Using Faith-Based Land for Affordable Housing
Zoning Practice — July 2023
By Donald Elliott, FAICP, Marguerite Squyer
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While communities across the country are struggling to provide affordable housing options for their most vulnerable citizens, a new set of sometimes-overlooked development partners is rising to the challenge: religious institutions. Many of these institutions own vacant buildings and underutilized land in established neighborhoods.
Projects to repurpose unneeded land surrounding a religious worship structure often involves a still-active (though possibly struggling) congregation interested in both addressing the affordability challenge and preserving or improving the future of that worshiping community. Since the "excess" land that may be made available for housing is often currently used as a parking lot, they also frequently involve questions of zoning regulations requiring minimum amounts of parking.
This issue of Zoning Practice explores the growing trend of developing transitional and permanent affordable housing on underused faith-based land. It examines the relationship between land supply and the housing crisis, the reasons why religious institutions are increasingly interested in development partnerships, and the zoning standards that can limit development opportunities. And it highlights several successful efforts to bring new affordable housing to faith-based lands.
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About the Authors
Donald Elliott, FAICP
Donald L. Elliott, FAICP, is a Senior Consultant with Clarion Associates, LLC, a national land use consulting firm. Don’s practice focuses on land development regulation, fair and affordable housing, and international land and urban development issues. Don has assisted over 70 U.S. communities to update plans and regulations related to housing, zoning, subdivision, fair housing, and land development. He is the author of A Better Way to Zone (Island Press 2008), co-author of The Rules that Shape Urban Form (APA 2012) and The Citizen’s Guide to Planning (APA 2009) and has served as the editor of Colorado Land Planning and Development Law for 30 years. Don teaches graduate level course on Land Use Regulation at the University of Colorado at Denver School of Architecture and Planning and is a former member of the Denver Planning Board. Don has a bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning and Policy Analysis from Yale University, a law degree from Harvard Law School, and a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Marguerite Squyer
Maggie Squyer is an Associate with Clarion Associates, LLC, based in the Denver office, where she drafts long-range plans and development codes for cities and counties in the West and Midwest. Prior to joining Clarion, she received a Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Colorado, Denver and worked for several years as an assistant planner for the City of Fargo, North Dakota.