Clairemont Lutheran Church seeks to build affordable housing on parking lot

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – The San Diego City Council on Tuesday approved a set of reforms that will allow houses of worship to build affordable housing on their parking lots.

A number of churches are exploring ways to build affordable housing on their own land. It’s what pastors and other leaders are referring to as YIGBY, or “Yes in God’s Backyard.”

The acronym is a play off of the term NIMBY — short for “Not in My Backyard” — a term often used to describe community pushback against affordable housing or other similar projects.

Jonathan Doolittle is the senior pastor at Clairemont Lutheran Church, which plans to build more than a dozen low-income homes on its parking lot. He told council members the reforms would help that project become a reality.

“There are so many religious leaders who want to know what they can do as we face a statewide housing crisis that is putting the squeeze on working families,” Mayor Kevin Faulconer said in a statement after the measure was approved. “We have people in need and people who want to help so giving churches the opportunity to build affordable housing on underutilized parking lots makes all the sense in the world.”