Texas bishops back ‘Yes in God’s Backyard’ bill to turn parish land into affordable homes

Seattle, Wash., Apr 28, 2025 / 13:56 pm (CNA).

Texas lawmakers are weighing whether parish parking lots, ballfields, and spare acreage could help ease the state’s housing crunch.

House Bill 3172 — the so‑called Yes in God’s Backyard, or YIGBY, bill — would let churches and other faith institutions build mixed‑income housing on land they already own without running a gauntlet of rezoning hearings, provided at least half the units stay affordable.

Jennifer Carr Allmon, executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, backs the proposal.

“Catholics believe that housing is a human right, and governments, the private sector, and the Church share responsibility to make sure people have a stable place to live,” she said in an interview with CNA. YIGBY, she added, “gives parishes a chance to rethink their campuses so they can create affordable homes and keep their ministries thriving.”

Allmon pointed to a century‑old parish that turned about an acre of underused land into a project that rebuilt its aging school and carved out deeply discounted apartments for seniors. She sees similar deals sprouting across the state once zoning barriers fall. Her stance draws on “The Right to a Decent Home,” a 1988 pastoral letter from the nation’s bishops urging Catholic entities to inventory property “and examine how it might better be put at the service of those who lack adequate shelter.”

Rep. Gary Gates, the bill’s House author, chairs the Land and Resource Management Committee. A Catholic lobbyist flagged the idea, he recalled in an interview: “Vacant church land was a great thought. Some churches — Catholic, evangelical, you name it — have a lot of land that’s just sitting there.” Gates drafted the bill soon after.

The measure would let congregations develop parcels they’ve held for at least five years, up to five acres at a time, without a full zoning change. Projects must stay under nonprofit control and meet affordability targets. 

Gates said the acreage cap is meant to stop massive master‑planned enclaves from claiming a religious exemption. The Senate passed its companion in March; the House version awaits a committee vote while Gov. Greg Abbott’s policy team reviews it. “Our session ends in five weeks,” Gates said. “Either we do this now or we wait a year and a half.”

The need is clear enough. Texas is short roughly 660,000 affordable rental units for its lowest‑income residents, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. In San Antonio alone, a 2024 nonprofit survey counted about 3,000 acres of underused church land inside city limits. 

Financing structures will vary, said Maddie Johnson, program director of the Church Properties Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, but ground leases “are a natural option in a YIGBY context because the emphasis is on the church remaining the landowner.”

Equity splits expose parishes to development risk that can be hard to understand, she cautioned. Community pushback is inevitable whenever density lands in a low‑rise neighborhood, yet church campuses may have an edge because they already break the single‑family pattern.

“Any kind of density introduced into a low‑density neighborhood is going to be opposed,” Johnson said, but the scale of most church sites “is already an interruption to that texture.”

Gates argues that unlocking church land tackles cost at its root. “Thirty percent of the cost of a house is the land,” he said. “Opening church land widens the supply overnight.” Homeowner groups in well‑heeled enclaves worry that subsidized apartments will dent property values, but Allmon believes real‑world examples calm fears.

“When people see a parish partner with a developer to add affordable housing and expand ministry, the objections fade,” she said.

If the House clears the bill, parishes could break ground as early as 2026. Catholic conferences in Colorado, Georgia, and Florida are pushing similar bills. 

“Vacant acreage can sit idle or serve the Gospel,” Allmon said. “This legislation lets us choose the latter.”

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263719/texas-bishops-back-yes-in-god-s-backyard-bill-to-turn-parish-land-into-affordable-homes