The Virginia Supreme Court overturned Wednesday an Arlington County decision to allow a high-rise to be built on a low-density church property in Clarendon.
The board two years ago approved a plan for the First Baptist Church of Clarendon, located at 1210 H. Highland St., to replace its current church with a smaller one and build a high-rise containing residential units on top of the old church. Over objections from the neighborhood, the county board approved zoning changes that would allow the plan to move ahead.
A group of residents, led by Mary Renkey, sued the county, arguing it improperly rezoned the property. The county won the first legal battle, but that decision was appealed to the Supreme Court, which found the county skipped a step in the zoning process.
Renkey, the named plaintiff in the case, did not respond Thursday to requests for comment.
“What they essentially concluded is that the introductory language at the start of the [zoning] ordinance was actually limiting language,” Arlington County Attorney Steve MacIsaac told The Examiner. “The court concluded the board has imposed a limitation on itself.”
MacIsaac explained the court found this limitation prevented the county board from changing the zoning from low density to high density, and the county should have taken an extra step rezoning the property from low to medium density before changing the zoning to high density.
If the church wants to go forward with the plan, MacIsaac said, the board could eliminate the language preventing it from changing density from low to high, or could simply take the extra step the court said was necessary.
“The church has got to decide what to do,” he said. “In effect, they would have to resubmit a site plan application.”
Noreen McIntosh, a ministry assistant at the church, said she was instructed not to comment on the ruling.
