Virginia communities have taken a number of different paths in an effort to address housing supply and affordability. In Arlington, the future of single-family-only zoning is in doubt, as a zoning change is still caught up in legal challenges. Some developments from the Supreme Court of Virginia came down this week.
It’s been a wild roller coaster for Missing Middle. That’s the name of the zoning change approved by the County Board of Arlington more than three years ago allowing for multi-unit development on land previously zoned for single family homes. Since that time, a circuit court judge voided the zoning change. But then it was reinstated when an appeals court determined a developer should have been a party to the lawsuit.
"You know, they got the zoning change because the appellate court screwed up," says Jay Hamilton of Neighbors for Neighborhoods. "I mean, this is a horrible miscarriage of justice. And the Supreme Court heard that argument and seemed to be very receptive to it. There's no business allowing a single developer to intervene well after the deadline and intervene on areas that had already been decided in the trial."
Arlington calls the multi-unit housing “expanded housing options” or EHO. Jane Green of the YIMBYs of Northern Virginia says the Missing Middle options are working.
"EHO homes are mostly, so far, three-bedroom homes, whereas there has been no three-bedroom homes redeveloped from single-family stock," Green says. "The redeveloped single-family homes — which we kind of refer to as McMansions — are six bedrooms, five bedrooms, sometimes seven bedrooms. So, EHO homes are offering that kind of middle-sized alternative."
The Supreme Court is expected to rule sometime in the next few months. Eventually, both sides are hopeful that the procedural questions can be set aside, and the courts can finally rule on the future of single-family only zoning in Arlington.
