New zoning rules for Arlington addiction recovery homes win County Board approval

Arlington County Board members on Saturday (Oct. 19) voted 4-1 to amend zoning rules that allow more people to occupy addiction recovery residences in the community.

The new rules allow up to eight people by right for recovery residences located in single-family neighborhoods. A local government use permit will be required in other zoning areas or if more than eight occupants are sought.

The immediate effect will be to bring six existing Oxford homes in single-family neighborhoods into compliance with county zoning ordinances. Until the vote, county zoning rules limited homes to no more than four unrelated people.

“We’ve taken this issue very seriously,” County Board President Libby Garvey said. He said the Board had used the past three months to understand the issues and legalities involved, in an effort to get its decision right the first time.

At the same time, Garvey encouraged Oxford House representatives to be more proactive with neighbors than appears to have been the case. “Better communication could help,” he said.

The move to eight occupants brings the facility for those in alcohol and drug recovery on par with the requirements for Arlington group homes focused on people with mental illness and intellectual and developmental disabilities, they said county officials.

“We’re talking about the residents of Arlington — our residents, our neighbors, our family members,” said Suzanne Somerville of the county’s Department of Human Services.

Those residents “need support,” Somerville said. “Recovery homes provide that support.”

The only vote against the measure came from Susan Cunningham, who had offered an alternative that would have required a government use permit for any recovery residence that wanted to serve more than four people, putting the rules on par that the other residents must live.

His fellow Board members voted against that amendment, prompting Cunningham to vote against the overall package.

Although those with significant concerns about the proposal came to a recent Planning Commission hearing on the matter, advocates outnumbered critics at the County Board meeting.

Among those who came to testify in support of the proposal was Joshua Cook, an Arlington resident and former Oxford House resident who spoke of the impact it had on him:

“It was the springboard for my life, a complete change,” Cooks said. “He taught me responsibility. It helped me to be around people who were doing positive things.”

But Terri Armao, while not opposed to recovery homes in general, said county government was abdicating its oversight responsibility.

“I am asking that you allow only four (residents),” Armao said. “Allowing eight by right gives the county no mechanism to fall back on if there are problems. It’s easy to see how a good situation can get out of hand.”

The new rules do not require additional off-street parking availability for properties. And as proposed by staff and approved by the County Board, the measure does not require physical separation between homes used as recovery homes.

Two of the houses are located next to each other on N. Stuart Street, although a representative of Oxford House’s Virginia operations said that proximity was unusual and, he suggested, would not be duplicated in Arlington.

County staff said that from mid-2022 to mid-2024, there had been 55 calls for police service at the eight existing Oxford House properties and a total of three arrests. Staff said no data was available to compare those numbers to more traditional home uses in the county’s single-family neighborhoods.

The proposal had received support from the Community Services Board, Planning Commission and Housing Commission, and informal support from the Disability Advisory Commission.

Localities in Northern Virginia have a patchwork of zoning regulations on recovery residence properties, ranging from no restrictions (Alexandria) to more restrictive (Prince William County). Arlington’s new policy aligns more closely with two upstate communities, Harrisonburg and Chesterfield County, staff said.

Although the county government oversees zoning regulations, the actual operation of group homes is largely regulated at the state level.

“People may want to have an ongoing conversation at the state level,” Cunningham said.

Photo via Google Maps