Public Invited to Open House March 10, 2022, for Proposed Residential Infill and Redevelopment Standards

By Susan Schrock, Office of Communication

Posted on March 03, 2022, March 03, 2022

Editor’s Note: This article, originally published March 3, was updated March 15 to reflect upcoming opportunities for public input on the proposed residential infill and redevelopment standards.

The City of Arlington is inviting the public to weigh in on proposed Residential Infill and Redevelopment Standards that are designed to create more diverse and attainable housing across The American Dream City.

A come-and-go Open House where residents and the development community can learn more about these proposed standards and provide feedback is scheduled on Thursday, March 10 in the City Council Chamber, located at Arlington City Hall at 101 W. Abram St. Sessions will be held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m.

A 10-person focus group was created last July following City Council’s request to review Arlington’s Unified Development Code (UDC) standards and remove barriers for residential infill developments and redevelopment. The citizen-led Unity Council also recommended in its report to City Council last year that the City should establish different standards for infill development and to remove barriers to increasing attainable quality housing for all. Click here to read the Unity Council report.

With that charge, the focus group, which includes representatives from the real estate community, small and large residential developers, homebuilders, neighborhood leaders, the Unity Council and the Downtown Master Plan Advisory Board, has spent the past 10 months working with City staff to develop proposed standards to the UDC.

Among the proposals:

• Create a simplified, administrative approval process to allow partial relief from existing standards for development and redevelopment of housing on small, infill lots or irregularly shaped lots.
• Add a new Mixed Residential (MR) District to promote and facilitate the development of residential neighborhoods with diverse housing types and walkable commercial uses that would increase attainable housing supply and provide more housing choice. Traditional multi-family would not be permitted in a MR residential district.
• Encourage residential redevelopment, revitalization and renewal of older areas and multi-family properties by allowing sites larger than 3 acres to utilize MR zoning standards by-right.
• Allow duplexes within existing Single-Family Zoning Districts, with standards to ensure the form, scale and appearance of development is compatible with the neighborhood. Consider whether other housing types would be appropriate.
• Allow secondary living units in the RS-7.2 and RS-5 Single-Family Zoning Districts in the same manner as currently permitted in the RE, RS-20 and RS-15 single-familiy neighborhoods. The proposal would remove the requirement that the occupant of secondary living unit must be related to someone in the main home at the property.
• Housing in the above proposals could not be used for short-term rentals, except where allowed by the City’s Short-Term Rental Chapter.

The proposals will be presented to the Arlington Planning & Zoning Commission and the City Council later this year, following a series of town hall meetings that will be scheduled to provide information and gather public input. Details about the town hall meeting schedule will be posted on the City’s website once announced.

These standards align with the Arlington City Council priorities to Champion Great Neighborhoods and Build Unity.