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California nonprofit colleges and faith organizations such as churches, mosques and synagogues would be able to build affordable homes on their land under a bill introduced Tuesday to help alleviate the state’s worsening housing shortage and homelessness crisis.
If approved by lawmakers and signed into law, Senate Bill 4 would reduce barriers that religious and nonprofit organizations often face when planning multifamily housing projects on their properties, such as local zoning regulations and the state’s stringent environmental review process, which critics say can add years of expensive and red tape to the process.
The proposal would supersede local zoning rules that either prohibit or discourage this development and would bar opponents of the housing projects from using the environmental review law to slow down construction through litigation.
Affordable housing advocates say SB 4 could meaningfully bolster California’s housing stock because religious and nonprofit institutions often have excess land available for development, usually in proximity to community resources such as transit and job centers.
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