Missing Middle | ARLnow.com

Published April 16, 2024 at 11:45AM | Updated April 16, 2024 at 12:45PM

Attendees at the Arlington County Board meeting Wednesday, March 22 on Missing Middle Housing (staff photo)

Arlington spent $74,000 in two months combating a lawsuit over Missing Middle housing, public records show, drawing the ire of a County Board candidate.

The county, which hired law firm Gentry Locke at the start of this year, paid $49,251 for services in January and $24,536 in February, according to invoices. Meanwhile, a GoFundMe campaign for the lawsuit — which alleges that Arlington failed to adequately study the impacts of Missing Middle before approving the zoning change — has raised about $69,000 since last June.

News

A new era of housing questions for Arlington one year after passing Missing Middle

By Daniel Egitto

Published March 19, 2024 at 10:35AM

Supporters and opponents of the county's Missing Middle Housing proposal brought dueling signs to the Arlington County Board meeting on Saturday, March 18, 2023 (staff photo)

A year after the passage of Arlington’s “Missing Middle” ordinance last March, the jury is out on the long-term implications of the zoning change.

Challenges include a substantial slowdown in Missing Middle applications and continued opposition from some residents.

News

Despite Missing Middle ordinance, this two-unit project has to get County Board approval

By Jo DeVoe

Published February 20, 2024 at 9:30AM | Updated February 22, 2024 at 12:38PM

Updated renderings for 1129 N. Utah Street (courtesy BeaconCrest Homes)

(Updated at 12:35 p.m.) Even in the era of Missing Middle, some duplex projects in Arlington have to go to the Arlington County Board for approval.

A proposal to build two side-by-side homes for sale at 1129 N. Utah Street, a few blocks from the Ballston Metro station and Washington-Liberty High School, is one such project.

News

Two proposed 6-plexes in Alcova Heights clear a neighbor’s attempt to appeal them

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 29, 2024 at 11:30AM | Updated January 29, 2024 at 11:58AM

The 'pipestem' property in Alcova Heights currently developed with a large circular driveway and one single-family home (via Google Maps)

Arlington’s Board of Zoning Appeals has rejected a neighbor’s attempt to stop two proposed Expanded Housing Option developments in the Alcova Heights neighborhood.

An affiliate of local homebuilder Classic Cottages proposes building two side-by-side six-plexes at 4015 and 4019 7th Street S., bordering Alcova Heights Park and a couple of blocks north of Columbia Pike.

News

Arlington County loses pretrial appeal in Missing Middle suit

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 16, 2024 at 11:30AM | Updated January 29, 2024 at 10:24AM

An anti-Missing Middle sign in front of a house in Westover (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated on 1/29/23) Arlington County suffered another defeat last week in the pre-trial proceedings for the Missing Middle lawsuit.

It appealed an earlier court decision that the 10 residents suing Arlington County — alleging the County Board illegally approved the Missing Middle zoning amendments — have standing to do so.

Around Town

The ’12 Days of Christmas’ gets a remake focused on Arlington land-use debates

By Jo DeVoe

Published December 20, 2023 at 10:30AM

Screen captures from Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future's riff on the '12 Days of Christmas' (via ASF/YouTube)

It won’t ever beat “All I Want for Christmas is You” on the charts but a new Arlington-specific Christmas song is out, recorded by the group that was on the opposition side of several land-use flashpoints this year.

Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future, a neighborhood group that has advocated against everything from Missing Middle to a new planning document for Langston Blvd, dropped an alternative “12 Days of Christmas” this week.

News

A collection of single-family homes in Cherrydale will soon be eligible for Missing Middle redevelopment

By Jo DeVoe

Published December 7, 2023 at 3:30PM

Homes next to a rehabilitation facility on N. Nelson Street off Langston Blvd (via Google Maps)

Eighteen properties formerly within a special “revitalization district” in Cherrydale will soon officially be eligible for redevelopment with 2- to 6-unit homes.

On Monday, the Arlington Planning Commission unanimously adopted changes to the county’s General Land Use Plan map that removed 18 properties from the boundaries of the Cherrydale revitalization district, outlined in the 1994 Cherrydale Revitalization Plan.

News

County approves more Missing Middle projects after trial date set for lawsuit

By Jo DeVoe

Published November 27, 2023 at 1:30PM

An anti-Missing Middle sign in front of a house in Westover (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Although Arlington County is set to go to court next summer over its Missing Middle zoning ordinances, it has not stopped approving these new housing projects.

Judge David Schell has scheduled a 5-day trial to begin on July 8, 2024 after ruling in October that the 10 residents suing Arlington over the ordinances had standing. Among other claims, they argue the county violated state law by not sufficiently considering the impacts of Missing Middle.

News

Arlington County Board candidates make their final pitches for votes this election

By Jo DeVoe

Published November 1, 2023 at 3:30PM

Election Day 2022 in Arlington (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The end of the election is drawing nearer: early voting ends on Saturday and Tuesday is Election Day.

At this point, the roughly 12,000 early votes cast are almost evenly split between in-person and mailed-in ballots, per the Arlington County election turnout dashboard. Some 44,000 ballots need to be returned between now and the close of the polls on Tuesday to surpass turnout in 2019, the last similar election year.

News

Early voting picks up with November election less than two weeks away

By Jo DeVoe

Published October 26, 2023 at 3:30PM

Voting in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Early voting is picking up speed in Arlington while Arlington County Board candidates focus on Missing Middle and taxes.

The general election on Nov. 7 is less than two weeks away and at this point, far more people are voting early in person this year compared to 2019, the last election year without gubernatorial or presidential races.

News

NEW: Missing Middle lawsuit allowed to move forward

By Jo DeVoe

Published October 19, 2023 at 3:30PM

An anti-Missing Middle sign in front of a house in Westover (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The resident lawsuit against Arlington County’s Missing Middle zoning ordinances can move forward.

Today (Thursday), retired Fairfax County Judge David Schell denied most of the county’s motions to dismiss the case, according to an attorney for the 10 residents who sued Arlington. He had put off making a decision for one month when the parties last convened in court in September.