, is review-gated. Confirm directly with Development Services (480-358-3092) before relying on a specific figure.