Chula Vista approves funds for affordable housing on church property

By Gary Warth

June 16, 2026

After delaying a decision on an affordable housing project earlier this month to hear more input from the community, the Chula Vista City Council has approved a $4 million funding commitment for a three-story project on church property.

The Park Hill project is planned for 545 E. Naples St. on a site that now has a baseball field owned by Park Hill United Methodist Church.

Council members voted 4-1 to fund the project June 16 with a condition that the number of housing units be reduced from 68 to 62. The housing units will be reserved for people earning 30%, 50% or 60% of the Area Median Income.

Mayor John McCann voted against the project and said he favored using the funds for a competing 101-unit development proposed near the E Street trolley station, which he said would be smart planning.

The $4 million includes $3 million from the city Housing Authority’s Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Asset fund, which is money left over from the city’s redevelopment agency that was dissolved by state legislation in 2012.

The fund is above the amount allowed under a state formula, triggering a three-year deadline to spend the money on affordable housing or otherwise return it to the state. The three-year mark will be hit at the end of June, and the city was in jeopardy of losing the money if it did not allocate it by then.

Council members previously discussed the item twice before. After hearing community concerns about parking, privacy and drainage at their May 19 meeting, council members took up the item again June 14, which ended with a 3-2 split vote to hold off a decision once again to allow more community concerns to be heard at a meeting in the church.

Housing Manager Brian Warwick told council members that new concerns about density, overflow parking were expressed at the June 9 meeting, and said nonprofit developer Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation is committed to working on the design to mitigate the concerns.

Wakeland CEO Rebecca Louie told council members the meeting was productive, and they had a better understanding of the community’s concerns and were already working on ways to solve them.

The $4 million from the city would cover 7% of the estimated $53.8 million construction cost, and Wakeland has not yet raised the additional funds.

The project would be allowed on church property under the Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education Lands Act, a state law from 2023 that allows religious institutions and nonprofit colleges to bypass traditional local zoning restrictions to build 100% affordable housing on their property.

Also known as “Yes in God’s Backyard,” the act streamlines the approval process for qualified projects by avoiding the lengthy and expensive process of rezoning.