By Wafir Salih | wsalih@alextimes.com
Judge David S. Schell ruled the plaintiffs have standing in a lawsuit challenging Alexandria’s Zoning for Housing ordinance, during a court hearing on Monday. This action paves the way for the case to go to trial.
Schell, a retired Fairfax County judge, also ruled that the Coalition for a Livable Alexandria – a local advocacy group that was originally a party in the complaint – did not have standing, leaving only the individual plaintiffs to proceed.
Roy Byrd, chair of the CLA and an Independent candidate who is running for City Council, said he was happy with the judge’s decision. Byrd said CLA will be supporting the plaintiffs from the sidelines moving forward.
“We still consider it a win for the Coalition and that we were able to advocate and help homeowners here in Alexandria file a suit,” Byrd said. “We will continue to advocate for them and we will continue to lead the fundraising efforts to pay for the legal costs so that they’re not burdened with that.”
All eyes are now on Arlington’s “Missing Middle” case, the name of the ordinance that was unanimously approved in March 2023 by the Arlington County Board. Many elements of the Arlington ordinance are similar to those in Alexandria’s Zoning for Housing. Both aim to provide more types of housing while making significant changes to local zoning codes, including abolishing designated single family zoning.
As in Alexandria, many Arlington residents actively oppose the zoning initiative. Soon after approval by the County Board, 10 Arlington residents filed a lawsuit against the county over the changes. Arlington County judges recused themselves from presiding over the case, as did Alexandria’s Circuit Court judges in the ZFH case. Like in Arlington, the Virginia Supreme Court later appointed Schell to preside over Alexandria’s case.
Schell ruled in the fall that Arlington residents had standing to sue. The trial on the “Missing Middle” ordinance took place last month with closing arguments wrapping up on July 15. Schell is expected to deliver his decision in the Arlington case as early as next month.
Byrd emphasized Schell’s upcoming decision in the Arlington trial as a crucial milestone in the Alexandria case.
“In terms of where do we think this is going to go and what’s the ultimate outcome, I think no one either on the city side or on the plaintiff side can really say definitively with any certainty at all until after the the Arlington case is decided, because that has such a major impact on the legal strategy for either side moving forward,” Byrd said.
Ebony Fleming, Alexandria’s director of communications, declined to provide comment on the judge’s decision, citing pending litigation, but said the city was confident on the legality of the ordinance.
“The city remains confident that the Zoning for Housing initiative was adopted in accordance with applicable law and is prepared to defend the amendments going forward,” Fleming wrote in a statement to the Times.
Mayor Justin Wilson declined to comment on the lawsuit, also citing the ongoing litigation, but defended the ordinance and said the city sought input from residents before voting on it.
“We adopted those reforms after extensive community input that addressed the concerns we heard from residents both supportive and skeptical of efforts to address housing affordability,” Wilson wrote in an email to the Times. “I am confident that the policy was appropriately aligned to city goals and objectives, as well as appropriately considered.
The Alexandria lawsuit was filed in Circuit Court by CLA and city residents on Jan. 17 after City Council unanimously approved the Zoning for Housing initiative in November 2023. Vice Mayor Amy Jackson and Councilor John Chapman sought to separate out the single family zoning provision, the most contentious element, from the rest of the ordinance before the final vote, but their motion was defeated. Both Jackson and Chapman then joined Wilson and the other councilors in passing ZFH.
Debates surrounding the future of single-family zoning have taken the nation by storm in recent years. Minneapolis was the first major city in the country to eliminate single-family zoning when its City Council adopted the Minneapolis 2040 plan in 2019. That plan was immediately challenged in court and then appealed. Revisions of the Minneapolis zoning code are ongoing. Areas in Oregon and California have also approved similar “missing middle” plans.
