Council Set to Convene Monday Hearing on Allowing Affordable Housing at Religious Facilities

The City Council is scheduled to hear a zoning code amendment that would allow affordable housing on religious facilities on Monday.  

Since last year, the city has been discussing the use of church properties for affordable housing to help the city combat an affordable housing shortage.  

Supporters of the amendment sent form letters to the City Council advocating for the amendment. 

The Planning Commission voted 7-2 in April to recommend the amendments to the City Council.

“Pasadena needs more affordable housing. As a longtime advocate of housing as a human right, I have pushed for more affordable units citywide on underutilized land. However, I have serious concerns at this time about amending Pasadena’s Zoning Code to create a new Land Use Category, ‘Religious Facility with Affordable Housing’ (‘the Amendment’), given the many issues raised, questionable purpose, inherent inequity as written, disregard for the entire community, and limited possibility to increase significantly housing affordability. Furthermore, in compliance with State law (CA Govt. Sec. 65030) and best professional planning practices, the Staff Report does not disclose or discuss the potentially vast unintended consequences,” wrote commissioner Julianna Delgado in correspondence to the City Council.

The amendment allows a maximum of 75 dwelling units “by right,” but requires a Minor Conditional Use Permit for projects that will exceed the threshold.

“By right” projects are only subject to a review by the Design Commission — no hearing officer or Planning Commission bearings are required for a Conditional Use Permit or other discretionary entitlement.

In previous public hearings, some members of the Planning Commission recommended allowing affordable housing not just on church property but on property held by institutional facilities, such as schools and nonprofit facilities, but the final proposal that was voted upon by the commission recommended allowing affordable housing only on religious sites as a pilot program.

The Legislative Policy Committee was scheduled to review and discuss SB1336, a bill that allows affordable housing on college campuses and churches, earlier this month. 

The bill was introduced earlier this month by Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco). Weiner introduced a similar bill, SB 899 two years ago.

SB 899 passed unanimously in the State Senate and the Assembly Housing Committee, but failed to get out of the legislature.

“Our churches, mosques and synagogues want to do everything they can to help our communities,” Wiener said in a prepared statement. “Many of them have land that they can use for affordable housing, but when they try to build these projects, they face years of delays and arbitrary zoning restrictions.”