A county expert asserted that Arlington’s sewage systems are well equipped for expected growth as the Missing Middle civil trial neared its conclusion today (Monday).
Jon Lawler, chief support engineer at Arlington County Water Sewer Streets, pushed back against previous testimony from a plaintiff’s witness, who argued that an influx of additional housing units could cause backups in individual sewer systems.
Noting that Arlington’s water usage has steadily declined since 1998, Lawler testified that the county’s sewer lines can support the relatively modest amount of growth anticipated under Missing Middle zoning amendments.
In conversations prior to the passage of Missing Middle, Lawler said, he had no qualms about potential impacts to countywide wastewater infrastructure. His understanding was that the change “wasn’t going to impact us because the growth was so marginal.”
“It was very clear that we had capacity system-wide to accommodate gradual, marginal increases along individual, single-family streets,” he said.
Increases in the efficiency of appliances like toilets and dishwashers means that, by Lawler’s estimation, Arlington County would have to add over 8,000 new housing units just to approach 2008 water consumption levels.
For the first five years of Missing Middle, no more than 58 new structures can be added each year under the change, which allows for by-right construction of buildings from duplexes to six-plexes in residential neighborhoods.
Lawler acknowledged, however, that the impact of development on individual homes or neighborhoods could differ from impacts on county infrastructure as a whole. Last week, engineer Steven Quinn testified on behalf of plaintiffs that the county “didn’t make any consideration whatsoever” of how Missing Middle might affect localized conditions in sewer lines.
“They completely ignored [possible impacts], at the peril of the existing residents,” Quinn said.
In cross-examination, an attorney for the plaintiffs referenced several instances in recent years where localized sewage backups occurred in Arlington.
Arlington’s Sanitary Sewer Collection Plan, adopted earlier this year, asserts that the county’s current sewage infrastructure is robust enough to support anticipated population growth between now and 2045. County staff reached that conclusion based on a dynamic model of all sanitary sewer manholes, sewer segments, pump stations and force mains within the county.
Plaintiffs argue that the county failed to adequately study the impacts of Missing Middle before the Arlington County Board approved the zoning amendments. Based on this and five other allegations, they are seeking to have Judge David Schell declare the zoning changes void ab initio, meaning they have no legal effect.
The much-anticipated civil trial began last Monday and was originally scheduled to last five days, but defense testimony extended into this week. Attorneys from both sides agreed today to skip presenting closing arguments.
After the trial’s conclusion, it will likely take some time for the court to reach a decision — perhaps around a month, real estate attorney Ked Whitmore told ARLnow last week, although he noted “that’s really hard to say.” He predicted an appeal is almost guaranteed, no matter the trial’s outcome, kicking off another lengthy legal process.
