Arlington City Council unanimously approved Tuesday evening a new type of zoning intended to transform the downtown area and connect it to the entertainment district.
The strategy, known as form-based code, moves away from traditional zoning that has specific restrictions for how a piece of land is used. Instead, the city creates a list of options – such as retail, office, multi-family and mixed use – that can be there. The council selected downtown as a pilot area last year.
The plan has been in the works for years, making regular appearances at city council work sessions since 2024.
Council members Mauricio Galante and Rebecca Boxall have previously said the new code will incentivize high-value development, promote walkability and ensure the city’s downtown area has a distinct, attractive character.
The biggest change is expected to be how people interact with spaces in the form-based code area, but they may not be seen immediately.
Because form-based code does not require any changes to existing buildings or businesses, some of the changes could take years to become evident.
It will largely come into play with new developments, redevelopments and major projects like expansions or significant alterations to existing structures.
Especially in areas intended for dining, retail and apartment living, the plan calls for intentional efforts to make downtown walkable with large sidewalks, shade trees, interesting and attractive building facades and an aesthetic that forms a sense of continuity.
On the more technical side, the code includes maximum heights allowed for buildings, which change depending on the specific area. There will also be requirements for things like building setback from the road, how many parking spaces there are and in what form.
Jayashree Narayana, the principal consultant working with the city on form-based code through the firm Livable Plans and Codes, said the area will be split into five sub-districts.
They will be traditional neighborhood, urban neighborhood, corridor mixed-use, downtown core and a special district for the downtown gateway.
Some of those subdistricts come with recommendations for new streets and alleys, though those also won’t come immediately to fruition as they are more like recommendations for future developers to follow and will not be created on the city’s dime.
Boxall said crafting the form-based code has been both exhausting and a labor of love.
“This has just been a long time coming and I’m very pleased,” Boxall said from the dais during the council meeting.
Galante said he realized on his first day as a city council member that this project was important for the city.
“I was glad I jumped on the bandwagon,” Galante said. “I shared the same vision, that we can bring new life and a new look to the downtown area.”
He told KERA News previously that he hopes to see parts of District 1 that included in the form-based code area pay homage to the city’s history, particularly along Division Street.
That street used to be part of the Bankhead Highway, the first coast-to-coast all-weather highway in the U.S., completed in the 1920s. Galante said he would like to see storefronts, signs and an overall theme that harkens back to that time, alongside car shows and community events.
The area approved Tuesday night is a pilot area. Depending on how much success the city sees in coming years, it could be expanded to other parts of the city or removed from the downtown area.
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