Reply to Arlington Missing Middle Housing Q&A

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There needs to be some consideration of the capacity of the neighborhood to take all these extra people and cars.  We're in Cherrydale/Waverly Hills and the roads and sidewalks are narrow.  Only one car can pass at a time, so oncoming traffic has to pull into an unused parking spot to let the other car pass.  Sidewalks can't fit people walking past each other unless single file and you can't pass a stroller without walking in the street.  Houses dont have garages or only one car garages so street parking is already heavily used.  In short, it works for SFHs, but none of the infrastructure is sized for multi family housing.

Yet we have 6 lots on just our short block that would be redeveloped into duplexes or 4-plexes.  The lots are deep and narrow, so only one curb cut per lot + 1-2 street spots.  If you do two curb cuts, then there will be no street spots.  There won't be enough parking.  The roads will be backed up with no spots to pull over to let cars pass.  The sidewalks will be crowded.  It just doesn't work.  I'd be totally okay with 1-2 multifamily units on a block, but six?   That's city density and this 1940s era neighborhood lacks the infrastructure to support that number of people.[/quote]

What do you mean, 6 lots that would be developed? As in the owners have decided to sell? If the multifamily housing had to meet the same
Setbacks and height requirements as a SFH, why would those lots become multifamily? And if they build a new house there, why is it okay for new home owners to have 3+ cars and park on the street?[/quote]
The 6 lots currently have original builds without additions.  So a 1000 sq ft single family house on a big-ish flat lot.  The other half of the houses on the block either have been torn down and have new-ish builds or have significant additions.  In each case, when an original un-expanded house sells on our street it has been bought by a developer.

Will all of the original houses sell immediately?  No.  But if the value for these "tear downs" goes up, I do expect them to turn over and all to ultimately be redeveloped as multifamily housing under the current proposal.

The current Arlington proposal would allow these lots to each become at least a duplex (probably 3,000-4,000 sq ft each) with two parking spaces.  I'd expect a duplex of this size to result in at least 4 cars, as we're not that convenient to public transit. So 2 additional cars will need street parking per lot and if they put in an additional curb cut, each duplex will result in the loss of one street spot.  So a net of 3 extra cars without parking per duplex.  If they put in a 3-plex or 4-plex then the car situation is even worse.[/quote]

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