Arlington County has scaled back its plans to allow single-family homeowners to rent out their basements, garages or guesthouses as separate apartments after the initial proposal met with community opposition.
A January plan by the county’s housing commission called for allowing homeowners to build the units in their basements without seeking permits, and in duplexes and detached buildings such as guesthouses with a permit.
A county staff plan proposed last week would prohibit homeowners from building rental units in duplexes or in separate buildings such as guesthouses and would require homeowners to seek a permit to build in their basements or elsewhere in their homes.
The staff plan also would require the entrance to the apartment to be in the back or side of the house and would require an annual county inspection of the unit.
Both plans recommended limiting the maximum number of occupants in the unit to two.
While some neighboring jurisdictions are cracking down on such units in an attempt to tackle housing overcrowding and noise issues, Arlington officials have said legalizing them would help mitigate the county’s dwindling supply of affordable housing and aid its growing elderly population.
The Arlington County Civic Federation, which frequently weighs in on county proposals, neither supported nor opposed the housing commission’s plan, acknowledging that the units could help sick or elderly people who need live-in caregivers, but adding that parking and permitting issues would have to be resolved.
But some residents have objected.
“An increase in subdivided dwellings from which a landlord tries to extract maximum profit through maximum occupancy, together with additional rental occupants in an area with limited off-street parking, will certainly leave us with a less desirable neighborhood,” a March newsletter from the Arlington Ridge Civic Association said.
The association’s vice president was even more direct at a recent county board meeting.
“Drop this really bad idea,” Charles Walter said. “Your highly inbred commissions do not represent public sentiment on this issue.”
The county will hold a community forum on the issue Thursday at Washington-Lee High School, where staff will present the full plan and answer questions.
