The judge in the EHO lawsuit has issued a partial stay of his ruling, granting existing EHO permit holders the right to move forward with their projects while the case is under appeal. This stay was requested by Arlington County, which issued 45 permits under the EHO zoning ordinance that had gone into effect on July 1, 2023.

The partial stay comes with a big caveat, however. The judge believes that these projects are at risk of becoming illegal should his ruling be upheld by the appeals court next year. This is despite the arguments by the county and several developers that certain projects should have vested rights under state law. Until there is more clarity on that issue, it may be unlikely that many of the EHO projects will move forward. The exception is the small number of projects that are close to completion or under construction.

For a more detailed explanation of the rulings see this McGuireWoods legal alert.