zoning | ARLnow.com

Report highlighted by NAACP supports ‘missing middle’ as a response to local legacy of redlining

Published July 26, 2022 at 11:30AM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 10:49AM

Townhomes in the Green Valley neighborhood (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at noon) A new report supports Arlington County’s consideration of residential zoning changes as a way to counteract past discriminatory practices. But critics of the changes could harm, not help, the local Black community.

The NAACP Arlington Branch hosted an online discussion last Wednesday (July 20) about the McGuireWoods report in light of local debate around the Missing Middle Housing Study proposal, which would allow small-scale multifamily housing in areas currently zoned only for single-family homes.

News

County Board discusses “missing middle” housing proposal amid roiling community debate

By ARLnow.com

Published July 13, 2022 at 3:55PM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 10:49AM

Arlington County Board “Missing Middle” work session (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 4:35 p.m.) The Arlington County Board is eyeing December for a vote on residential zoning changes suggested by the county’s Missing Middle Housing Study.

But changes to the study’s draft framework — for allowing multi-family homes with up to 8 units on properties currently zoned only for single family homes — seem likely.

News

What role do garden apartments play in Arlington’s current housing landscape?

By Jo DeVoe

Published May 27, 2022 at 10:25AM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 11:25AM

Condos in the Fairlington neighborhood (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Take a drive through Fairlington and you will see sprawling acres of modest Colonial Revival-style condominiums with manicured lawns.

Once, they were garden apartments and townhouses, built between 1942 and 1944 to house the masses of defense workers who flocked to Arlington during World War II.

Opinion

Poll: Should the ‘Missing Middle’ comment period be extended?

By ARLnow.com

Published May 13, 2022 at 9:30AM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 10:49AM

Slide from Missing Middle Housing Study draft framework (via Arlington County)

A few weeks is not enough time for Arlington residents to provide informed commentary on a major local issue, according to the Arlington County Civic Federation.

The group is calling for the county to extend the public comment window for the Missing Middle Housing Study’s draft framework until Sept. 30, from the current deadline of Friday, May 27.

News

Two women are on a quest to map every racially restrictive property deed in Arlington

By Jo DeVoe

Published March 14, 2022 at 3:55PM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 11:25AM

A sociology professor at Marymount University and a former housing lawyer are poring over century-old property records to locate Arlington’s segregated neighborhoods.

It’s a time-consuming process, but the goal is to map Arlington’s “history of exclusion,” says professor Janine DeWitt.

News

NAACP: ‘Missing Middle’ not sufficient to integrate Arlington neighborhoods

By Jo DeVoe

Published March 11, 2022 at 10:45AM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 10:49AM

Duplexes in the Arlington Heights neighborhood (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The local NAACP is calling on the Arlington County Board to do more to encourage affordable homeownership opportunities for residents of color.

Although segregation officially ended last century, the Arlington branch of the NAACP says non-white residents are still effectively excluded from some neighborhoods due to county zoning codes, compounded by rising housing costs.

News

Duplexes vs. McMansions: What makes a house too big for neighbors?

By Jo DeVoe

Published February 24, 2022 at 3:30PM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 11:25AM

The Garrison residence (courtesy of Les Garrison)

The owner of a two-family home near Crystal City says he may cancel his redevelopment plans because county approval processes have delayed construction and run up costs.

“As of right now, the project is on hold, possibly dead, because the County delayed it so long that the prices of construction (up 40%) not to mention the $150,000 in costs so far to get it approved, have made it unaffordable,” owner Les Garrison tells ARLnow. “The payback time is now unreasonable.”

News

County considers new definition of ‘family’ to prevent housing discrimination

By Jo DeVoe

Published February 15, 2022 at 3:45PM

Arlington’s planning division is looking to change the definition of a “family” in the county’s zoning code.

Housing planners say this would stop potentially exclusionary housing practices that discriminate against larger groups of unrelated residents who live together in order to afford staying in Arlington, where home prices and property taxes are rising and there’s a shortage of affordable housing options.

Around Town

A new dog daycare facility is coming to Clarendon, but there may be a snag

By Jo DeVoe

Published November 1, 2021 at 2:00PM | Updated November 1, 2021 at 2:25PM

District Dogs owner Jacob Hensley poses outside a District Dogs location with a poodle (courtesy photo)

(Updated at 2:25 p.m.) A D.C.-based dog daycare and boarding facility is making its first foray out of the nation’s capital with a Clarendon outpost.

District Dogs will move into The Crossing Clarendon shopping center (formerly Market Common Clarendon) in February or March, owner Jacob Hensley tells ARLnow. In addition to daycare and boarding, District Dogs provides other services such as grooming and training.

News

How Arlington is tackling its rising, pandemic-era office vacancy rate

By Jo DeVoe

Published October 27, 2021 at 11:45AM

Office buildings, including the Nestle building, in Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

In late 2019, Arlington’s rate of vacant office space was at a six-year low, 15.5%, and poised to continue dropping.

But the pandemic reversed that trend, and today, the vacancy rate hovers around 20%.

News

Does the ‘Missing Middle Housing Study’ Need a New Name?

By Jo DeVoe

Published September 21, 2021 at 11:40AM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 10:49AM

For nearly one year, Arlington County has studied whether the zoning code should be rewritten to allow low-to-moderate density housing types like duplexes in more neighborhoods.

The initiative is dubbed the “Missing Middle Housing Study.” It refers to mid-sized housing types, such as duplexes, triplexes, quads and townhomes, which are denser than a single-family home but smaller than an apartment or condo building.

News

County Planners Are Overworked, But the Planning Commission Has an Idea to Help

By Jo DeVoe

Published September 17, 2021 at 10:40AM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 11:25AM

Community Planning, Housing and Development Director Anthony Fusarelli speaks during the joint Planning Commission and County Board meeting (via Arlington County)

Arlington’s planning department is stretched too thin and cannot take on a bigger workload, its director told the County Board this week.

At full strength, the 30-person staff of the Department of Community, Planning and Housing Development shepherds a myriad development projects and permit applications through county processes, from cafés seeking to renew their outdoor dining permits to developers planning large-scale projects. It also helps to produce the lengthy planning documents that guide the future development of neighborhoods.