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Notes: Alexandria judges recuse themselves in Zoning for Housing lawsuit

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🚨 You need to know

Anti-Zoning for Housing sign in Alexandria (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria Times first reported that Alexandria Circuit Court judges recused themselves from presiding over a lawsuit about the city’s Zoning for Housing/Housing for All ordinance.

The lawsuit was filed in the Alexandria Circuit Court by a group called the Coalition for a Livable Alexandria. The lawsuit argues the city violated its charter and the Virginia Constitution by not showing the impact on the real estate market or city infrastructure. The lawsuit says the Zoning for Housing policy “fails to provide any insight, projections, or substance as to what the purchasing and rental market will look like after development.”

According to the lawsuit:

The Zoning Amendments make traditional single-family neighborhoods more accessible to developers, who are likely the ones that have benefited from those generational impacts.

If taken advantage of, the Zoning Amendments will undeniably allow for development that will achieve higher density through increased housing diversity in current low-density areas.

The Alexandria Times noted that the recusal mirrors an earlier recusal from Arlington Circuit Court judges in a similar case over that county’s Missing Middle zoning changes and that a new judge will likely be appointed soon by the Virginia Supreme Court.

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