Michael Spotts

Housing, affordability, community development. @habitatdcnova, @nvaha1 board. Opinions are mine, etc.

"The world needs apartment buildings." - Ron Swanson

[Ankit Jain @ankitjaindc]

In perhaps the first proportional #RCV primary election in US history, @maureencoffeyva vaults from 3rd place to victory thanks mostly to backup votes from fellow pro-housing candidate @JDforArlington. Slow-growther @Susan4Arlington gets the 2nd seat. A few observations here

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@danielweir @hamilt0n I have firsthand experience of someone prominent in this organization doing this to something I said.

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@TheoForARL @ebwhamilton @Union_Tpke Yeah, parking policy is bigger than EHO. Not unreasonable to want to tackle that within broader context of other uses

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@ebwhamilton Parking will be biggest challenge. The “no side tuck under” rule is also a problem, since anything in rear requires long driveways which chews up lot coverage. But nothing is ever perfect on first go around, so hopefully we can have iterative policy making

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@ARLINGTONAF @SRtwofourfour @Blacknell And apartments and condos, too. I left out “detached” at the end of that tweet

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@berkeyeric @SRtwofourfour @Blacknell Oh I know some, like you, did. I also think it’s a very reasonable compromise to make. Just bring it up so that more ppl can recognize the county board (and staff, who came up w it), for making that compromise. Staff got little credit for baking it into initial proposal

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@SRtwofourfour @Blacknell Not all proponents would necessarily agree which approach would have been preferable, but taking that off table was definitely listening to concerns of those who wanted neighborhoods to still “feel” single family

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@SRtwofourfour @Blacknell A hypothetical missing middle plan could have encouraged combining adjacent lots for larger clusters of rowhomes or garden style bldgs. Would have created more opportunities for affordability, green space, etc, but would have been a bigger change & not by-right, most likely

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@SRtwofourfour @Blacknell The initial proposal to restrict parcel aggregation and limit massing to current SFD standards was a huge compromise that everyone, even some proponents ignored or never thought about

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@SRtwofourfour If single family detached secession folks they think they pay enough in property taxes to support all the infrastructure and municipal services (not to mention schools) that enables their current quality of life, they’d be in for a very rude awakening.

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@kristoncapps As someone who is working to build housing for families in the area, I respectfully submit that this interpretation of the policy details is very far off the mark.

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@berkeyeric Thanks, Eric, and the feeling is mutual. Thanks for your leadership on all things housing over the last decade!

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

And for those that do this on their spare time, balancing this work with their own day jobs and family lives, a hearty thank you for your dedication to the cause.

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

After many long years, I’m excited and thankful that Arlington passed missing middle. Appreciate all of the work of local advocates, the diligence and thorough work of county staff, and the board’s ability to follow the evidence AND make the moral case….

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

There’s a lot to sort thru, but those of us who make this our day jobs should be energized to work even harder to prove the best case scenario for missing middle - that this can be a platform to make housing more attainable for more people…

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@berkeyeric @BradleyRHaywood Most of us, like @berkeyeric, have been doing that all along, including during the three year MMH process

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@TheoForARL @TheGattoniCelli Not endorsing or opposing RC, but the literature on real world impacts is a lot more nuanced.

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@danielweir @paytonchung @DanielleAlberti @SRtwofourfour I think that’s right. No notice requirement, no responsible enforcement entity = very unlikely to have an effect

[Michael Spotts @MichaelASpotts]

@danielweir @paytonchung @DanielleAlberti @SRtwofourfour I am also not a lawyer (so grain of salt, etc), but to Payton’s point they need an enforcement entity to be enforced in practice. Committed affordable via deed restriction has notification to local govt. also where HOAs play a major role in some cases….