Arlington County Board Approves Expanded Housing Options

By AHS Staff

On March 22, the Arlington County Board voted to amend the zoning ordinance and the General Land Use Plan (GLUP) to include Expanded Housing Options, known as Missing Middle Housing (MMH). This historic vote ended exclusionary zoning in Arlington, a policy that only permitted single-family detached homes on over 70% of Arlington's residential land. Highlights of the revised MMH-inclusive zoning ordinance include:

• Allowing 2-4 units buildings (duplexes, triplexes, quads, and 3-unit townhomes) on all single-family home lots

• Allowing 5 and 6 units on residential lots of at least 6,000 square feet, with limits on individual unit sizes

• Requiring 4 or 8 shade trees per development, depending on the number of units produced

• Requiring a minimum of .5 off-street parking spaces per unit near transit and at least 1 space per unit outside that radius

• Allowing Accessory Dwellings (knows as AD) only as interior units within townhomes or semi-detached units (duplexes)

• Imposing an annual development cap 58 MMH permits, along with a sunset period of 5 years, which will end in 2027