Maricopa County, Arizona - County Development Fees (Unincorporated)
Maricopa County | County (Planning & Development) | County seat: Phoenix | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ MSA (Valley of the Sun)
Maricopa County is the most populous county in Arizona and the center of the Greater Phoenix metropolitan area. This page covers development fees administered by the Maricopa County Planning & Development Department for unincorporated Maricopa County only. The incorporated cities and towns within the county - including Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Scottsdale, Glendale, and others - administer their own separate development fee schedules and are captured as separate ZoneFee records. The county's developer-facing charges are cost-of-service planning, zoning, subdivision, grading, and building-permit fees approved by the Board of Supervisors under Arizona Revised Statutes Title 11, Chapter 6. The county administers no development impact fee and no utility connection fee. All zoning and land-use amounts below are drawn from the Maricopa County Planning & Development Summary of the Fee Schedule (June 2024), which reproduces the codified Zoning Ordinance Section 1602 fees and is confirmed as the current schedule by the live Fee Schedule and Estimators page. Verify current amounts with Maricopa County Planning & Development before relying on them.
Fee Summary
| Fee Type | Status | Top-Line Figure | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoning, Subdivision, and Grading Application Fees (Planning & Development) | Confirmed | Plan of Development / Zone Change $1,200 + $100/acre (max $50,000); Zone Change with Overlay / Special Use Permit / Military Compatibility Permit $3,000 + $100/acre (max $50,000); Comprehensive Plan Amendment / Development Master Plan $2,000 + $20/acre (max $100,000); Subdivision Preliminary Plat $2,000 + $200/acre; Final Plat $1,000 + $25/acre | Codified (see note) |
| Impact Fees | Not available via official sources | Arizona development impact fees are principally a municipal tool under ARS 9-463.05; no county-adopted ARS 11-1102 development fee schedule was located on the county's official developer-side fee surfaces (three substitute paths checked) | - |
| Utility Tap Fees | Not administered | Maricopa County operates no county-wide water or sewer utility; unincorporated-area service is provided by municipal utilities, private water companies, or ARS Title 48 domestic water improvement and sanitary districts, each setting its own connection charges | - |
| Special District Fees | Not administered | ARS Title 48 districts (community facilities, domestic water improvement, sanitary, fire) are separate political subdivisions with their own boards and assessments, distinct from the county Planning & Development fee schedule | - |
| Proffers | Not applicable | Arizona uses ARS 9-463.05 municipal development impact fees, not Virginia-style cash proffers; Arizona counties have no proffer mechanism | - |
Planning, Zoning, Subdivision, and Grading Fees
Source: Maricopa County Planning & Development, Summary of the Fee Schedule (June 2024), reproducing the codified Zoning Ordinance Section 1602 (Fees), the Subdivision Regulations, and the Grading & Drainage engineering-review provisions. These are the highest-value blocks on the page for a developer. Fees are cost-of-service charges approved by the Board of Supervisors under Arizona Revised Statutes Title 11, Chapter 6.
Planning and zoning applications (Zoning Ordinance Section 1602)
| Application Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plan of Development | $1,200 + $100 per acre or portion thereof (max $50,000) |
| Zone Change | $1,200 + $100 per acre or portion thereof (max $50,000) |
| Zone Change with Overlay | $3,000 + $100 per acre or portion thereof (max $50,000) |
| Special Use Permit | $3,000 + $100 per acre or portion thereof (max $50,000) |
| Military Compatibility Permit | $3,000 + $100 per acre or portion thereof (max $50,000) |
| Comprehensive Plan Amendment / Development Master Plan | $2,000 + $20 per acre or portion thereof (max $100,000) |
| Minor Development Master Plan amendment | $1,500 + $10 per acre or portion thereof (max $30,000) |
| Minor amendment to approved SUP / POD / Unit POD site plan | $750 + $100 per acre or portion thereof (max $5,000) |
| Modification of Stipulation / Condition | $500 per stipulation (min $1,000, max $5,000) |
| Text Amendment | $1,000 per section (max $5,000) |
| Use Compatibility and Consistency Determination (UCCD) | $50 per request |
| Zoning Clearance - Residential | $100 |
| Zoning Clearance - Commercial | $250 |
| Pre-application meeting fee (Section 1607) | $350 |
| Continuance of public hearing (at petitioner request) | $250 |
| Change to zoning case in process | $100 per occurrence |
Subdivision plats (Engineering)
| Application Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Preliminary Plat | $2,000 + $200 per acre (max $34,000) |
| Final Plat / Replat | $1,000 + $25 per acre (max $10,000) |
Grading and drainage review (Engineering)
| Review Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plan of Development Review (with precise plan entitlements) | $1,000 + $500 per acre (max $11,000) |
| Area / Development Master Plan Review (up to 640 acres) | $6,000 (+ $10 per acre over 640; max $80,000) |
Authority: Maricopa County Planning & Development Department. Building-permit valuation tables and additional inspection fees appear on later pages of the Summary of the Fee Schedule and are not itemized on this page. The planning and zoning application fee amounts above are codified in Zoning Ordinance Section 1602.
Coverage Notes - What This Page Does Not Cover
Per ZoneFee's Partial-Verified Publication Standard, the items below were either closed by official-source review as not administered or unavailable, or deferred to the cited source rather than estimated or omitted silently. These items remain under limited-coverage review until these gaps are closed.
Effective date of the zoning fees
The planning and zoning application fee amounts are codified in Maricopa County Zoning Ordinance Section 1602 (the last recorded amendment, TA2012029, took effect May 22, 2013) and compiled in the Planning & Development Summary of the Fee Schedule dated June 2024. The live Fee Schedule and Estimators page cites this same Summary in the present tense, confirming it as the operative current schedule. A single clean schedule-wide effective date is not stated in the source, so ZoneFee presents these as the current codified amounts rather than assigning a fabricated effective date.
Impact Fees
No development or impact fee is enumerated in Maricopa County's authoritative consolidated Planning & Development Summary of the Fee Schedule (June 2024) or on the live Fee Schedule and Estimators page. Arizona development impact fees are principally a municipal tool under ARS 9-463.05; ARS 11-1102 permits but does not require counties to adopt development fees, and no Maricopa County ARS 11-1102 development-fee schedule was located on the county's developer-side fee surfaces. Three substitute paths were checked on 2026-07-31: the Summary of the Fee Schedule PDF (View/94568, no development-fee lines), the Fee Schedule and Estimators page (/391, construction-permit estimators only), and the Planning & Development Department landing page (/797, cost-of-service authority description). Closed-search outcome: this fee family is unavailable via official sources at the county level.
Utility Tap Fees
Maricopa County government operates no county-wide water or sewer utility. Water and sewer service in unincorporated Maricopa County is provided by separate municipal utilities, investor-owned or private water companies, or ARS Title 48 domestic water improvement and sanitary districts, each a separate provider that administers its own tap, connection, capacity, and capital-recovery charges. The county Planning & Development Summary of the Fee Schedule enumerates no water or sewer tap, connection, or capacity fee. Closed-search outcome: this fee family is not administered by this jurisdiction; it is set by the serving utility or district.
Special District Fees
Arizona special taxing districts - community facilities districts, domestic water improvement districts, sanitary districts, and fire districts - are formed and administered under ARS Title 48 as separate political subdivisions with their own governing boards and assessments, distinct from the Maricopa County Planning & Development fee schedule. The county's Summary of the Fee Schedule enumerates no community-facilities-district or other special-district developer fee. Closed-search outcome: this fee family is not administered by this jurisdiction.
Proffers
Arizona jurisdictions do not use cash proffers, which are a Virginia conditional-zoning construct under Virginia Code Section 15.2-2303. Arizona growth-mitigation contributions are made through ARS 9-463.05 municipal development impact fees, not proffers, and Arizona counties have no proffer mechanism. Closed-search outcome: this fee family does not apply to this jurisdiction.
Fee Authorities
| Authority | Fee Types | Official Website |
|---|---|---|
| Maricopa County Planning & Development Department | Planning and zoning application fees (Zoning Ordinance Section 1602), subdivision preliminary and final plat fees, grading and drainage engineering-review fees, and building permit and plan review fees for unincorporated Maricopa County | maricopa.gov |
Sources
| Document | Agency | Accessed |
|---|---|---|
| Summary of the Fee Schedule (June 2024, 33 pp; Zoning Ordinance Section 1602, Subdivision, and Grading fees pp. 5-9) | Maricopa County Planning & Development Department | 2026-07-31 |
| Fee Schedule and Estimators (currency confirmation - present-tense citation to the Summary of the Fee Schedule) | Maricopa County Planning & Development Department | 2026-07-31 |
Last verified by ZoneFee: 2026-07-31. Fee schedules are subject to change. Verify current rates directly with the Maricopa County Planning & Development Department before relying on this data for any financial decision.
This page reflects fee data sourced from the Maricopa County Planning & Development Summary of the Fee Schedule (June 2024), which reproduces the codified Zoning Ordinance Section 1602 fees and is confirmed as current by the live Fee Schedule and Estimators page, as of the last-verified date above. ZoneFee does not guarantee that fee amounts are current at the time you read this page. Fee schedules change. This page covers development fees for unincorporated Maricopa County only; the incorporated cities and towns within the county administer their own separate fee schedules. Maricopa County administers no development impact fee and no utility connection fee - water and sewer service in unincorporated areas is provided by municipal utilities, private water companies, or ARS Title 48 districts, each with its own charges - and Arizona jurisdictions do not use Virginia-style cash proffers. Verify all current rates directly with Maricopa County Planning & Development before relying on this data for land acquisition, project budgeting, or any financial decision. This page is for research and due-diligence reference only - it is not legal or financial advice.