\tCity of St. Petersburg Launches \u201cYes in God\u2019s Backyard\u201d Program in Partnership with Florida Housing Coalition and Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg<\/p>\n
Florida Housing Coalition will serve as technical assistance consultant to local congregations; first information session to be held at Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg on July 28<\/p>\n
July 13, 2026 – The City of St. Petersburg has launched its \u201cYes in God\u2019s Backyard\u201d (YIGBY) program, formally kicking off a new initiative to help local houses of worship explore developing affordable housing on land they own.<\/p>\n
\u201cSt. Petersburg led the way in adopting YIGBY, and now we\u2019re building the program that will help our congregations put it to work,\u201d said Mayor Kenneth T. Welch. \u201cHouses of worship are trusted anchors in every neighborhood, and many sit on land that could help close our affordable housing gap. This partnership with the Florida Housing Coalition ensures congregations have an expert at the table as they consider what\u2019s possible on their property.\u201d<\/p>\n
The City\u2019s Office of Community Impact (OCI) will lead the program in partnership with the Florida Housing Coalition (FHC), which will serve as the City\u2019s technical assistance consultant, providing direct, individualized guidance to participating congregations. The Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg (FHSP) joins as an additional collaborator, hosting the program\u2019s first information session and lending its convening role in South St. Petersburg to help connect the initiative with local congregations.<\/p>\n
St. Petersburg was the first local government in Florida to adopt the YIGBY provision into its City Code, following City Council\u2019s unanimous approval of the ordinance in December 2025. The local ordinance implements Senate Bill 1730 (2025), which gives Florida cities and counties the option to allow affordable housing on land owned by a religious institution that contains, or is contiguous to, a house of worship \u2014 regardless of the property\u2019s underlying zoning. Mayor Welch first called for the provision in 2024 and worked with state lawmakers to help secure its passage.<\/p>\n
Through the new program, OCI and FHC will offer a combination of education and one-on-one technical assistance to interested congregations, including help evaluating site feasibility, understanding the City\u2019s YIGBY site plan review process, and navigating funding resources such as the state\u2019s Predevelopment Loan Program, which can help cover up-front costs like architectural design and environmental review. The FHC has estimated that activating YIGBY could unlock more than 30,000 parcels for affordable housing development statewide.<\/p>\n
\u201cSt. Petersburg has set the standard for how local governments can activate YIGBY, and we\u2019re proud to help take that work to the next step by supporting the congregations who are ready to explore building on their own land,\u201d said Ashon Nesbitt, CEO of the Florida Housing Coalition.<\/p>\n
The program\u2019s first information session for interested congregations will be held on Wednesday, July 28, at 10 a.m. at the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg\u2019s Center for Health Equity. The session will introduce the YIGBY process, outline the technical assistance available through FHC, and give houses of worship the opportunity to ask questions about next steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an organization that works to create a community in which good health helps all people thrive, we\u2019re honored to host this first conversation between the\u00a0City, the Florida Housing Coalition, and our faith community,\u201d said Dr. Kanika Tomalin, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg. \u201cAddressing complex problems requires collaboration and systems-level thinking; we’re happy to help create the space for partners to explore what’s next.”<\/p>\n
Congregations across St. Petersburg, including those in the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area (CRA), are encouraged to attend the July 28 information session as the City works to expand affordable housing options without relying solely on traditional development sites. Interested houses of worship can contact the OCI by emailing Rev. Dr. Kenneth Irby at Kenneth.Irby@stpete.org to learn more about eligibility, the technical assistance process, and how to register for the session.<\/p>\n
About the Office of Community Impact<\/p>\n
The City of St. Petersburg\u2019s Office of Community Impact leads partnerships and programs that advance economic opportunity, workforce development, small-business growth, and resident well-being, including initiatives in the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area (CRA). www.stpete.org\/communityimpact<\/a><\/p>\n About the Florida Housing Coalition<\/p>\n The Florida Housing Coalition is a nonprofit, statewide membership organization that provides training, technical assistance, and advocacy to expand the availability of affordable housing across Florida. www.flhousing.org<\/a><\/p>\n About the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg<\/p>\n The Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg is a private foundation formed in 2013 following the sale of the nonprofit Bayfront Health St. Petersburg. It is the steward of an endowment to support health equity in Pinellas County. The Foundation envisions a community in which good health enables all people to thrive; it works to advance racially equitable health outcomes by improving the systems and conditions that shape them. In 2019, it opened its Center for Health Equity to invite people to learn, connect, and create together in order to advance racial equity and transform our communities. To learn more, visit\u00a0https:\/\/healthystpete.foundation\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"City of St. Petersburg Launches \u201cYes in God\u2019s Backyard\u201d Program in Partnership with Florida Housing Coalition and Foundation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-338918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}