On January 27th, the County Board voted 4-1 to advertise zoning ordinance amendments that will remove rules enacted more than 20 years ago, which have limited the size of development next to single-family neighborhoods. The zoning changes are part of the County’s solution to a dispute over the construction of a 10-story affordable housing project to be built at the First Baptist Church of Clarendon (FBCC). The County Board adopted the site plan in 2005; a group of nearby neighbors sued, arguing that it violated zoning rules; and in October 2006, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled unanimously with the neighbors. The Board wants to move the FBCC project forward by removing the rules that were violated earlier.

No matter what your views on the FBCC project, you should be asking how the proposed zoning changes will affect development in other parts of Arlington. The Civic Federation’s Planning & Zoning Committee urges you to consider the following...

What the zoning change would do
The amendment would (1) make all property designated “medium-density” on the land use plan in the County eligible for the higher-density C-R (Commercial-Residential) zoning; (2) rezone single-family R-5 property to C-R; (3) remove the mandatory lower height and taper requirements in the zoning code currently required for buildings next to low-density residential (instead the Board would give itself the discretion to allow heights up to 125 feet next to single family homes); and (4) allow itself to waive requirements now mandatory that commercial buildings opposite low density residential be similar in form and materials to the residential.

Staff and the Board have mistakenly characterized the zoning changes as technical and affecting only a handful of sites in the Clarendon area.
Keep in mind that when the current County Board members move on, we will be left with the wording of the zoning and projects built under the new rules. Staff and Board commentary about the scope and purpose, if not in the zoning itself, provides no protection. An example of this is the adoption of C-R (Commercial-Residential) zoning category 20 years ago to expand development options in Clarendon. The County Board chair asked staff what would be eligible for rezoning to C-R; staff answered only C-3—but in the FBCC lawsuit later argued that because the wording was in a non-binding preamble, it was not limited to C-3.

The process and its implications for future development
Rather than require the FBCC to change its plan to conform to the zoning code, the County Board proposes to make the zoning code conform to FBCC’s plan, breaking long-standing commitments that established and protected the neighborhood edge. Moreover, the zoning changes are on a four-week fast track: advertised on 1/27/07 for a vote on 2/24/07.

We believe that the proposed zoning changes are far reaching and potentially affect all neighborhoods in Arlington. They set precedents for land use policy, change heights and densities next to low-density neighborhoods, and repudiate longstanding commitments reflected in prior Board actions and written planning documents.