Arlington County, a close-in suburb of Washington, D.C., has approved a wide-ranging housing reform bill that makes it one of the first jurisdictions on the East Coast to eliminate single-family-only zoning.
The policy, approved unanimously by the five county board members Wednesday evening, aims to increase housing supply in the 26-square-mile county by allowing lots that could previously only have one home to accommodate two to six units.
The vote culminated a contentious, more than three-year process in which Arlington conducted a Missing Middle Housing Study to analyze the need for allowing multi-unit properties.
More than 200 residents spoke at two days of animated hearings, with some voicing a need to allow more affordable housing options to increase the county’s diversity, and others expressing concerns that the added units would overwhelm county infrastructure, The Washington Post reported.
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