Before the official ending of the current Congress on January 3, proponents of a far-reaching, but controversial plan designed to spur new housing construction across the country are hoping to see that legislation passed by members in both chambers.
As proposed, the Yes In My Back Yard Act is designed to reduce what are described as burdensome regulations in the planning of new housing communities. In so doing, the legislation would require local communities to document the reasons why a given project may have been stalled due local zoning and regulation laws.
The measure, which has won the support of a wide variety of industry groups, including the National Home Builders Association, the National Association of Realtors, and the American Planning Association, among other groups, is an obvious response to much-reported Not In My Back Yard movement, otherwise known as NIMBY.
The NIMBY movement, which historians say first began to show significant growth in the 1990s, centers generally on residents organized to oppose primarily housing developments in their neighborhoods or communities.
NIMBY supporters have particularly focused on affordable housing projects, homeless shelters, senior centers, and even some infrastructure projects using the arguments that such projects may cause too much traffic or noise, invite undesirable people into the neighborhood, and generally lower property values.
In their efforts to stop or greatly reduce such projects, NIMBY proponents have been particularly effective in appearing before planning and zoning commissions, as well as city councils, arguing for strict zoning enforcement.
In the 2017 book, NIMBY is Beautiful, author Helen Poulos points out that NIMBY protests against a given project are generally ongoing for an average of 18 months and have “resulted in governmental action in favor of the activists,” with efforts “extending beyond single issues to incite change in social networks and political systems.”
Poulos also contended that the NIMBY movement has halted any number of hazardous and environmentally dangerous projects in America’s neighborhoods.
The YIMBY Act, which earlier this year was unanimously approved by the House Financial Services Committee, specifically focuses on state and local governments that are recipients of Community Development Block Grant funding via the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In announcing its support for the legislation, the American Planning Association said the bill would put an emphasis on the “positive impacts of the federal role on housing supply and production,” while also buttressing the planners’ need to “solve their communities unique housing challenges.”
In order for the YIMBY bill to still be passed before Congress concludes its current session, the measure could be approved via an expedited process, arriving at the desk of President Biden in the final days of his administration.
December 2, 2024
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Corporation for Supportive Housing
