New CA Law Streamlines Affordable Housing Process for Churches and Nonprofits
A new state law passed in response to widespread homelessness will make it easier for religious institutions and nonprofit colleges to convert surplus land they own into low-income housing. SB 4 added Section 65913.16 to the California Government Code, titled the Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education Lands Act of 2023. California, which has over a third of the nation’s homeless population within its borders, is seeking unique solutions that incorporate the willingness and dedication of churches and nonprofit colleges to find a solution to the housing crisis.
The California Center for Nonprofit Law is here to inform you about new laws and other legal developments that may affect your charitable organization. We will advise you of any measures you must take and help you implement them to remain compliant. Contact us today at (949) 892-1221 and see how we can help.
Streamlining the Affordable Housing Project Process
Building affordable housing, even when a church or nonprofit college already owns the land, can be challenging and arduous. One major issue is that most of those lands are not zoned for residential use. The rezoning process can take significant time, be costly, and may not always be successful.
For example, the Episcopal Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Placentia developed and constructed the Santa Angelina Senior Community. The success of this project has spurred the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles to dedicate 25% of
its property across six counties to similar projects. However, the project, which took 18 months of construction, first took almost six years of planning.
Another affordable housing project in San Jose also had to go through an extensive local rezoning process before it could finally break ground in 2021. The rezoning process lasted almost two years. The necessity of rezoning is not an uncommon problem for churches and colleges with underutilized buildings, parking lots, and bare land. Almost none of this land is zoned for multifamily residential use.
The Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education Lands Act (“the Act”) helps ease this process by greenlighting the rezoning of the land while bypassing most local permitting and environmental review rules. By cutting through the red tape, housing advocates hope that the Act will eliminate much of the planning time that previously had to occur before construction of the housing projects could begin.
Religious institutions and nonprofit colleges may be able to help with affordable housing problems throughout the state. According to a recent study by the Terner Center of Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, California religious and higher education campuses have more than 170,000 acres of land that could potentially be available for development under the Act.
Allow Us to Meet Your Legal Needs
The California Center for Nonprofit Law dedicates its efforts to the daily legal matters that charities face, including ongoing compliance with changes in the law. Call us today at (949) 892-1221 and schedule a time to discuss your case. Get your questions answered and learn more about how we can help.