Yes In God’s Backyard Bill Signed by Governor

Last month, Governor Newsom signed a key bill that would enable churches and other religious institutions to build affordable homes on land they own. Dubbed “Yes in God’s Backyard,” the bill authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (Oakland) allows developers to reduce parking for new churches by as much as 50% if they also build affordable housing. This bill only applies to religious land where they are building new churches and also want to build affordable housing. It does not apply to affordable housing built when a church is already in existence. Previous law allowed for the reduction of parking spaces for affordable housing being built on sites with existing places of worship, not new development. Read the new bill here.

Senator Scott Wiener (San Francisco) tried for the second time to move a bill that would have enabled housing development by right on religious lands and land held by nonprofit colleges, even if local zoning would otherwise not allow. By right development exempts a developer from having to receive local discretionary approvals and going through the California Environmental Quality Act process, though there are objective standards that would preclude development on environmentally unsafe or sensitive areas and required that the development occur on infill sites. The Senator’s bill– SB 1336—died in committee, but it is expected that it will be reintroduced later this year.