Arlington County Begins Accepting Missing Middle Housing Permit Applications

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington County is now accepting permit applications for Missing Middle housing development on its Permit Arlington website.

The Missing Middle permits, also called expanded housing option (EHO) permits, will allow developers to build up to six housing units on certain residential lots if various conditions are met, including the same building height, setbacks and size as allowed for construction of single-family homes.

In March, the Arlington County Board approved by-right construction of townhouses, duplexes and 4-6 unit buildings on lots across the county previously zoned only for single-family homes, effective July 1. For the first five years of the plan, an annual cap of 58 permits for Missing Middle housing units will be in place.

The 58 Missing Middle permits will be distributed by zoning district: seven permits for R-5; 30 permits for R-6; and 21 permits total for R-8, R-10 and R-20 housing. Lots sized 5,000 square feet, for example, are classified as R-5, and 6,000-square-feet lots are R-6.

Arlington has created a new webpage with information on EHO development standards and how to apply for a permit, as well as frequently asked questions, and resources for both homeowners and potential applicants.

EHO permit applications will be filed online through Permit Arlington. Developers can start an application by clicking on “Create” and selecting “Zoning Application.” Currently, there is no fee for an EHO permit. A fee may be proposed in 2024, the county said.

The county has created a video that demonstrates to applicants how to apply for an EHO permit in Permit Arlington.

Once a developer submits an application, Arlington County staff will review the submission for completeness. The anticipated review cycle for compliance with zoning standards is 20 business days, the county said. But many permit applications will require one or more revisions and subsequent review cycles to meet the zoning standards.

Starting July 1, applicants can contact the Arlington County Zoning Division by email or phone to set up a pre-submission meeting. Pre-submission meetings are encouraged but not required, the county said.

Arlington said it is committed to tracking EHO permit submissions and approvals so both potential applicants and community members can see how many EHO projects are proposed and where they are located.

Work is underway on connecting permitting system data to the county's open data portal to create a user-friendly dashboard. Until that tool is available, county staff will post weekly updates on applications and their status online. The tracking of EHO permit submissions and approvals will begin on Friday, July 7.

Both supporters and opponents of the Missing Middle Housing plan adopted by the Arlington County Board called on the county to create a system that makes it easy to track applications for EHO permits.

Maureen Coffey, who won the Democratic nomination for one of two seats opening on the county board last week, said at a candidates forum during the campaign that she is interested in “seeing how it plays out.”

Natalie Roy, who lost in her bid for one of the two Democratic nominations for county board, emphasized on the campaign trail that the county must monitor the impacts closely.

A vocal opponent of the county board's adoption of the plan, Roy said county officials should create a real-time public dashboard that will show where in the county the permits are being issued, what kind of housing project it is, and the sales prices of the units.

In April, a group of Arlington homeowners opposed to the new Missing Middle Housing policy filed a lawsuit against the county's approval of the zoning change.

These “unlawful” and “rushed” zoning changes will have “far-reaching and long-consequences that the Board did not investigate and that Arlington County is ill-equipment to handle, including drastically increased density in formerly low-density-zoned neighborhoods,” the residents argued in the lawsuit.

A hearing on the Missing Middle lawsuit is scheduled for July 11 in Arlington County Circuit Court.

Here are other details about the county's EHO zoning changes that go into effect on July 1:

• Uses: Allow up to 6 units on a residential lot (duplexes, townhouses, and multiplexes with 3-6 units).
• Applicability: Allow EHO development by right on properties in the R-20, R-10, R-8, R-6, and R-5 districts.
• Annual Development Cap:
  • Set an annual cap of up to 58 permits with the following distribution method:
    • 21 permits total spread across R-8, R-10, and R-20 districts.
    • 30 permits in the R-6 district.
    • 7 permits in the R-5 district.
  • Set a five-year sunset of the annual cap.
• Maximum Lot Coverage: Duplicate base lot coverage standards for single-detached homes and provides additional allowed coverage even if a detached garage is not built.
• Parking:
  • Vary parking requirements based on transit proximity.
    • At least 0.5 parking spaces per unit on sites located entirely within a 3/4-mile radius of a Metrorail station entrance or within 1/2-mile radius of a transit stop along the Premium Transit Network.
    • At least 1 space per dwelling unit for all other locations — including those residential lots fronting on a cul-de-sac in transit-proximate areas.
• Trees:
  • For 2-4 units: Require a minimum of 4 shade trees.
  • For 5-6 units: Require a minimum of 8 shade trees.
• Minimum Site Area:
  • For 2-4 units: Set minimum site area to the same standards for single-detached homes in all districts.
  • For 5-6 units:
    • Set minimum site area to the same standards as single-detached homes in R-6, R-8, R-10, and R-20 districts.
    • Increase the minimum site area to 6,000 square feet for the R-5 district.

RELATED: Missing Middle Housing Proposal Approved By Arlington County Board