The opposite of NIMBY: ‘Yes in God’s Backyard’ push for affordable housing clears Legislature, and it started in St. Pete

St. Petersburg had a seat at the table, literally and figuratively, in the push to increase affordable housing stock.

The figurative comes from St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch. The literal comes from Democratic state Rep. Lindsay Cross, who worked exhaustively this Legislative Session on a measure to provide local governments a new tool to drive affordability.

At issue is a sweeping legislative package out of the Senate (SB 1730) driving affordable housing solutions and updating the existing Live Local Act. Welch worked with Cross, who then worked with Republican state Rep. Vicki Lopez to include language in the package adopting the “Yes in God’s Backyard” (YIGBY) policy.

It is the YIGBY to some people’s NIMBY (Not in My Backyard), and it allows churches to use their property for affordable housing regardless of zoning.

Specifically, the legislation adds “any contiguous parcel connected thereto, which is owned by a religious institution … which contains a house of public worship” to the statute, allowing local governments to approve affordable housing projects regardless of zoning.

“I think it’s exciting that St. Pete is taking the lead on this and we hope that other communities will follow the example and partner with their faith organizations to help support the continued need for affordable housing,” Cross told Florida Politics.

Welch has been talking up YIGBY policies since at least last year. In an open letter last April published in The Weekly Challenger, a St. Pete-based local publication that emphasizes issues impacting the Black community, Welch wrote that he would be “asking for the consideration of legislation to empower faith communities to develop affordable housing on their own property.”

He further pledged to advocate for the federal Yes in God’s Backyard Act sponsored by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in Congress.

“The City of St. Petersburg fully endorses ‘Yes in God’s Back Yard’ because it expands affordable housing options by leveraging religious institutions,” Welch told Florida Politics. “This legislation is an innovative, forward-thinking effort that will help solve our affordable housing crisis statewide.”

Welch said the Florida Housing Coalition estimates that implementing YIGBY “will free up more than 30,000 parcels across the state for affordable housing development.”

He thanked Cross and Lopez, as well as Sens. Alexis Calatayud and Darryl Rouson, for working to include the policy in broader bill language.

YIGBY projects are already happening. The city of St. Pete in 2023 approved plans from Palm Lake Christian Church to build affordable housing on its land to house people who were low-income, homeless, near-homeless or disabled.

The project envisions 86 units on its property.