Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Newsom Signs Laws to Fast-Track Low Income Housing on Church Properties
By admin
Published 1 year ago on
October 12, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

SACRAMENTO — Religious institutions and nonprofit colleges in California will be allowed to turn their parking lots and other properties into low-income housing under a new law aimed at combating the ongoing homeless crisis.

The law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday, rezones land owned by nonprofit colleges and religious institutions, such as churches, mosques, and synagogues, to allow for affordable housing. Starting in 2024, they can bypass most local permitting and environmental review rules that can be costly and lengthy. The law is set to sunset in 2036.

California is home to nearly a third of all homeless people in the U.S. The crisis has sparked a movement among religious institutions, dubbed “yes in God’s backyard,” or “YIGBY,” in cities across the state, with a number of projects already in the works.

But churches and colleges often face big hurdles trying to convert their surplus land and underutilized parking lots into housing because their land is not zoned for residential use.

Proponents said the new law will serve as another tool to help build much-needed housing in the state. A recent study by the University of California, Berkeley, Terner Center for Housing Innovation estimated California religious and higher education campuses have more than 170,000 acres of land that would be eligible under the bill.

Cities Opposed Bill

Several cities opposed the bill and said it would take away local control over housing developments.

Newsom also signed another high priority housing bill authored by Sen. Scott Wiener to extend the life of a landmark law streamlining rules about housing projects that has led to construction of thousands of homes aimed at easing the state’s housing crisis.

“California desperately needs to ramp up housing production, and the Governor’s actions today help put us on a path to achieve that goal,” Wiener said in a statement. “The era of saying no to housing is coming to an end. We’ve been planting seeds for years to get California to a brighter housing future, and today we’re continuing strongly down that path.”

The original law, which took effect in 2018 and is set to expire in 2026, allows housing developers to bypass most local permitting processes for multifamily housing projects in cities falling short of the state-mandated housing goals. The law has helped fast-track more than 19,000 homes, with roughly 60% of them being affordable housing, according to the bill’s author, Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener. The new law would extend the existing rules by 10 years.

The new law would also remove the requirement to hire “skilled and trained workers” for a number of projects, a provision typically sought by the powerful construction trades union. Instead, it requires workers to be paid prevailing wage, which is the average wage paid to workers, laborers and mechanics in a particular area. Facing opposition from labor groups, Wiener added amendments to bolster labor regulations on bigger projects.

The bill had also met fierce opposition from the state Coastal Commission and environmental groups in July because it would remove the exemption on streamlined housing development in coastal zones. Opponents had worried the bill would place housing in areas prone to sea-level rise or wildfires and make way for luxury apartments, not affordable housing, along the coastline.

Wiener worked with the commission to clarify the legislation won’t apply to environmentally sensitive or wildfire-prone areas. The commission withdrew its opposition, but a number of cities in Southern California continued to oppose the bill, arguing it would take away local control.

The governor signed these bills on the same day his administration and Sacramento leaders announced the location of the first group of 1,200 tiny homes he has vowed to build in four cities to address homelessness.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Fashion Fair’s Forever 21 to Close. ‘Still a Ways to Go,’ Says Employee

DON'T MISS

Who Runs Elon Musk’s DOGE? Not Musk, the White House Says.

DON'T MISS

New Self-Pollinating Almond Tree Could Be Huge for a Big Fresno Cash Crop

DON'T MISS

Madera County Secures First Fentanyl-Related Homicide Conviction

DON'T MISS

Musk Team Seeks Access to IRS System With Taxpayers’ Records

DON'T MISS

Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’

DON'T MISS

Fresno Weather Forecast: Pretty as a Postcard

DON'T MISS

Kennedy Says ‘Nothing’ Off-Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease

DON'T MISS

Judge Declines to Immediately Block Elon Musk or DOGE From Federal Data or Layoffs

DON'T MISS

NBA Playoff Race Heats Up as All-Star Break Ends

UP NEXT

Small Businesses Drive the Economy. Yet Their Funding Is at Risk Under Trump.

UP NEXT

Should Builders Permit Their Own Projects? Post-fire LA Considers a Radical Idea

UP NEXT

Royal Caribbean to Launch First-Ever San Diego Cruises in 2026

UP NEXT

California’s Aging Population Will Test Whether Its Demography Is Destiny

UP NEXT

A Former Firefighter in the Legislature Has Ideas. Will Democrats Listen?

UP NEXT

Big Homeowner Rate Hike From State Farm Shot Down by California Regulator

UP NEXT

Fresno Leaders Celebrate Completion of Blackstone Hotel Conversion Project

UP NEXT

Yosemite National Park Braces for a Staffing and Conservation Crisis

UP NEXT

Is Newsom Bending to Trump? Gov Will Veto Bill Protecting Immigrant Inmates

UP NEXT

Southern California Hit by Destructive Debris Flows Caused by Heavy Rains

Madera County Secures First Fentanyl-Related Homicide Conviction

13 hours ago

Musk Team Seeks Access to IRS System With Taxpayers’ Records

14 hours ago

Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’

14 hours ago

Fresno Weather Forecast: Pretty as a Postcard

14 hours ago

Kennedy Says ‘Nothing’ Off-Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease

14 hours ago

Judge Declines to Immediately Block Elon Musk or DOGE From Federal Data or Layoffs

14 hours ago

NBA Playoff Race Heats Up as All-Star Break Ends

14 hours ago

NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon Talks ‘Days of Thunder’ Sequel With Tom Cruise

14 hours ago

Adames Joins Giants, Excited to Team Up With Gold Glover Chapman

14 hours ago

Leonard Peltier Released After Biden Commuted Sentence in FBI Agents’ Killings

16 hours ago

Fashion Fair’s Forever 21 to Close. ‘Still a Ways to Go,’ Says Employee

Signs hung throughout fast-fashion clothing store Forever 21 show discounts ranging from 10% to 40% off the “entire store.” And,...

11 hours ago

11 hours ago

Fashion Fair’s Forever 21 to Close. ‘Still a Ways to Go,’ Says Employee

12 hours ago

Who Runs Elon Musk’s DOGE? Not Musk, the White House Says.

13 hours ago

New Self-Pollinating Almond Tree Could Be Huge for a Big Fresno Cash Crop

Fentanyl M30 Pills
13 hours ago

Madera County Secures First Fentanyl-Related Homicide Conviction

14 hours ago

Musk Team Seeks Access to IRS System With Taxpayers’ Records

FILE — Steve Bannon speaks to reporters outside State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Feb. 11, 2025. Stephen Bannon, a top adviser during President Trump’s first term and a key figure among his supporters, said Elon Musk wants to “play-act as God” as part of his push to overhaul the federal government. (Jefferson Siegel/The New York Times)
14 hours ago

Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’

14 hours ago

Fresno Weather Forecast: Pretty as a Postcard

14 hours ago

Kennedy Says ‘Nothing’ Off-Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend