Little Rock, AR Accessory Structures: ADU Owner Occupancy (2026)

Sec. 36-204 was adopted to implement Act 313 of 2025 of the State of Arkansas, and its stated purpose is to establish clear standards for the development of one (1) accessory dwelling unit on single-family residential lots as a permitted use by right. Permitted by right is the operative phrase. It means an ADU that meets the section's standards is approved as a matter of course rather than through a discretionary hearing where conditions can be attached. The standards the section does impose are physical: location on the lot, size, lot coverage and height.

Nothing in that list turns on who occupies the main house or the accessory unit, so a homeowner who moves out and rents both is not stepping outside the section's terms. Subsection (d) is what settles the question rather than leaving it to inference. It says that any regulation or restriction in chapter 36 that is more restrictive than this section shall not apply to accessory dwelling units defined by the section's own subsection (b)(1). An owner-occupancy mandate is more restrictive than a rule that has none, so the older requirement in Sec.

36-252(a)(3) does not reach a by-right unit built under Sec. 36-204. That older rule still governs R-2 and R-3 accessory dwellings approved outside the by-right process.