Missing Middle Opponents Urge Compromise In Arlington Housing Plan

ARLINGTON, VA — The Arlington County Board will meet Wednesday afternoon when it is expected to vote to approve a form of the Missing Middle Housing proposal, allowing greater housing density in single-family neighborhoods.

After hearing comments from more than 200 people on Saturday, the board convened again Tuesday, where the final group of speakers was allowed to comment on the proposal.

While a majority of speakers at Saturday’s hearing voiced support for ending single-family zoning in Arlington, the final day of public comment was dominated by residents opposed to the Missing Middle Housing proposal.

One of the opponents, Christine Brittle, a resident of the Penrose neighborhood, reminded the board members that Arlington is a very liberal community.

“You’re not seeing pushback on this because Arlington is not progressive,” Brittle said. “You’re seeing pushback because this proposal is rife with negative externalities and unrealistic assumptions. Please don’t launch this experiment on a countywide scale.”

When it votes on Wednesday, the board will likely decide whether to approve a proposal that allows an across-the-board lifting of single-family zoning in the county.

Opponents of the Missing Middle proposal have pointed to the start of the process in December 2019 when county officials assured residents that the proposal would not result in the elimination of single-family zoning in the county.

The Missing Middle Housing Study, launched in 2019, started out looking at what new housing types could be used to address a shortage of non-single-family housing in the county. Over the next three years, though, the county developed a plan that would allow multifamily housing development across Arlington's single-family neighborhoods.

Tierney Farrell, another resident of the Penrose neighborhood, pleaded with the board to seek a compromise between the supporters and opponents of the Missing Middle Housing proposal.

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

Farrell said the board needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that represents a wider spectrum of Arlington residents.

“You should not be representing people who don’t live here but want to or those that might want to live here in the future that don’t even exist yet,” she said.

Farrell also warned County Board Vice Chair Libby Garvey and members Takis P. Karantonis and Matt de Ferranti that when Board Chair Christian Dorsey and member Katie Cristol leave the board at the end of the year, “you will be left holding the baby, and it’s going to be one angry baby.”

Dorsey and Cristol announced last year that they will not be seeking re-election after serving two terms on the board.

Among Missing Middle's supporters on Tuesday was Grace White, a Westover resident who serves as Arlington vice president of the YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, a group that supports lifting zoning regulations that restrict housing density.

"Missing Middle is popular outside of civic association meetings and disproportionately white and wealthy meetings," White said. "Even at these past three meetings, which as I said are disproportionately made up of people who are privileged and against change, the supporters of the most expansive form of this plan have outnumbered the opposition."

Marjorie Green, speaking on behalf of Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE), said Missing Middle is fundamentally "an equity issue."

"It is long past time to end an exclusionary zoning policy that for almost a century has locked many families of color out of three-quarters of our residential neighborhoods, led to many leaving the county and created of legacy of segregation that persists today," Green said.

The next meeting of the county board, where it will discuss and possibly vote on the proposal, will occur on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The public is welcome to attend the meeting in person in the County Board Room on the third floor of 2100 Clarendon Blvd., or view the meeting online.