Goodyear, AZ Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)

2 sets Goodyear's rules for accessory buildings and structures such as sheds, detached garages, and pool houses. A permit is required the moment a structure crosses any one of four lines: it will be used as livable space (a bedroom, office, or game room), it attaches to an existing building, it exceeds 200 square feet, or it has plumbing, mechanical, or electrical service. Anything smaller and simpler, like a standard tool shed under those thresholds, can go up without a separate permit but must still meet the location standards.

Placement depends on whether the shed sits in the front or rear half of the lot. Front-yard accessory structures are limited mostly to attached porch covers, garages, and porte-cocheres built in the same architectural style as the house, and must follow the same setback and height limits as the principal building. Rear accessory buildings and structures get more room to maneuver: up to 6 feet in height, a shed needs only a 3-foot side setback and a 5-foot rear setback, and that setback grows by 1 foot for every foot of height above 6 feet, capping out at whatever setback applies to the principal building.

A narrow carve-out lets small movable items under 200 square feet and under 6 feet tall, such as children's play equipment, trash enclosures, storage sheds, and pet shelters, sit within the required side or rear setback as long as they stay behind a screen wall or the house's front plane. No accessory building can stand within 6 feet of the principal building if fire-rated, or 10 feet if not, and no residential accessory structure can exceed 12 feet in height unless it adopts the principal building's own setbacks, in which case it still cannot exceed the house's height. Detached structures must be anchored or slab-mounted, and any closed-roof accessory building counts toward the lot's overall coverage limit.