Aurora church turns vacant ‘God’s Backyard’ land into affordable housing

AURORA | Mountain View United Church has owned two undeveloped acres since its founding.

The Aurora church held on to the open space in case it required a new, larger sanctuary for a growing congregation, but that need never came. Instead, the empty parcel became little more than dirt and weeds in the neighborhood — there was space for outdoor worship under a group of trees and Denver Urban Gardens created a small plot in one corner, but that was about it.

Then, in 2018, leadership had a bold idea. Why not use the land for affordable housing?

“The land is a gift from God, and we’re called to use that gift for the common good. This is how we, as a very small congregation, can impact the beloved community and share love. This was a beautiful opportunity to help transform our neighborhood,” said Rev. Dr. Tracy Hughes, the church’s lead minister.

The church joined the Interfaith Alliance’s then-nascent Congregation Land Campaign and sought a developer partner for its idea, eventually linking up with Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver. The affordable housing nonprofit first determined that Mountain View’s acreage could support about 10 three- and four-bedroom duplexes on a cul-de-sac and then began the onerous process of planning the development, getting neighborhood feedback and rezoning the land for multifamily medium density — the surprising speed bump that almost tanked the project.

After intense pushback from vocal Havana Heights neighbors, delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic and public opposition from Mayor Mike Coffman, the church achieved its rezoning in fall 2021. The project is now over halfway complete: The street is paved, sidewalks are almost done and some units even have fresh carpet installed.

“We did not envision how long this process would take, but that was one of the first things we learned,” said Rev. Wayne Laws, the former pastor for social justice, who led the effort.

Democratic lawmakers at the Colorado Capitol are hoping to pass legislation this year that would make projects like the one at Mountain View easier to get started by automatically allowing faith-based organizations and public schools to use their land for housing.

“When you look back at Mountain View, and you consider all the time and money it took, that’s disincentivizing congregations from using their underdeveloped land,” Michelle Warren, an advocacy consultant who worked on the legislation, said.

It is part of the “Yes in God’s Backyard” movement — a play on the “Yes In My Backyard” pro-housing campaign — which has gained traction in recent years. A California law went into effect last year to make it easier for those types of organizations to build affordable, multifamily housing on their land. Washington state also has a law incentivizing affordable housing development on land owned by religious groups.

Colorado’s bill, according to draft text, would create an administrative review process for residential proposals on land owned by places of worship and public schools, essentially allowing development by right of those projects. That would get rid of the time-intensive and often costly rezoning process that churches like Mountain View have faced in their efforts to build housing on their vacant land.

A 2024 study from Mile High Ministries found that there is over 5,000 acres of undeveloped congregational land that could be suited for housing in Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Jefferson and Douglas counties. Just over 400 of those acres, however, are currently zoned for multifamily housing.

Under the bill, cities and counties would need to allow residential development on such land if the project meets certain criteria and complies with existing local standards. There are some height restrictions, for example, and projects would need to comply with rules around setbacks, parking minimums and number of bedrooms, to name a few. But basically, if a project could be built on another plot in the neighborhood, it would be allowed on that congregational or public school land.

“From my perspective, this is a marriage of the mission of a congregation — which might be aligned with providing housing in the community — with that need in the community, and then allowing for those things to happen in a way that’s predictable and cost effective,” said Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, a Fort Collins Democrat who is running the bill.

It is also sponsored by Rep. Javier Mabrey of Denver, Sen. Julie Gonzales of Denver and Sen. Tony Exum of Colorado Springs, all Democrats.

There are currently no requirements that residential developments covered by the bill meet affordability standards, but Boesenecker said sponsors are still working on that piece. He said local governments would still be allowed to use tools like community benefit agreements, inclusionary zoning and deed restrictions for these types of projects.

“These projects often happen coupled with investment from federal or state dollars like (the Low Income Housing Tax Credit),” he said. “And that includes covenants that would mandate affordability. Oftentimes it might not happen on the front end — and that’s very difficult in terms of finding a statewide standard for affordability — but it happens on the back end when it comes to who is actually involved in building this housing.”

The bill comes after multiple years of land use reform at the Colorado Legislature with the goal to spur development during a persistent housing shortage. A law passed last year sets an expectation for denser development along transit corridors, which could allow thousands of units to come online near rail and bus stations. Lawmakers also approved a policy that larger cities in the state must allow accessory dwelling units where single-family, detached units are also allowed.

“We’ve already taken some pretty big jumps in terms of land use development and policy here in Colorado,” Boesenecker said. “It builds on those efforts, and because we’ve taken those iterative steps, it makes a policy like this easier to accomplish, and certainly easier to socialize, in our state.”

Those land use bills faced opposition from some cities and jurisdictions that argued they usurped local control.

Developers say the bill could also help with one of the largest barriers to projects: the availability and cost of land itself. Mountain View leased its land for 99 years to Habitat for Humanity. Other organizations could donate land outright to developers.

“To any affordable housing developer, land is often one of the most cost restrictive elements of us being able to build, especially in metro Denver,” said Laura Willetto, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver’s director of communications.

She said it cost the organization about $500,000 per affordable unit at Mountain View, which it then aims to sell for about $350,000.

“We have to make up for that cost difference. If we already have a savings on the purchase of that land, that cost saving is huge and allows us to pass that savings to homeowners,” she said.

The bill got a shoutout from Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, during his State of the State address in January. He invited to the address at the Capitol Pastor Ben Anderson from Solid Rock Christian Center in Colorado Springs, which opened a 77-unit affordable housing building complex in the community last September.

In Fort Collins, Heart of the Rockies Christian Church donated about nine acres of land for affordable rentals, single-family homes and two homes for adults with intellectual disabilities. The apartments, built by CARE Communities, are now accepting lease applications and are set to open this year.

A one-bedroom apartment is set to rent between $1,037 and $1,260 per month and there are income limitations between 50% and 60% of the area median income.

The land was already zoned for housing, CARE Executive Director Steve Kuheneman said, which was significant for the project’s success.

“It makes a ton of sense for a bill to help navigate that rezoning process, because that can add so much time and money to projects,” he said. “Having legislation that applies this to the entire state could be incredibly impactful. It helps to streamline the process for all different municipalities when you have these faith communities coming forward and saying “We don’t need this land and we want to apply it to this great need for affordable housing.”

At Mountain View, Hughes is already thinking about how to welcome the church’s new neighbors. Members of the Knitters for Peace group are planning to craft a blanket for each new household. Someone else plans to make bread and jam. Another will contribute kosher salt. Hughes might throw in candles.

“Every home will get the same basket, and we’ll just let them know who we are,” she said. “We want to be good neighbors.”

This story first appeared on Colorado Newsline. It was made available via the Colorado News Collaborative.