Alexandria's 1974 permit rule
Alexandria first set minimum lot sizes in 1931, requiring 5,000 square feet and 50 feet of frontage. A 1951 comprehensive zoning rewrite raised those minimums, and lots recorded earlier became 'substandard.' After two houses on such lots drew complaints for being too small and narrow, City Council in 1974 required a special use permit for any construction on a vacant substandard lot.
The rule gave Council case-by-case control over infill development. Since 1973, 36 permit cases for vacant substandard lots came forward: Council approved 28 and denied eight, roughly one case every year and a half and about one in five denied.
For 50 years, the permit requirement shaped how undersized lots could be developed in Alexandria, surviving amendments in 1987, 1989, and 2008.
This is the rule the current amendment would end. Staff research shows the permitting process is rarely used and often results in approval anyway, making it a candidate for repeal.