“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
AFUT is a group of Arlington residents from across the County who advocate for transparency and meaningful community engagement in the County’s unrelenting upzoning efforts. We are as committed as ever to reign in the misinformation and flawed promises of EHO and replace these with fact based and analytical discussions and plans for the future of Arlington.
While the EHO zoning amendments went into effect on July 1, 2023, the discussion and debate for the future and livability of Arlington County continues.
We have worked for more than three years to inform residents about the County’s various MMH/EHO zoning proposals, the fact that this upzoning will not benefit low- or moderate-income households, but that it will increase housing costs, reduce green canopy, exacerbate traffic and parking congestion, school overcrowding, and water runoff. We have also worked to help inform the community how to participate in the process to share their voices. Now with real examples to point to – we justified but also saddened that our concerns and opposition were well founded.
Whether you are someone just now realizing that EHO is not what it was promised to be or are someone who has been engaged from early in the debate, there are plenty of ways to still shape our future.
Please consider any or all of the following ways to help change the trajectory and to ensure Arlingtonians future is bright and based on facts, informed economic, educational, and environmental analysis and community input, and not political talking points and confusion and misinformation:
- Support the lawsuit challenging the validity under Virginia law of the EHO Amendments and process. See the Neighbors for Neighborhoods site here.
- Monitor EHO developments and help ensure the developers implementing do not expand or otherwise exceed what has been enumerated in the EHO zoning amendments. See Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) Tab here for information on challenging EHO applications and approvals where appropriate.
- Continue to publicly share the negative impacts of EHO developments on your neighborhoods with AFUT, but also publicly as well as with friends, neighbors and others in the community. Consider writing letters to editors of various local papers, sharing on community listservs and NextDoor, and to otherwise raise awareness of what impacts EHO upzoning is “really” having in our community and its way of life.
- Continue to support County Board candidates that oppose the current fatally flawed EHO and who pledge to ensure EHO is evaluated and reconsidered on its results and merits.