Missing Middle | ARLnow.com

Published January 9, 2023 at 10:00AM | Updated January 9, 2023 at 10:18AM

Crowd at anti-Missing Middle housing rally at Innovation Elementary in January (photo courtesy Esther Bowring)

Several hundred people gathered early Sunday afternoon at Innovation Elementary School for what was dubbed the “Reality Check Rally.”

As others were glued to their TVs for the last day of the NFL regular season and its playoff implications — or going about errands, children’s activities, or jobs — the attendees spent their afternoon hearing a dire picture being painted about the proposal to allow multifamily housing of up to 8 units per property in single-family home neighborhoods, also known as Missing Middle.

News

Missing Middle dominates Arlington County Board priorities for 2023

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 4, 2023 at 11:45AM

Newly appointed Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey during the Jan. 3, 2023 organizational meeting (via Arlington County)

Missing Middle — and the ongoing side-conversation about civility this topic has prompted — are front and center for the Arlington County Board this year.

Members all opined on the potential zoning changes last night (Tuesday) during their first meeting of the year, when they also unanimously elected Christian Dorsey as the chair and Libby Garvey as the Vice-Chair for 2023.

News

Planning Commission votes 7-2 to advertise hearings on ‘Missing Middle’ zoning proposal

By Jo DeVoe

Published December 16, 2022 at 1:30PM | Updated December 16, 2022 at 1:46PM

The Planning Commission after voting 7-2 to advertise hearings on 'Missing Middle' zoning amendments on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022 (via Arlington County)

A proposal to allow by-right development of “Missing Middle” housing in single-family-home neighborhoods will now head to the Arlington County Board for a first look.

A little after midnight yesterday (Thursday), the Planning Commission voted 7-2 to recommend the County Board advertise hearings on a series of proposed changes to the county’s zoning code, which would allow 2-8-unit buildings in Arlington’s lowest-density neighborhoods.

News

Planning Commission hearing on Missing Middle draws nearly 100 speakers

By Jo DeVoe

Published December 13, 2022 at 3:50PM

Terry Arma speaks during the Planning Commission meeting Monday, Dec. 12, 2022 (via Arlington County)

In the eight years local architect Brian Harner sat on the Arlington Planning Commission, he says he never saw more than 15 people show up for a meeting.

Last night (Monday), some 90 people registered to speak on the county’s proposal to allow by-right development of buildings with two to six — or even up to eight — units in districts that are now zoned exclusively for single-family homes.

News

An AI debates Missing Middle housing ahead of tonight’s Planning Commission meeting

By ARLnow.com

Published December 12, 2022 at 1:30PM

Missing Middle proponents and opponents sit side by side in Arlington County headquarters on Oct. 15, 2022 (courtesy of Adam Theo)

Arlington Planning Commission is set to discuss Missing Middle housing in a blockbuster pair of meetings this week.

The first is happening tonight at 7 p.m., in the County Board room at Arlington County government headquarters (2100 Clarendon Blvd). County staff are set to give a presentation before the floor is opened to public comment from dozens of speakers.

News

Residential investors are especially interested in these five areas of Arlington

By Jo DeVoe

Published December 7, 2022 at 3:55PM

Construction on a large home on N. Dinwiddie Street (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

In Green Valley, resident Portia Clark says she and her neighbors are bombarded with calls and letters from realtors and potential investors about buying their homes.

“We were once a very stable community of homeowners who bought our homes to live here and pay them off,” she said. That increasingly seems to be changing.

News

What the election results mean for Missing Middle and minority politics in deep blue Arlington

By Jo DeVoe

Published November 9, 2022 at 3:55PM | Updated November 9, 2022 at 4:11PM

County Board candidate Audrey Clement in Virginia Square on Election Day -- Nov. 7, 2022 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) Arlington’s Missing Middle housing proposal has aroused plenty of passion, but the strong opposition (and support) only registered a blip in last night’s election results.

Democrat incumbent Matt de Ferranti easily won his re-election bid for the Arlington County Board, with 61% of the vote to 28% for Audrey Clement and 10% for Adam Theo. (All but one county precinct have reported results as of publication.)

News

DEVELOPING: Democrats poised for another sweep in Arlington, though Clement claims a few districts

By ARLnow.com

Published November 8, 2022 at 7:30PM | Updated November 8, 2022 at 10:14PM

Matt de Ferranti at the Arlington Democrats election watch party at William Jeffrey's Tavern (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 9:30 p.m.) What many believed would be the most competitive Arlington County Board race in four years has turned out to be another convincing Democratic victory.

The three-way race between incumbent Democrat Matt de Ferranti and independents Audrey Clement and Adam Theo is, at least to some degree, a referendum on Missing Middle housing.

News

Voting is underway in Arlington County, with housing issues unofficially on the ballot

By Jo DeVoe

Published November 8, 2022 at 11:55AM

Election Day in Arlington (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Election Day is here, and thousands of residents are hitting the polls — manned by 426 volunteers — to cast their ballots in the 2022 mid-term election.

By 9 a.m., about 10% of Arlington voted in-person, according to the county elections office, in addition to the 13% of people who voted early and in-person and 7% who voted by mail.

Opinion

Opinion roundup: Arlington is a house divided on ‘Missing Middle’

By ARLnow.com

Published November 7, 2022 at 11:45AM

Aerial view of a row of townhouses near Rosslyn (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington’s “Missing Middle” housing proposal has led to impassioned debates, with locals both for and against the potential zoning changes.

As the County Board gets closer to a vote on the proposal, perhaps as early as December, we’ve compiled a dozen opinion pieces on the topic that have been published elsewhere. Many are letters to the editor or op-eds that have appeared in the Sun Gazette and Washington Post, while others have been features published in policy-focused publications like The Hill and Washington Monthly.

News

NEW: County Board says draft Missing Middle changes respond to community concerns

By Jo DeVoe

Published November 2, 2022 at 3:55PM | Updated November 2, 2022 at 4:36PM

A duplex in Halls Hill while it was under construction (via Arlington County)

The Arlington County Board says a draft version of zoning changes that could allow Missing Middle housing types includes provisions that respond to community concerns raised this fall.

After contentious meetings this summer, the county hosted community conversations and information sessions to gather more feedback from residents and share more information about its proposal to allow “middle housing” types — ranging from duplexes to eight-plexes — in districts zoned for single-family homes.

News

Portland and Minneapolis allow ‘Missing Middle’ housing. So far, new construction has been modest.

By Jo DeVoe

Published October 31, 2022 at 3:55PM | Updated November 3, 2022 at 12:33AM

Stacked flats in Portland, Ore., are one way to address housing challenges (courtesy of Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability)

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) Arlington County is gearing up to make a decision on whether to rezone areas that only allow single-family detached homes.

And the debate has gotten fierce.