Proposed legislation could help churches tackle housing affordability, an effort Virginia Beach started looking into last year.
Studies by state housing advocates show that faith communities across Virginia own 74,000 acres of land. Several congregations in Northern Virginia have been trying to develop housing on some of that land, but have run into barriers.
Zoning approvals, fees and density permissions on church-owned land all get in the way of religious residential development.
Cities like Virginia Beach are looking to faith groups as one part of a larger effort to deal with housing affordability.
“They have a mission that's in alignment with providing this type of service to the community,” said Sharon Shoff with Virginia Beach’s Office of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation.
A nonprofit coalition, The Interfaith Alliance at the Beach, presented the idea last year, and Virginia Beach put out a request for information to see how many religious groups in the city would be interested in developing affordable housing
Virginia Beach got four responses, one of which Shoff said actually looks promising for development.
“If one of them actually does come to fruition, it might spur others to think about it in the future, especially if congregations are consolidating,” Shoff said.
Virginia Beach hasn’t committed anything to the responding, the city just wanted to see if there were groups with interest.
A bill from two Richmond-area Senators would allow cities and counties to streamline the zoning and permitting processes for faith-based nonprofit groups.
Shoff said the legislation could definitely help clear a few obstacles, but that’s just part of what stands in the way for these potential developments. Others include making first-time developers out of church congregations and navigating the bureaucracy of applying for government aid, like Low Income Housing Tax Credits.
In Richmond, the bill to help religious groups pursue residential development passed its first hurdle and is headed to the Senate’s Finance and Appropriations committee for consideration.
