Legality Of 6-Plex Housing Units In Arlington Challenged by Residents

ARLINGTON, VA — A group of Arlington neighbors is trying to stop a local developer from building two 6-plex residential buildings in a wooded area of their Alcova Heights neighborhood.

The residents contend the developer's two expanded housing permit applications for the 6-plex buildings do not comply with the county’s minimum lot width requirements of 60 feet and are not based on current lot lines and measurements.

Among the neighbors' concerns is the significant loss of mature tree canopy in the 4000 block of 7th Street South if the developer is allowed to move forward with the projects. Nine large trees were already cut down on one of the two lots as part of a permit granted earlier this year to the developer, Alexandria-based Classic Cottages LLC, to tear down the existing house, according to the residents.

“We urge the County to reject these applications,” the group of 11 neighbors wrote in a recent letter to Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz.

In the letter, the residents, who live on the same block and one block over from the proposed 6-plexes, asked the county manager to “give full consideration of elements common to county decision-making” such as the compatibility of the proposed development with the surrounding neighborhood and preservation of significant trees and foliage.

On July 1, Arlington County began accepting permit applications for Missing Middle housing development on its Permit Arlington website. The Missing Middle permits, also called expanded housing option, or EHO permits, allow developers to build up to six housing units on certain residential lots, similar to the two 6-plex residential buildings that the Classic Cottages affiliate has proposed in Alcova Heights.

The residents in this quiet, wooded area of Alcova Heights represent one example of neighbors coming together in the county to call on the officials to reject EHO permit applications.

On a broader scale, a group of 10 homeowners in Arlington filed a lawsuit in April seeking an injunction to prevent county officials from issuing EHO permits anywhere in the county and to declare the EHO zoning ordinance invalid. A hearing on the lawsuit is set for Sept. 19 in Arlington Circuit Court.

READ ALSO: 6-Plexes, Townhomes Among 1st Missing Middle Applications In Arlington

For the two proposed 6-plexes in Alcova Heights, the developer is also seeking to adjust the lines for the two lots on 7th Street South. They are currently configured as one pipe-stem and one lot along the road. The developer wants to change the lines between the two lots so they both have road frontage and back-up to the rear woods, according to the residents.

The residents are challenging Arlington County's authority to approve the plan, given two lots already exist as a pipe-stem lot and an interior lot.

For both lots, at 4015 7th Street South and 4019 7th Street South, the developer seeks an EHO permit based on a "non-existent, unrecorded plat and not based on current lot lines and measurements, among other concerns," the residents said.

An official with Classic Cottages LLC, the developer of the two proposed 6-plexes, had not responded to a request for comment on the residents' letter at the time this article was published.

Based on Arlington County's online EHO permit tracker, the developer has submitted revised plans in response to the county's first review, according to the residents.

In order to get those revised plans, the residents said they had to file a Freedom of Information Act request with Arlington County.

The residents said they are hopeful that the process will allow for public engagement and oversight, including letting the neighbors review what is being proposed, before the county makes a decision on the two 6-plexes.

They also question Arlington County's commitment to trees as part of the EHO zoning reform, especially in areas of development where there will be a loss of a significant number.

In response to the lawsuit filed by the 10 Arlington homeowners against the approval of the Missing Middle zoning reform, Arlington County argued that it "amended its zoning ordinance to create an incentive for tree plantings in exchange for increased density, as permitted through its power to administer incentive zoning."

The Alcova Heights residents contend that what is proposed on their street "is not about incentivizing the developer to plant trees, as the County has claimed EHO is."

RELATED:

• Fairfax Co. Candidate Vows To Keep Out Arlington-Style Missing Middle
• Missing Middle Opponents Doubt Zoning Change's Impact On NoVA Sprawl