New state laws will make it easier to build affordable housing on church properties in West Marin—a potential win for religious institutions, county planners and people living with housing insecurity.
The laws could also help the county chip away at its ambitious state-mandated housing goals, and help churches replenish their coffers while fulfilling their mission of helping community members in need.
As envisioned by policymakers, local nonprofits like the community land trusts in Point Reyes Station, Bolinas and San Geronimo would play a crucial role in realizing these goals. The trusts would acquire or build the new housing—most likely tiny homes, ADUs or trailers. The churches would collect monthly rent payments without incurring a landlord’s management responsibilities. The land trusts would handle operational duties.
County planners recently met with housing advocates to discuss the potential for taking advantage of the new laws in West Marin.
“The county is embracing these new tools and really encouraging organizations like ours to look at how to use them to create affordable housing quickly,” said Pam Dorr, executive director of the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin.
Most churches in West Marin could accommodate some housing on their property, even if they only have room for one small unit, Ms. Dorr said.
“A tiny home in a church yard would be a great way to visualize what it could look like,” she said. “Or they might be accessory dwelling units. Think of them as modest, energy-efficient two-bedroom homes.”
Ms. Dorr has just begun to reach out to churches to gauge their interest but has not yet nailed down any commitments. Moving forward would also require securing state or county funding to cover construction costs.
The interim pastor of the Tomales Presbyterian Church, Rev. Lisa Robechek, said she looks forward to reviewing the new legislation and will call it to the attention of the church board. “It sounds like it will give all interested parties the capacity to make good choices that will benefit the nuanced needs for housing in our community,” she said. “People need safe housing, and churches would benefit from the additional resources this might provide so that we can also contribute to other ministry efforts in the larger community.”
The new laws, introduced by state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, were among a flurry of bills lawmakers considered last year to address the state’s acute housing shortage and homelessness crisis.
Senate Bill 4 applies to both nonprofit colleges and faith organizations. The legislation allows projects that meet building and environmental codes to move forward without hearings by the Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors.
A second law, S.B. 423, allows for the streamlined procedures to be applied to parts of the coastal zone. An earlier version of the law exempted the coastal zone from the legislation.
The new rules only apply to churches surrounded on three sides by properties with residential zoning—a provision intended to keep new housing clustered near village centers. Despite that requirement, they could still have a significant impact in rural areas like West Marin, according to Erik Mebust, a spokesman for Sen. Weiner.
“Even in small towns, you have properties surrounded on three sides by development,” Mr. Mebust said. “There is a housing affordability crisis across the board, and people in rural communities are also struggling to afford to live in the state. We want to make affordable housing accessible to people in all communities.”
The legislation has received support from a host of state religious organizations. “Faith communities in California see the housing crisis and many feel called to take action to combat it,” he said. “These congregations often have ministries to the homeless, and they’re always looking for ways that they can do more. And for congregations that are cash poor, this law can really kill two birds with one stone.”
In Marin, the new laws could help planners put a small dent in the ambitious housing targets. Last year, the state instructed Marin to identify potential sites for 3,596 units in unincorporated areas, with roughly half of them priced affordably for low- and middle-income households.
An updated list of properties that qualify for streamlined review identified a handful of church properties as potential sites for development, including the Catholic churches in Olema, Lagunitas and Tomales, and the Presbyterian churches in Point Reyes Station and San Geronimo.
Like Sen. Wiener’s bills, the county’s updated housing plan would ease permitting requirements for sites included on the list. But those changes won’t take effect until the county updates its Local Coastal Program later this year—and they will only apply to a handful of West Marin churches.
Jillian Zeiger, a senior county planner, has met with housing advocates and faith leaders to talk about the new legislation.
“Senate Bill 4 could have particular impact for developing housing in West Marin because there are so many churches and several of them have development potential,” Ms. Zeiger said.