Eric Shupin
Massachusetts communities often explain the lack of new housing with a common response: “We’re built out. There’s nowhere left to grow.”
However, churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and other faith-based institutions own nearly 5,000 parcels with huge development potential throughout the commonwealth, many of which could support new homes. could support new homes. Faith-based organizations like the East Coast International Church in Lynn and the Hartford Street Presbyterian Church in Natick have expressed interest in pursuing this kind of development, but have run into insurmountable zoning barriers.
As every developer knows, land that appears to be a prime spot for new housing is not necessarily where a project can feasibly pencil out.
Whether due to community pushback, zoning approval timelines, or other administrative delays, projects can take years longer than intended to complete, driving up costs and often resulting in the plan being abandoned altogether.
Carrying costs on land, financing expenses, legal fees, consultant costs and inflation continue to accumulate while projects sit in lengthy permitting processes, among other costs.
Yes In God’s Back Yard (YIGBY) legislation can provide more certainty for these developments to move forward through religious land exemptions from local zoning restrictions. It can also open doors for more affordable housing.
Reasonable Density Unlocks Affordability
YIGBY provides clear statewide standards for building affordable multifamily homes on qualifying properties owned by faith-based institutions.
These projects could include up to 30 units per acre if at least 20 percent are affordable to households earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). A project could reach up to 50 units per acre by providing either more affordable homes or deeper affordability.
The legislation would also allow buildings of up to four stories or 45 feet and reduce parking requirements while preserving existing applicable building, health, safety, environmental, and water and wastewater requirements.
These reasonable standards make it possible to create more of the kind of multifamily housing Massachusetts needs, pairing enough density to make projects feasible with a meaningful commitment to affordability.
When developers can secure approvals faster due to religious exemption, they spend less money before construction even begins and more projects can move forward.
Faster approvals do not only benefit developers either. They benefit everyone waiting for more housing options. Lower development costs help stretch both private investment and public housing dollars further, allowing more homes to be built with the same amount of capital.
With a gap of 194,189 affordable, available homes in Massachusetts for those making 50 percent of AMI or less, we need every tool to create more affordable opportunities.
More Homes Help Everyone Win
With YIGBY, every community in Massachusetts could benefit, beyond just those with underutilized faith-based land.
Thousands of faith-owned parcels have the potential for redevelopment, resulting in tens of thousands of potential new homes that will bring us closer to meeting our state’s housing demand and need.
Developers won’t create these new homes overnight, but housing everyone in Massachusetts will be closer to reality, which helps the individuals, their communities and our economy to thrive.
Now is the time for bold solutions to our housing shortage.
Massachusetts has already demonstrated that thoughtful zoning reform can produce results. Recent housing initiatives, like the MBTA Communities Act, have encouraged communities to create more opportunities for multifamily housing near transit.
YIGBY builds on that momentum by addressing another major obstacle: the local zoning barriers and discretionary approval processes that slow production even after communities recognize the need for additional housing. Alongside these tools, YIGBY would get us closer to our state’s goal of 187,259 more homes by 2035.
Right now, YIGBY legislation sits in negotiations between the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the state Senate as part of this session’s economic development bond bill.
Faith leaders, housing organizations, philanthropy, the business community and developers alike recognize the opportunity that this presents for Massachusetts and that we must pass YIGBY to move towards the future we want to see. We must embrace innovative, creative solutions to our housing shortage if we’re going to make meaningful progress, and YIGBY is a critical piece of the solution to help make Massachusetts more affordable, one home at a time.
Eric Shupin is CEO of Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA).
