Virginia is struggling with affordable housing shortages, and Sheila Herlihy Hennessee says many religious communities would like to help.
About a dozen churches in the state have opened or are developing on-site affordable housing units, said Hennessee, an organizer with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. But the process involves a lot of red tape.
“They’ve talked about how the journey was not an easy one,” she said. “One of the most difficult things was rezoning and getting permission from the localities.”
The interfaith center is now among several groups pushing for legislation that would eliminate rezoning requirements for religious institutions that want to offer on-site affordable housing on land they already own. Advocates say it would make it easier for religious communities to practice their ministries while simultaneously helping the state address housing shortages.
A similar measure, dubbed “Yes in God’s Backyard,” was signed into law in California this year after receiving bipartisan support.
“We saw that and wanted to do something similar in Virginia,” Hennessee said.
Del. Betsy Carr and Sen. Ghazala Hashmi have agreed to carry the legislation in Virginia’s upcoming legislative session.
“It can take years for these projects to come to fruition, and families in precarious circumstances do not have time on their hands,” Hashmi, a Richmond Democrat, wrote in a statement to The Virginian-Pilot. “This legislation presents an opportunity to expand our housing stock and assist the most vulnerable families in our communities.”
The bill is still being drafted, meaning its exact wording and other details remain up in the air. In California, which is home to a third of the nation’s homeless population, the law would sunset in 2036.
The Rev. Steven Moore, a pastor with First Christian Church in Falls Church, is among those who are backing the bill. His congregation is in the process of opening 95 affordable housing units for seniors.
The church bought acres of land decades ago back when the price was cheaper and their congregation was larger, he said. As a result, they ended up with about 3 acres to spare.
“We weren’t using it on a regular basis so we started thinking about how can we could use it to further our ministry and mission,” Moore said. “We realized a lot of seniors need affordable housing and are being forced to leave the area because it’s just become too expensive.”
Moore said the getting the area rezoned was complex and took more than a year. He expects more religious institutions would embrace similar projects if there was less red tape.
“We had hoped to be able to break ground this past October and now we are looking at 2025 just because of the process and how complicated it is,” he said. “This new law could really free up the process to make affordable housing much more quickly produced.”
Households are considered “housing cost burdened” when they spend more than 30% of their income on housing expenses. About 29% of Virginia households were housing cost burdened in 2019, according to a 2020 study from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.
Other groups, including YIMBY Virginia and Americans for Prosperity Virginia, also believe the bill could be beneficial.
“We love it and it highly aligns with our priorities,” said Gillian Pressman, managing director for YIMBY Virginia. YIMBY, an acronym for “Yes In My Backyard,” is a nonprofit that supports efforts to increase housing.
Although housing shortages are a problem nationwide, Pressman added that Hampton Roads might be especially vulnerable due to its location.
“The Hampton Roads area has a lot of flooding issues and it’s very precarious with climate change,” she said. “There are areas here that will become unlivable so we might need to think about making it easier to build housing in areas where we can.”
Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com
