Missing Middle Housing Proposal Approved By Arlington County Board

ARLINGTON, VA — The Arlington County Board voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve the Missing Middle Housing proposal, a decision that will allow developers to build multifamily dwellings in areas of the county currently zoned for single-family homes.

The board’s approval brings an end to a process that began in December 2019, when the county agreed to launch a Missing Middle Housing Study to look at different housing types that could help address the shortage of affordable of housing in the county. The study then evolved into a proposal that would allow multifamily dwellings in Arlington's single-family neighborhoods.

The new housing zoning policy approved on Wednesday will go into effect on July 1. The county also approved a cap of 58 permits in one calendar year, with the cap scheduled to sunset at the end of 2028.

Like existing rules for single-family homes, the new multifamily buildings will need to conform to height limits and setbacks, which determine how far they must be from the edge of their lots.

Matthew Ladd, principal planner for the Arlington County's Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development, said at Wednesday's meeting that he is not expecting a rush of applications when the new zoning rule goes into effect on July 1.

READ ALSO: Arlington's Missing Middle Supporters Show Confidence At Final Hearing

After the vote, Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said he appreciated the "good faith engagement" from most parties during the Missing Middle process.

When the county began the Missing Middle process, the two main goals were to increase the housing supply and diversify the range of housing choices to accommodate as many people as possible who want to live in the county, Dorsey noted.

“Arlington is known for its attention to its planning corridors where we specifically and purposefully have medium and high density building to accommodate the preponderance of that growth,” he said.

But the focus on the planning corridors has produced a housing type that may not be what many people want or can afford, according to Dorsey.

"There is a desire for them to live in places and in spaces that are different than what is primarily being delivered here," he said.

The Missing Middle Housing process will give these people opportunities to live in single-family zoned areas as the county works to "maximize the efficient use of available space" to build new housing, Dorsey said.

In her comments after the vote, Board member Katie Cristol said the adopted policy will play a role in the county's greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Greater housing density is less energy intensive than the construction of single-family homes, she noted.

Many supporters of the Missing Middle plan suggest housing prices will become more affordable because the removal of single-family zoning will allow housing developers to build more densely throughout the county.

Board Vice Chair Libby Garvey, in her comments after she voted in favor of the Missing Middle Housing proposal, said, "No one really knows for sure how this is going to turn out."

But Garvey also said the county needed to make changes to its zoning policies to address the lack of affordable housing. Holding these two beliefs, Garvey said she views the plan that was adopted on Wednesday as a pilot program.

Garvey believes there are enough "guardrails" in the plan to mitigate from any unintended consequences.

Arlington's current single-family zoning system, according to Garvey, is not getting the results that most people want.

It is causing houses to be torn down and replaced with single-family mansions all over Arlington. "A small county that allows nothing but huge homes for single families over most of its land is, as one speaker put it, not conducive to a sustainable and diverse community," Garvey said.

Opponents of the Missing Middle plan noted that it is the most significant policy change since Arlington adopted its transit-oriented-development policy in the mid-1970s.

But unlike the transit-oriented plan, Missing Middle is "a major and ill-conceived departure from that," Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future, an anti-Missing Middle group, said Wednesday night after the board voted to approve the plan.

"The final Missing Middle plan that County Board members just adopted is a blueprint for ideologically driven, poor planning," Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future's Peter Rousselot said in a statement. "This County Board has plopped a half-baked cake on the table that Arlington residents must now eat."

Natalie Roy, a candidate for Arlington County Board, described the board's unanimous vote as an attempt to cover up its failure to adopt a housing policy to provide affordable homes for essential workers and enhance diversity in Arlington's neighborhoods.

"In an historic vote today, the Arlington County Board ignored the overwhelming majority of its taxpaying residents to give a gift to developers," said Roy, who is running in the June 20 Democratic primary for county board. "Sadly, the board's action will do nothing to help the many hardworking Arlingtonians who dream of homeownership."