Pro-Missing Middle Housing Groups To Hold Rally In Arlington

ARLINGTON, VA — Community groups are holding a rally at Arlington’s Courthouse Plaza Saturday afternoon in support of the county adopting zoning changes that would allow multifamily housing units in areas currently zoned for single-family homes.

The rally will feature speakers from the NAACP Arlington Branch, League of Women Voters, Sierra Club, Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement and YIMBYs of Northern Virginia.

The event, the Rally for Housing Opportunity, will take place on Saturday, Feb. 25 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at 2100 Clarendon Blvd.

The Arlington County Board is scheduled to vote on the major zoning changes — the result of the county’s Missing Middle Housing Study — on March 18.

On Jan. 25, the Arlington County Board voted unanimously to move into the final phase of crafting its Missing Middle housing zoning changes.

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

The board’s approval started a nearly two-month period when the Arlington County Planning Commission and County Board will hold more public hearings on the proposal and then work to develop a final version of the changes to the county's housing zoning policy for the board to consider on March 18.

In the Missing Middle proposal, 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 (triplexes, fourplexes, and other multiplexes).

“This is a pivotal moment for Arlington. We can choose to embrace inclusive housing opportunities or accept an unsustainable status quo,” YIMBYs of Northern Virginia said in a news release Friday. “Only through adopting robust and flexible zoning reforms can Arlington County fulfill its vision of being ‘a diverse and inclusive world-class urban community.’”

YIMBYs of Northern Virginia are part of a larger pro-housing movement. YIMBY stands for "yes, in my back yard."

In early January, hundreds of people gathered in Arlington to protest the Missing Middle housing proposal that they counter is deeply flawed and is getting rushed through the county’s approval process.

Opponents argue that the plan will have little positive impact on the affordable housing crisis in Arlington and will only give developers free rein to build larger numbers of a high-priced housing units.

RELATED:

• Hundreds Protest 'Missing Middle' Housing Zoning Plan In Arlington
• Housing Reparations Policy Viewed As Better Option Than Missing Middle