0. The title of this legislation shall be the "Yes In God's Back Yard (YIGBY) Act". 1. No local planning board or other similar body shall deny any request for approval for a housing project proposed on property owned by religious institutions solely on the basis of parking. Sources: https://twitter.com/patricksiegman/status/1420247371040972805?s=21 https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/06/06/parish-church-empty-parking-lot-catholic-240790 https://openstates.org/ca/bills/20192020/AB1851/ (This became LSR 2022-2266) It then became HB1219: http://gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/legacy/bs2016/bill_status.aspx?lsr=2266&sy=2022&sortoption=&txtsessionyear=2022&ddlsponsors=409026 Try again next year with that other bill (HB1021) that apparently conflicted; contact Reps. Yokela and Alexander, its committees, and its sponsors: https://legiscan.com/NH/bill/HB1021/2022 See also HB1098: https://legiscan.com/NH/bill/HB1098/2022 LSR to try to resolve aformentioned conflicts: LSR 2023-0183 - Get in touch with Bob Harb - diffs between NHMA's language and existing HB1021 language: * change "site plan review" to "local land use regulation" * change "primarily used for religious purposes" to "based solely on the religious nature of the use" * second clause: split off from first, completely reworded - Get in touch with Gov's office From ChatGPT in response to the prompt "If a religious organization builds housing for the unhoused in accordance with the tenets of their religious creed, does that count as 'religious exercise' protected by the First Amendment?" on December 7, 2022: Yes, building housing for the unhoused in accordance with the tenets of a religious organization's creed would likely be considered "religious exercise" protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. The First Amendment protects the freedom of religion, which includes the right to express and practice one's religious beliefs without interference from the government. In the context of building housing for the unhoused, providing this service in accordance with the religious organization's beliefs would likely be considered an expression of those beliefs. As such, the government would be prohibited from interfering with or restricting the organization's ability to provide this service. This protection would extend to any other activities that the organization may engage in as part of their religious exercise, such as providing meals or other forms of assistance to the unhoused. It is important to note that the First Amendment's protection of religious exercise is not absolute. In some cases, the government may be able to regulate religious exercise if it can demonstrate that such regulation is necessary to serve a compelling government interest and is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest. However, in the case of a religious organization building housing for the unhoused, it is unlikely that the government would be able to justify any such regulation. -- (end ChatGPT portion) -- Relevant federal law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Land_Use_and_Institutionalized_Persons_Act