Evening star., 1942-02-01
Master zoning Plan
For Arlington County
Submitted 10 Board
Five Public Hearings
On Ordinance and Map
Scheduled in Month

A comprehensive master zoning
plan designed to establish entirely
new zoning classif1cations through
out Arlington County was presented
to the county board yesterday.
A series of five public hearings
on the master zoning map and ac-
companying ordinance will be held
between February 10 and March 10.
The long awaited master plan,
which has been in the process of
compilation for nearly two years,
was presented to the board by
County zoning Administrator DON
aid r. Locke and Planning Engineer
Frank L. Dieter. Adoption of the
plan is expected to reduce greatly
the number Of applications for re-
zoning of property which are heard
at nearly every county board
meeting.
When the plan is finally approved,
the entire county will have been
rezoned to the new classifications
which will place rigid restrictions
on the type Of buildings and density
Of population allowed in each zone.
Street Parking Facilities.
All Of the proposed new zones will
require off-street parking facilities
in some form, whether they be for
residential or commercial loading
and unloading purposes. On the
an vHrNrNAcnd
cial and industrial districts have
been laid out so as to designate
areas in which no buildings may be
constructed and the space kept clear
for customer parking or loading
and unloading.
Authority to require off-street
parking in all zones is granted by
the Arlington zoning Enabling Act
passed by the State Legislature sew
eral years ago which states: Such
(zoning) regulations shall be made
in accordance with a compre-
hensive plan and designed to lessen
congestion on the streets, roads and
highways"
Another feature Of the proposed
new ordinance is to carry out the
county's pioneer efforts in popu&a-
ton density control. The number
of living units which may occupy
specified land areas would be linn
tied by the zoning classifications.
The new zones are designated by
letters and numbers which furnish
key to their restrictions. AL zones
preflxed with the letter r desig-
nate residential districts, RID pre-
fixes designate duplex residential
districts, RA indicates residential
apartment zones, the letter c indi-
Gates commercial zones and the pre-
f1x M indicates manufacturing
areas.
Residential Zone Divided.
The existing residential A zone
would be broken down into these
new districts: RIO, restricted to one
single-family dwelling for each
10000 square feet Of land; Rio, re-
stricted to one dwelling for each
10000 square feet, and Rs and Rs,
restricting to one dwelling for each
5000 and 5000 square feet of land,
respectively.
In addition, the proposed RD-8
zone, formerly included in the pres
ent residential A zone. would permit
one duplex dwelling for each 5000
square feet.
In place of the present residential
B-1 district, the new ordinance
establishes an RS-6 zone, to permit
one semi-detached home for each
5000 square feet.
Is, corresponds to the existing resi-
dental b. zone and permits apart
ment buildings containing one-room
units for each 400 square feet of
land ranging up to $500 square feet
of land for each four or more room
units.
A proposed RA-8-1S zone, COM
parable with the present B-3 zone,
would require apartments to pro-
vide 800 square feet of land for one
room units, ranging up to 1900
square feet for four or more room
units.
All of the zones so far listed re-
quire building height limitations to
three stories or IS feet, as compared
with 50-feet heights now permitted.
90-Foot Limit on Buildings.
A proposed RA-7-16 zone. cor
responding to the present B-4 zone,
is the mostly densely populated resi-
dental zone permitted under the
proposed ordinance. This zone would
require TOO square feet for each
one-room unit, ranging up to 1000
square feet for each unit of four or
more rooms. and would permit the
erection of lares apartments, hotels
or combinations Of the two. How
ever, a new feature is height linn
itation of 80 feet on all buildings
in this zone, which corresponds with
the limitation in Washington. A
scale of setback distances is also
provided in this zone. so that the
greater the height of the building,
the more setback is required from
the adjacent roadway.
The National Capital Park and
Planning Commission recently OBJ
jected to two apartment hotels in
Arlington on the grounds that they
exceeded the 90-foot limitation in
effect in the District.
Other zones provided are C-l and
CO, which correspond to the exist
ing &C local business" and ID gen.
eral business" districts, respectively.
MI and M-2 zones would cor
respond to the existing "E light
industrial" and "F heavy industrial"
districts, respectively. Here, too, the
only change involved is that of
designation.
A maximum height of 60 feet is
allowed in the m" and &C" zones
and all of the various types of "R"
districts have been so placed on
the master map as to uphold the
maximum standards as are now
established in various sections of
the county, Mr.. Locke said.
Permits Required.
Another new regulation in the
ordinance Is a section reollirinp