Arlington County, Va., will now allow the development of multiunit residential buildings by-right after a unanimous vote by local lawmakers in March.
“As housing stock locally and nationally has failed to keep up with demand, Arlington becomes the first locality in the D.C. region — and much of the East Coast — to loosen its zoning rules for more ‘missing middle’ housing, an increasingly popular but often contested idea in urban planning,” according to a Washington Post article about the vote.
The “missing middle” refers to multiunit buildings such as garden-style apartments, duplexes and townhomes—size and unit count—instead of single-family homes and high-rise apartments. These unique residential properties have the potential to open housing opportunities for households of varying incomes where single-family ownership may be out of reach.
According to the Washington Post article, the zoning changes start July 1 and will allow 58 permits annually for missing middle buildings; the annual cap ends in 2028. Builders will be able to place five-to-six-unit buildings on 6,000 to 7,000 square foot properties.