The County Board directed the Zoning Ordinance Review Committee (ZORC), and staff to analyze reasonable options for limiting the impacts of residential development on existing neighborhoods, in response to the many concerns and complaints heard about infill residential development. Many citizens perceive that the new houses are too large and not in keeping with the character of the existing neighborhoods. The complaints include a loss of open space, bulky and incongruous buildings that are incompatible with neighborhood character, loss of separation between houses, visual intrusions, loss of trees, and more area devoted to parking and driveways.

As a part of the study, ZORC asked for citizen input, including the Civic Federation, the Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee and several civic associations. In addition, two years ago ZORC asked citizens to submit addresses of houses that are too large and incongruous within the context of their neighborhood.

The current Zoning Ordinance permits a maximum of 56% coverage for all residential lots in the “R-5,” “R-6,” “R-8,” “R-10,” and “R-20” Districts regardless of the minimum required size of the lot. Staff analyzed data using a Geographic Information System for all single family lots in the County. Based on this data, few houses in the County were found to approach 56 % coverage.

One of the issues with the current maximum coverage requirement is that it is the same 56% for all five zoning districts regardless of the minimum required size of the lots. The current ZORC proposal would establish a sliding scale requirement that would reduce the overall coverage but would allow larger coverage on smaller lots.

The recommendations developed by ZORC would reduce coverage in the single family districts from 56% to the following: 45% for “R-5” zoned properties (minimum lot size 5000 square feet); 40% for “R-6” zoned properties (minimum lot size 6,000 square feet; 35% for “R-8” zoned properties (minimum lot size 8,000 square feet); 32% for “R-10” zoned properties (minimum lot size 10,000 square feet; 20% for “R-20” zoned properties (minimum lot size 20,000 square feet.

The ZORC recommendation would also allow 5% additional coverage for detached garages located in rear yards and 3% additional coverage for front porches, and institute footprint size caps so that overly large houses could not be built on lots that were significantly larger than the typical lot in any zoning district.

It would also distinguish between properties with detached rear garages and front porches. One of the ongoing concerns was that by reducing coverage, porches and other design elements that are desired might be discouraged because they would increase the building footprint and thus coverage. Front porches promote an inviting streetscape and are commonly found in older neighborhoods in the County.

Another concern was about detached garages placed in rear yards. Detached rear garages significantly reduce the bulk of main buildings. However, since detached rear garages require longer driveways which are included in the coverage calculation, reducing the allowable coverage percentage without some relief for detached rear garages would make it difficult to build them. Thus the ZORC proposal recommends providing “bonus” coverage for rear detached garages to avoid discouraging porches and separate garages in rear yards.

Based on the data, approximately 91 % of the lots in “R-5”, 95 % of the lots in “R-6”, 94% of the lots in “R-8”, 90% of the lots in “R-10” and 73% of the lots in “R-20” would not be impacted by the proposed changes if the ZORC recommendation were to be adopted.

The most controversial issue of the ZORC proposal is how it could impact existing homeowners. There would be no impact as long as the size (footprint) of a house does not exceed the proposed new maximum coverage limit. However, some homeowners could be limited in expanding their homes. This would be the case for those lots that are currently at the proposed new maximum, in which case additions that result in an increased footprint would not be allowed, except for the addition of a front porch or a detached garage in the rear yard. Finally, residences that are currently over the proposed new maximum could not be expanded and would become nonconforming with respect to the new regulations; however, the proposal includes a provision that would allow rebuilding the houses to the current size if the houses are damaged or destroyed by fire or other calamity.

What is and is not included in coverage:

It has been in the past and is currently the practice of the Zoning office to include the following items in calculating coverage on lots. These items are houses, garages and other buildings with foundations, accessory buildings/shed without foundations, paved (asphalt/concrete) driveways and parking pads, driveways and parking pads paved with gravel, unpaved driveways and unpaved parking pads, pergolas with paved floor, bay window with floor space, and in ground swimming pools.

The following items are NOT included in calculating coverage on lots. These items are tents and other temporary structures, air conditioners/compressor with or without a foundation, ground level decks 8 inches or lower, ground level patios (concrete/brick/stone), decks of any height, cantilevered decks, sidewalks and other pedestrian walkways (paved or gravel), uncovered front and back porch steps and stoops 8 inches and lower, uncovered front and back porch steps and stoops above 8 inches, outside basement steps and areaways going from ground level to basement, play equipment, picnic tables, benches, barbecue ovens, and other outdoor furniture, hot tubs, and above-ground swimming pools.

It is impossible to list all items that may or may not be considered coverage. Zoning regulations are applied to each lot on a case by case basis. The above list includes the items that are commonly placed on lots.

The County Board Chairman addressed the concerns of the citizens of Arlington in his letter of August 10, 2001 by explaining the problem and outlining the key measures that are being considered.