Arlington's 'Missing Middle' Housing Debate Looms Large In Election

ARLINGTON, VA — Election Day arrived in Arlington on Tuesday, giving residents a chance to make their choices in a congressional race, two county positions and several bond issues.

Many voters were up bright and early when the polls opened at 6 a.m., putting precinct volunteers to work right away. The number of voters coming into precincts remained steady until about 8:30 a.m., when traffic began to slow down slightly, according to one precinct captain.

For the only county board election, incumbent Matthew D. "Matt" de Ferranti (D) is facing Audrey R. Clement (I) and Adam Theo (I). Many voters interviewed by Patch said they were voting straight Democrat, which would be good news for de Ferranti.

But voters also told Patch that Clement was receiving many protest votes by people opposed to the “Missing Middle,” a housing proposal to open up single-family zoning to smaller-scale multifamily housing.

Clement campaigned against the Missing Middle policy plan, calling it a scheme to enrich housing developers. De Ferranti took a middle-of-the-road approach to creating more housing density in neighborhoods, while Theo took a bullish “YIMBY” stance on the Missing Middle plan.

In the Arlington Forest neighborhood, for example, the No. 1 issue among residents is the county’s Missing Middle proposal, a resident, who voted at the Lubber Run Community Center, told Patch. The Arlington County Board is considering whether to amend the zoning code to allow for buildings with two to eight units on lots that are currently zoned only for single-family detached homes.

While the resident voted for de Ferranti, he said many of his neighbors are planning to vote for Clement as a protest vote against the Missing Middle plan. “A lot of the single-family homeowners are worried that somebody is going to come in, pop up a duplex in between two single-family homes,” he said. “It wouldn’t be surprising to see a lot of support for Audrey out of this precinct.”

Virginia state Sen. Barbara Favola (D-31st), who represents a large part of Arlington County in Richmond, was at the Lubber Run Community Center Tuesday morning campaigning for Democrats on the ballot.

"Matt [de Ferranti] is a very thoughtful policy person," Favola told Patch. "He is a good listener. He tries to craft compromises that will bring the majority of people together. And I think his values are the values I want to see guiding decisions."

For the Arlington school board position currently held by Barbara Kanninen, who is not seeking reelection, James Vell Rives IV and Bethany Z. Sutton, who received the Democratic Party’s endorsement, are running for the seat.

“With the school board, the main issue for everybody is trying to figure out how to address the testing fall-off that was a result of the pandemic,” the Arlington Forest voter said.

For the 8th congressional district election, Rep. Don Beyer (D) is facing Republican Karina Lipsman and independent Teddy Fikre.

The six bond questions on the ballot cover: Metro and transportation, local parks and recreation, community infrastructure, Arlington Public Schools, stormwater, and utilities.

Polls will be open on Tuesday until 7 p.m. Patch will report on Arlington County and congressional election results when polls close.

RELATED: Arlington Voter Guide 2022: Candidates, Bonds, How To Cast Ballot