Colorado lawmakers have killed legislation that would have allowed houses of worship to build housing on their property, even if local zoning laws prohibited such construction.
Known as House Bill 1169, the measure passed the Democrat-controlled Colorado House of Representatives in March only to be effectively killed on Monday when leadership in the Democrat-run state Senate determined it lacked the votes to proceed.
Shelby Wieman, a spokesperson for Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, said in a statement quoted by The Colorado Sun that the administration was disappointed by the vote result.
“This common-sense policy is backed by non-profits, congregations, schools, housing, and conservation organizations,” said Wieman. “Coloradans are demanding action to cut housing costs, and we remain committed to continuing this important work.”
HB 1169 sought to streamline “the building process for qualifying properties, including properties owned by faith-based organizations” by creating “a process that allows residential developments to be constructed on qualifying properties as long as certain requirements are satisfied.”
Properties that qualified for the streamlined housing development process included “real property that contains no more than five acres of land and that has been owned by a faith-based organization, a school district … or a state college or university … for that at least five years.”
“In Denver, Jefferson, Arapahoe, and Douglas counties alone, faith-based organizations own more than five thousand acres of undeveloped land,” the bill added. “In many cases, faith-based organizations are mowing or maintaining these lots at significant cost with no real benefit to the community.”
“Colorado urgently needs more housing to meet the needs of a growing statewide population and address issues directly related to housing, such as transit, commuting, the workforce, and the environment.”
The proposed legislation had the support of the “Yes in God’s Backyard” movement, a national grassroots organization that lobbies for allowing affordable housing on church properties.
Critics of the legislation included the Colorado Municipal League, which released a statement in February arguing that HB 1169 “infringes on constitutional rule authority to regulate zoning, a matter of local concern.”
“‘YIGBY’ creates a special privileged class of property owners with insufficient guardrails that would promote the creation of affordable housing, protect against fraud or abuse, and ensure a minimum of consistency with community plans,” stated the CML.
“Without affordability standards, nothing in this prevents these institutions from focusing on luxury developments that do not help solve our housing crisis. Further, other entities could take advantage of YIGBY by forming a faith-based organization for only a few years before bypassing zoning ordinances.”
