Church buildings, synagogues, and mosques personal thousands and thousands of acres of land throughout the US, however are normally barred from constructing any housing on their property. Over the previous couple of years, that’s began to alter, and on Friday, congressional lawmakers are introducing a invoice to exempt homes of worship from restrictive native zoning legal guidelines to allow them to construct inexpensive properties.
The bipartisan Religion in Housing Act would override native housing guidelines, counting on Congress’s authority over interstate commerce and a federal statute that stops native governments from unfairly limiting how non secular teams can use their land. The invoice, sponsored by Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA) and Chuck Edwards (R-NC), would require any new housing constructed to serve low-income households on common, although particular person models may very well be priced for moderate-income households incomes as much as 140 p.c of the native median earnings. As much as 5 p.c of the properties may very well be reserved for employees and clergy, however all different models have to be made obtainable to anybody no matter their non secular beliefs.
Support Greater and Subscribe to view content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.