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Should the County cut its losses?
EHO lawsuit goes forward; our tax dollars paying for outside defense attorneys; coming soon - EHO BZA appeals; an end-of-year EHO evaluation analysis by ASF; and much more.
No winter holiday for EHO. Here is a timeline of milestones from the last 3 weeks.
December 29th-January 2nd: After losing initial EHO lawsuit rounds in court, Arlington has hired an outside law firm from Roanoke, Gentry Locke. Gentry Locke will assist County attorneys in defending Arlington in the EHO lawsuit. They are hoping to turn the legal tide, which up to now has been a dismal failure for the County government.
The lawsuit was brought by ten homeowners against the County over its approval of the Expanded Housing Options (EHO) zoning policy, formerly known as Missing Middle. One of the suit's major allegations is that the County violated the Virginia state code by failing to conduct impact studies of increased density on schools, transportation, the environment, stormwater, and other critical areas.
Click HERE, to read a copy of the engagement agreement correspondence with Gentry Locke, secured by a Freedom of Information Act Request by Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future (ASF). According to the redacted correspondence, the attorneys from the firm will bill up to $750 an Hour. Check out a Gazette Leader article on paying for outside counsel HERE and a Fox News Report HERE.
Outside attorneys? Were no attorneys to be found in Arlington or Washington DC? How much of the fees from our newly-increased real estate tax assessments will be used to bail the County out of its mistakes? Isn't there a budget shortfall predicted this year?
December 31st: The County ended the first six months of its developer-driven private density program with a total of 26 approved EHO permits, all in R-5 and R-6 zoning districts. This translates to 107 units with a minimum of one bedroom each. There are none in R-8, R-10, and R-20 zoning districts. At the end of the year, the County received its first EHO permit application for a townhouse project in an R-10 zoning district. Needless to say, these approved EHO units will be out of price reach for "missing middle" essential workers or for the most vulnerable members of our community where the need is greatest.
To see the list of the 26 approved EHO-permitted projects, click HERE.
January 1st: With the new year, the annual cap of EHO permits has been reset to ZERO, allowing up to 58 new EHO permits in 2024, on top of the 26 approved in 2023.
January 10th: Arlington's Committee of 100 hosted an expert panel before a packed audience entitled, "Let's Talk About Arlington's Expanded Housing Options (EHO) in 2024." Panelists were Raighne Delaney, Shareholder, Bean, Kinney & Korman, Tad Lunger, Principal Owner, Arlington Land Use Group, PLLC, Jon Ware, Esq., Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future, and Michelle Winters, EHO developer, President Community Strategies, LLC and Co-Founder, Neighborhood Flats, LLC. For more details on the panel discussion that spanned the lawsuit to the status of the EHO program click HERE.
At the meeting, Arlingtonians for Sustainable Future unveiled in-depth findings on the first year of the EHO program. Absent any attempt at a program review by the County government, this presentation fills the much-needed evaluation and accountability vacuum. Note that to gather information for its analysis, Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future paid the fees required by the County to gain access to the EHO permit applications. Meanwhile, the County issues permits for free to developers. On another note, the county's promised comprehensive online EHO dashboard is still not launched.
For more details on ASF's presentation click HERE. Some highlights from the analysis include:
- Nearly 2/3's of the approved EHO units are 6-plexes;
- Approximately 30% of Arlington's existing housing stock can be classified as missing middle housing (i.e. duplexes, multi-family, apartment buildings, etc.)
- The pace of the program has been faster than the County originally said, even with lawsuits;
- EHO permits are far more localized than originally envisioned by the County;
- Approximately 50% of the new EHO permits are for 1-2 bedroom units; and
- About 6,600 seniors are at risk of being displaced by rising property taxes according to local economist Jon Huntley.
January 11th: Circuit Court Judge Schell denied the County's motion to appeal the Judge's decision to allow the EHO lawsuit to move forward. A trial date is set for July 8th.
The County's motion would have delayed the lawsuit for years while the case was being heard by Virginia's appellate courts. Judge Schell indicated during the proceeding that it would not be in either party's best interest to delay the trial due to costs and the prospect that developers might have to tear down the EHO buildings they construct.
“Today’s ruling is another win for Arlington homeowners and another loss for the county, which now has brought in the big guns, hiring at Arlington taxpayers’ expense, Gentry Locke, a Roanoke law firm, to assist with the case,” Dan Creedon with Neighbors for Neighborhoods Litigation Fund LLC, said in a statement.
For more information:
Read the full press release from Neighbors for Neighborhoods Litigation Fund, LLC, HERE.
To donate to the lawsuit please click HERE.
Check out an article in the Patch HERE and one in Arl Now HERE.
January 17th: The County receives a second EHO permit application in an R-10 zoning district for a 3-townhouse development. The address is 6807 Williamsburg Boulevard in the East Falls Church neighborhood.
BZA EHO Appeals are on the horizon. Two EHO appeals for 4015 7th Street S and 4019 7th Street S in Alcova Heights, will be heard before Arlington's Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) on January 24th. Two more appeals, 5630 8th Street N in Bluemont and 3802 14th Street North in Ballston-VA Square are slated to be heard in February.
Should the County government cut its losses now?
The County government is at a crossroads. In my view, they should cut their losses, take a pause, and re-evaluate the entire program. Here is why.
- EHO is a flawed, developer-driven density program. It has nothing to do with its original laudable goals of increasing affordability and promoting diversity.
- Residents are growing increasingly skeptical about a program that is tearing down middle-income affordable housing stock and is primarily about private sector profit and tax revenues.
- What happens if the lawsuit prevails? In the ensuing chaos that results, will the County attempt to grandfather developers with approved permits? Will some developers sue the County for not doing its due diligence? Who will be left footing the bill for the County's mistakes?
- How much is all of this costing us? Not only are our taxes paying for our County attorneys to defend Arlington's weak case, but they are also paying for expensive outside legal assistance. It seems the County is treating its taxpayers like an ATM.
These are just a few of the tough conversations the County Board and staff should be having and the questions they should be asking themselves and the public. And they should be doing it sooner rather than later.
EHO Watch
Previously known as Missing Middle, the County's densification program was rebranded as Expanded Housing Option (EHO) Development due to the goal no longer being about affordable housing or promoting diversity. EHO Watch will be sent out to highlight newsworthy developments.
If you wish to subscribe to EHO Watch, email me at natalieuroy@gmail.com. Please share this bulletin with anyone interested in brief updates. Please follow the prompts below to unsubscribe.
Links to more information:
The County EHO Website with more details can be found HERE.
To get more information and contribute to the EHO lawsuit please click on the following:
Via GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/suit-re-end-of-singlefamily-zoning-in-arlington
Make checks payable to: NFN Litigation Fund LLC; mailed to 1405 S. Fern St., Box 556, Arlington, Va. 22202; or
• Via Venmo - Search: Neighbors For Neighborhoods.
Alcova Heights BZA Appeal Donation and Additional Info:
Please contact Kelly Reed at ecotones7@gmail.com for donation instructions or consider contributing directly to GoFundMe at https://www.gofundme.com/f/alcova-neighbor-fund (though recognize a 2.9% fee is deducted by GoFundMe).
To get more information on the proposed Lyon Village GLUP change and how to contribute to their effort click on the following link:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/stop-high-rises-in-arlington-neighborhoods?utm_medium=email&utm_source=product&utm_campaign=p_email%2B2300-co-team-welcome
More information on Aurora Highland's Special GLUP Study can be found HERE.
Langston Boulevard Area Plan: For more information on the recently approved Langston Boulevard Area Plan click HERE.
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