Missing Middle Opponents Urge Arlington Planning Commission To Withhold Recommendation

ARLINGTON, VA — Opponents of Arlington County's Missing Middle housing proposal reiterated Monday that the undoing of the county’s single-family zoning will do little, if anything, to create more affordable housing for vulnerable and low-income members of the community.

County officials also have not conducted the necessary analysis to determine the impacts that increased housing density will have on the environment, water distribution and sanitary sewer systems, and stormwater management systems, Missing Middle opponents said Monday, less than two weeks before the Arlington County Board is expected to vote on the proposal.

In testimony before the Arlington County Planning Commission, David Gerk, an Arlington resident who was speaking on behalf of Arlingtonians for Upzoning Transparency, a group that opposes the Missing Middle housing proposal, argued that single-family zoning is not preventing teachers or firefighters or people of color from owning homes in Arlington.

Gerk, an attorney and an engineer, emphasized that it’s the cost of housing that is preventing many of these people from owning homes in the county.

The expanded housing options included in the county’s Missing Middle housing proposal will require an annual income of at least $174,000 to afford the cheapest unit in a six-unit building constructed on a single-family lot, Gerk said, citing the county's analysis.

READ ALSO: Arlington's Missing Middle Plan Moves Forward After County Board Vote

These prices for units in a six-unit building will exclude the moderate or low-income residents who supporters of the Missing Middle housing proposal contend it will benefit, he argued.

The Arlington County Board voted unanimously on Jan. 25 to move into the final phase of crafting its Missing Middle housing zoning changes. As part of this final phase, the county's Planning Commission held a public hearing on Monday on the proposed amendments to the county’s zoning policies.

The Arlington County Board is scheduled to hold its own public hearing on the Missing Middle housing proposal on Saturday, March 18, after which it is expected to vote on the proposal.

Julius (JD) Spain Sr., former president of the NAACP Arlington Branch and a Democratic candidate for one of the two open seats on the Arlington County Board, has come out in support of the Missing Middle housing proposal.

Spain contends that the NAACP Arlington Branch and other groups that support the Missing Middle housing proposal represent "thousands of vulnerable citizens" who would stand to benefit from the proposal.

Natalie Roy, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination for county board and opposes the Missing Middle housing proposal, released a position paper in January that states the proposal will add density to Arlington, but it will not create housing that the most vulnerable members of the community can afford.

The current Missing Middle proposal offers "no clear goals other than to create more density," Roy said.

Some Missing Middle housing proposal supporters have acknowledged that the proposal would not address the affordable housing crisis in Arlington. Instead, they contend the major zoning change would provide an entry point for some higher-income Black and Latino people to purchase a home in the county.

If county officials truly wanted to help bring diversity to single-family zoned neighborhoods and address the past racism in county housing policies, they would work to provide Arlington residents and their descendants who were harmed by racist housing policies with access to a reparations programs, according to a Missing Middle housing proposal opponent.

The program of reparations through its housing policy could feature down-payment assistance to these residents, said Jim Schulman, executive director of the Alliance for Regional Cooperation, a nonprofit group dedicated to economic development in the Washington, D.C., area.

In the Missing Middle housing proposal adopted for consideration by the Arlington County Board, the expanded housing options would include two-family dwellings, such as duplexes and semidetached (two side-by-side units separated by a common wall); townhouses with three units (three side-by-side units separated by common walls); and multiple-family buildings with at least three and no more than six dwelling units.

In his testimony, Gerk said Arlington's refusal to plan in advance — before approving significant land-use changes such as the Missing Middle proposal — will increase the amount of heat-trapping, water-shedding impervious surface growth; put additional pressure on the county's antiquated water distribution and sanitary sewer system; and make the county's ability to address stormwater management seven more difficult.

The Planning Commission should to live up to its name and withhold the decision to recommend any options under the Missing Middle proposal and defer any decision on the proposed amendments to Arlington's general land use plan and zoning ordinance, Gerk said.

"Ask the County Board to do the same until county staff provide comprehensive impact analyses on the cumulative impacts at full build-out for each proposed option," he said. "This is vital because builders and developers will contribute no additional infrastructure or community benefits beyond what is required by permit for the site itself."

RELATED:

• Missing Middle Housing Supporters Rally To End Single-Family Zoning
• Housing Reparations Policy Viewed As Better Option Than Missing Middle