By Mark Eaton

Zoning issues make some people’s eyes glaze over, yet the topic leads others to picket and protest. Zoning debates can be highly technical, but they can also potentially change a city’s landscape –for better or ill, depending on one’s perspective.

Alexandria passed Zoning for Housing – a significant package of zoning changes – last November, though the initiative is currently tied up in a lawsuit that is working its way through the court system. Alexandria’s housing debates will continue this fall over issues described in revisions to the city’s Housing Master Plan, which was last adopted in December 2013.

The city’s Office of Housing is developing a new master plan – to be called the “Housing 2040 Master Plan” – to describe housing policies and strategies for the next 15 years. The new master plan is expected to be approved in late 2025.

Why the housing master plan matters

The master plan presents data on housing stock in Alexandria and describes approaches to encourage affordable housing development. The plan also establishes policies on tenants’ rights and describes methods and programs to encourage and increase home ownership.

Often referred to as a “toolbox” for housing issues, the master plan is relevant to the work of the Planning Commission, the Housing Affordability Advisory Committee and the Landlord-Tenant Relations Board.

The housing policy objectives in the 2013 master plan were designed to:

• Facilitate a variety of housing options for households of all incomes;
• Expand housing choice for people of all ages and abilities;
• Partner with nonprofits, the Alexandria Redevelopment Housing Authority and private developers to leverage city resources;
• Prioritize the creation and preservation of affordable housing in transit-oriented, amenity-rich areas and in large-scale (re)developments, in particular when existing market-affordable housing is being impacted;
• Promote the integration of affordable housing to foster successful and vibrant mixed-income communities; and
• Recognize the critical role affordable housing plays in Alexandria’s economic sustainability.

Alexandria housing staff

The Office of Housing’s Eric Keeler, deputy director, and Tamara Jovovic, program manager, will be involved in developing the new master plan. Keeler emphasized in an interview that the current process will build on what came before.

“We’re looking at [the new master plan] as an update,” Keeler said. “In general, we agree that the general objectives and principles that were set out in the Housing Master Plan are good and are what the city needs.”

Jovovic said the first step in the development of a new master plan is to conduct a citywide housing needs assessment, which is currently in progress.

“[The consultants] do the quantitative [analysis] and we then reach out to the community and share that information and get feedback from the community,” Jovovic said.

The results of this consultant-prepared quantitative analysis will be shared with the community through listening sessions and other community events.

“[The housing master plan] is a policy guide with principles and goals, with potentially new housing targets and affordable housing targets. … It’s not an update to the zoning ordinance. We’re going to be looking at the housing contribution policy and procedures,” Jovovic said.

Keeler said that many of the principles described in the “Housing for All” component of the Zoning for Housing initiative were already in the existing master plan.

“Are they [existing housing policies] what should be continuing for the next 15 years or is there some other component that we missed?” Keeler posited.

“The Housing 2040 Master Plan establishes visions, policies, goals and targets through 2040 building off everything we’ve learned, and it’s not just through our office – a lot of us work on small area plans with Planning and Zoning,” Jovovic said.

Probable topics for discussion, debate

Keeler and Jovovic identified potential substantive topics for debate in the development of the new master plan.

One of these is inclusionary zoning, or mandating developer contributions, for example, the construction of a specified number of affordable housing units, as a condition of permitting or approval.

“It’s [inclusionary zoning] is a discussion point, [and] definitely will be a component and a topic,” Keeler said.

Alexandria already has similar inclusionary zoning in Section 7-700 of the zoning code, which allows developers to seek additional height density in return for affordable housing units or other contributions. The expansion of these provisions was controversial in the Del Ray neighborhood and was tabled prior to ZFH’s adoption by City Council in November 2023.

Tenant rights “and the city’s involvement in that component” of housing policy will also be a discussion topic, as will senior housing, according to Keeler.

“Obviously, another piece is creating deeply affordable units,” Keeler said. “[For] people most in need in Alexandria, how can they continue to be part of the community in Alexandria, and how do we produce those units [will be another discussion point].”

Keeler said the city will use all levers at its disposal to create more affordable housing.

“How we produce, and continue to produce, affordable housing in the city, and using all the different financial tools, and not just local government money, but [also] state and federal money and working with our nonprofit partners,” are probable components of the new plan, Keeler said. “A big component of it will be partners – the nonprofit community, the housing authority and using existing land.”

But an education process will come first, before the deeper work of revising the 2013 plan takes place.

“The other big component that we’re looking at for the first couple months is just education about what is already out there and getting a lot of information out to the general community about the city’s resources,” Keeler said. “Making sure people know what is available to them.”

Keeler said housing policy matters – some of which have been under discussion for many years – almost always involve the General Assembly because of the Dillon Rule, which limits the authority of Virginia localities to that which is granted by the state.

Creating an easily accessible housing plan

The 2013 housing master plan is a 209-page document that is a challenge to navigate in print or online. Keeler and Jovovic are planning to make the Housing 2040 Master Plan more digestible and dynamic than its 2013 predecessor.

“The format may change some,” Keeler said. “What you did in 2013 may not be the best way to get information out to the community. I think that’s evolved [with] the use of [online data] dashboards.”

Jovovic said the new plan will be presented using technological updates of the last decade.

“We’re not going to take the maroon-covered master plan and copy and paste and edit it. Yes, it’s an update, but it’s also a fresh look. There will be new energy and perspectives.”

How to get involved

Keeler and Jovovic emphasized the availability of the Office of Housing’s staff to the community.

On Sept. 18, from 7 to 9 p.m. there will be a virtual kickoff to share the data developed through the needs analysis, the timeline of events, and the engagement process for the new master plan.

On Sept. 25, at 6 p.m. there will be an informal open house with a light dinner at the Charles Houston Recreation Center gym followed by round table discussions from 7 to 9 p.m. According to the city’s website, these events will “… help shape the Housing 2040 principles, goals, and projects.” Interpretation will be provided in Spanish, Amharic, Arabic, Dari and Pashto.

ZFH effects to date

The city’s Planning & Zoning Department monitors the effects of the changes to the zoning code as reflected in the ZFH initiative. The ZFH proposals made several changes to the zoning code; the most controversial change was to allow the construction of up to four units in single-family zones, subject to existing “building envelope,” which includes mass, lot coverage and building height provisions.

City Council’s adoption of the ZFH proposals is the subject of a lawsuit in state court. On Aug. 26, Judge David S. Schell – who is also presiding over the “Missing Middle” case in Arlington after the Alexandria Circuit Court recused themselves from the case – ruled that the individual plaintiffs challenging ZFH’s adoption, but not the Coalition for a Livable Alexandria, have standing to pursue their case.

Earlier this summer, P&Z’s Karl Moritz, Nancy Williams and Jeff Farner described what has happened so far as a result of ZFH’s changes to the zoning code.

Moritz, Alexandria’s director of P&Z, said the changes’ impact has been minimal so far.

“So far, no one has applied for a building permit to put two or more units in what was formerly a single-family-only zone,” Moritz said. “We’ve counted 22 different inquiries, and none of them has resulted in an application or a building permit yet. A large percentage of them were from people who were interested in converting their existing home structure into more than one unit. Not necessarily new construction, but dividing up what they already had.”

Moritz said people have taken advantage of the restructuring and simplifying of the townhouse zones, but no additional units have been created.

The removal of the cap on units per acre for apartment buildings and condominiums has, according to Moritz, “… led to two examples where a couple of units were created in an apartment building that would not have otherwise been possible.”

Moritz also said office-to-residential conversions are proceeding at about the same pace as in prior years.

ZFH’s effects, and those of other zoning changes, on Alexandria’s built environment are trackable. For example, the city maintains an online list of the locations of all Accessory Dwelling Units.

Other jurisdictions that revised their zoning codes publish online information on the effects of those revisions. For example, Arlington County’s online “Permits” tracker is a map that shows the locations of building permit applications by zoning district, year and approval status. The Expanding Housing Option developments process was adopted after Arlington’s contentious “Missing Middle” debate. It shows 18 applications so far in 2024.

Moritz envisions there will be a similar online dashboard or tracking mechanism for ZFH’s housing effects in Alexandria.

Development patterns differ in Alexandria – which began as a city – from Arlington, which originated as a suburb that developed with intentionally dense areas around Metro stops.

“We are not seeing the wholesale rebuilding of neighborhoods [in Alexandria] the way I see in Arlington or Vienna,” Moritz said.

Other ZFH proposals take effect prospectively. For example, conditions that attach to large-scale developments called Coordinated Development Districts, where one-third of the additional density above a cap will be required to be affordable. CDDs are usually large projects of 10 million or more square feet, so the provisions relating to CDD projects adopted by City Council in June 2024 will be meaningful when CDDs are initiated by developers.

Moritz said there had been “a slight slowdown” in applications for apartment buildings and residential units because of interest rates.

“It’s unrelated to Zoning for Housing, but it does mean that there isn’t quite that pipeline of projects requesting approval that we might have seen a year ago,” Moritz said.

Farner emphasized that there are many factors that impact development other than the zoning code.

“It’s a lot more expensive to get money, which is impacting all construction projects, small, medium and large,” Farner said.

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