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Homes In God’s Backyard: California Lawmakers Pass Bill For Housing On Church Land
Pastor Adrienne Zackery hopes to revitalize Crossroads United Methodist Church in Compton by building housing on its land.
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Topline:
California lawmakers have passed a bill that aims to give churches and colleges the right to develop affordable housing on their own property, bypassing local restrictions that currently prevent apartments from getting built on empty parking lots and underused land.
The details: If signed into law, Senate Bill 4 would allow nonprofit higher education institutions and faith-based organizations to develop 100% affordable housing projects “by right.” That means they could side-step lengthy, expensive and uncertain reviews imposed by local governments that often oppose such projects. The bill passed the state Assembly last week and cleared a final vote in the state Senate on Monday, with only two senators voting no.
Why it matters: Local housing advocate John Oh told LAist earlier this year that his organization L.A. Voice is already working with about 20 local congregations who hope to build a total of about 2,000 new affordable apartments. “It’s a big deal,” Oh said of the bill’s passage. “About two-thirds of the sites in our inventory are in low-density, residential zones that make it nearly impossible to build affordable housing. SB 4 will open new opportunities to build housing.”
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The potential impact: Researchers with the University of California, Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation recently released a study that found the bill could unlock more than 171,000 acres of land owned by nonprofit colleges and faith-based organizations that could be suitable for affordable housing. To put that in perspective, the researchers say that acreage is nearly five times the size of the city of Oakland.
What’s next: Gov. Gavin Newsom must sign the bill by Oct. 14 in order for it to become law.
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