- Florida’s Yes in God’s Backyard law lets places of worship bypass some zoning rules to build affordable housing
- St Petersburg and the Florida Housing Coalition held a training session for faith leaders
- Palm Lake Christian Church is credited with sparking the legislation
- More sessions on funding and development are planned
Florida has given churches a new route to build homes, and St Petersburg is making sure pastors know how to use it. Bay News 9 reported in July 2026 that the city and the Florida Housing Coalition had held an informational session for faith leaders on the state’s new Yes in God’s Backyard law.
The law allows places of worship to avoid some of the zoning red tape that usually stands in the way of building affordable housing on their property. The report credited Palm Lake Christian Church with sparking the legislation.
City officials were frank about why the training matters. “Housing development is difficult, and we wanted to make sure the pastors were not taken advantage of,” said George Smith, St Petersburg’s chief impact officer. Further sessions were planned to cover housing need, funding and the path to development.
Bishop Mo Franklin of United Kingdom of Christ Fellowship Church welcomed the change. “It is opening up opportunities not only to increase affordable housing, as you know especially in Pinellas and in St. Petersburg, so we have to use the available land we already have. So, opening up this for churches to build is great,” he said.
Changing the law is only the first step. Most congregations have no experience of financing, planning or managing housing, and the risk of a bad deal with a developer is real. Training that explains the process, the costs and the options before a church signs anything can be the difference between a project that serves a community and one that burdens a congregation.
Florida is home to one of the largest Jamaican communities in the United States, and many of its congregations own land. The St Petersburg approach, pairing new legal freedom with practical training, is one that church bodies in Jamaica could copy too: before any church considers building homes, its leaders need independent advice on land, finance and partners.
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