Community Land Trusts:
Stories and Resources
Last week, we discussed how to form a Community Land Trust, a specific type of Land Trust. Today, we'll see how Community Land Trusts are being implemented in various parts of the country. We'll also discuss some resources for support and information once the trust has been formed.
Land Trusts in Action
Maryland
There are several Community Land Trusts in Baltimore, MD. The Charm City Land Trust, Inc. formed around the turn of the Century, has been buying up vacant lots for years. The Northeast Land Initiative and New Park Heights Community Development Corp. have similar goals. The three are non-profit groups that develop and oversee affordable housing, as well as community assets such as playgrounds and gardens. All three groups sell property with ground leases. There are income eligibility requirements for purchase, and specific guidelines and caps for resale of any property held in the trust. Baltimore is using the Land Trusts to try to reduce the stock of vacant, crumbling buildings, to fight the housing shortage for middle-income workers, and to promote true, mixed-income type of neighborhoods.
Nearby Frederick County is the home of Maryland's first successful community Land Trust. Baltimore is looking to their successes and issues in implementing their models. To qualify, Frederick residents have to earn less than 80% of the county's median income, which is currently about $107,000 per year. In Frederick, any resale profit is split between the buyer and the trust, with the trust receiving 60%. The Frederick Trust is a subsidiary of Habitat for Humanity.
(Source: Community Land Trusts Make their Pitch: www.baltimoresun.com/business/real-estate/wonk/bs-bz-community-land-trust-20151130-story.html)
Oregon State
Oregon's largest trust, the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy, was formed in 1978. By the turn of the century, there were over 20 active Land Trusts in Oregon.
The Three Rivers Land Conservancy is one of these trusts. Its purpose is to try to conserve open land and access to natural resources in a rapidly growing, urban area. They focus on the Southern part of the Portland Metropolitan Area, one of the few parts of the district that still has open space to preserve. Created in 1991, they are building a system of green-spaces and trails to give residents access to natural settings within the urban environment. Rather than focusing on large parcels, this trust has dozens of smaller properties. totaling over 160 acres. Most of their land remains undeveloped. They also make use of conservation easements to expand the areas they protect.
(source: The Oregon Story: http://www.opb.org/programs/oregonstory/land_trusts/index.html)
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has The Pensylvania Land Trust Association, also known as PALTA. According to their website: "The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association was created by land trust volunteers and staff who recognized the need for an association that can focus on the broad needs of the conservation movement—to take on activities that no one organization could effectively handle or wish to handle on its own." PALTA started as an informal network in 1991. They incorporated as a non-profit in 1995, and today, they have more than 100,000 Pennsylvanians as members and contributors.
PALTA not only works to preserve land; they also work to foster conservation policy throughout the state. PALTA also sponsors educational programs and offers support through webinars.
(Source: Pennsylvania Land Trust Association: http://conserveland.org/)
Florida
Florida has over 10 Community Land Trusts, including ones in both Palm Beach County and Broward County. Palm Beach County is both one of Florida's richest counties and one of the poorest. Broward County, home to the Miami Metropolitan Area, has a similar socio-economic spread.
The Community Land Trust of Palm Beach County focuses on affordable housing. Those who qualify sign 99 year land leases, and the trust retains title to the underlying property. The trust focuses on helping people build equity, qualify for mortgages, and learn about all the benefits of homeownership, while capping the equity participants build. Participants are looking to build equity and stability, rather than seeing a return on an investment.
TheSouth Florida Community Land Trust in Broward County operates similarly. Putting participants in a trust-owned home with a mortgage generally saves them about $500 to $800 a month in rent. Initial purchase prices are about a third of the price of buying a similar home NOT owned by the trust.
Both programs allow people to buy homes at below-market values. To qualify, residents must
not make more than 120 percent of the area median income. They must also have
steady employment and good credit. These trusts tend to focus on workforce housing. They want to help people stay in Florida, rather than flee the state for a place with a lower cost of living.
(Source: The Sun Sentinel :http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/fl-land-trust-affordable-housing-20150710-story.html)
Connecticut
Connecticut has the third most Land Trusts of any state in the country, significant especially because Connecticut is one of the country's smallest states. There are over 130 conservation trusts alone. Many of these smaller trusts are affiliated with the Connecticut Land Conservation Council (CLCC). Created in 2006, CLCC represents the merger of two previous organizations, one which focused on advocacy and the other that provided technical support to conservation trusts. According to their website, "CLCC's mission is to advocate for land preservation, stewardship and funding, and ensure the long-term strength and viability of the land conservation community. The intent of CLCC is to enable our conservation community to better learn from each other and to even more effectively advocate for critical issues at the State Capitol." CLCC holds an annual conference. They also provide grants and assist Connecticut-based trusts to obtain funding.
A list of Connecticut Land Trusts can be found here: http://www.ctconservation.org/findalandtrust
(source: CLCC: http://www.ctconservation.org/)
Connecticut also has several Community Land Trusts that focus on housing. In fact, the State itself sponsors a Land Trust/Land Bank through the Department of Housing. P.A. 87-441 "provides eligible applicants with grants, loans and deferred loans for the costs of acquiring land or interest in land and the costs of holding and managing land to be developed as housing for low and moderate-income families." DOH has an open application process, meaning applications are accepted any time. Funding is available to organizations to acquire "real property for the purpose of providing for existing and future housing needs of very low, low and moderate income families."
(Source: Connecticut State Government: http://www.ct.gov/doh/cwp/view.asp?a=4513&q=530484)
Litchfield has provided affordable housing through a trust for over 25 years. Since 1989, this trust has developed over 48 homes. According to their website "The Litchfield Housing Trust was created to strengthen our community by advocating, facilitating, and developing housing so that Litchfield could once again become affordable families of all income levels." They offer rentals as well. To qualify, the applicant must have a gross family income below 80 percent of area Median Family Income. If they are interested in ownership, they must be able to qualify for a mortgage. This trust builds up its inventory both through purchases and donations.
(Source: Litchfield Housing Trust :http://litchfieldhousingtrust.org/)
In 2005, inspired by Litchfield, a group of citizens in Sharon decided to organize their own housing trust. They formed a group, looked aat similar programs in Salisbury and Cornwall, then modeled themselves after the Litchfield Trust. The mission of the Sharon Housing Trust, Inc. is "to provide permanently affordable home ownership to low and moderate-income households members of the Sharon community."
Thus far, the trust has only developed one property. In 2005, they received a donated parcel, and were able to sell it by 2007. They have identified a site for their second home, and are now screening potential buyers. The Sharon Housing Trust will require sweat equity from participants.
The Sharon trust cobbled together its initial funding through donations, matching donations, and State grants. They received a $100,000 grant through the DOH program described earlier.
(Source: Sharon Housing Trust: http://www.sharonhousingtrust.org/)
Land Trust Resources
There are a number of non-profit organizations with the sole purpose of providing support to Community Land Trusts. Three of the most well known are the Land Trust Alliance, National Community Land Trust Network, and Community Wealth.
Community Wealth: www.community-wealth.org
According to their website, "Community-wealth.org houses an extensive collection of resources focused on Community Land Trusts and their role in community wealth building. " Here you can find a wealth of resources. They have a policy section, a best practices section, a toolbox, and a wealth of articles and stories about how trust princiiples are being implemented. They also have a lot of facts, figures, and statistics that may be helpful in developing your own trust's pitch. They also have a large section on funding resources.
The National Community Land Trust Network: www.cltnetwork.org
CLT Network is another resource powerhouse. Their primary goal is to develop resources for folks developing or wanting to start a community trust. They also have a wealth of information on their website. They offer training, advocacy, networking, and funding information. They also sponsor an active forum so that members can learn from each other and "do not have to reinvent the wheel." They offer newsletters to keep folks up to date with all the developments happening across the nation. They also offer technical assistance and help people develop all the things that go along with building a Community Trust.
The Land Trust Alliance: http://www.landtrustalliance.org/
The Land Trust Alliance offers resources for conservation trusts. According to their website:
The Alliance brings its more than 1,100 member land trusts together — and increases each one’s success. We advocate for the policies and incentives that it takes to save millions of acres every year. We’re the go-to source for training for people who work in conservation — so land trusts get more done. We back up land trusts when the places they promise to protect are threatened. And we support land trusts in connecting more people to the land.
They also offer an extensive "learning center," filled with everything you'd ever want to know about setting up or maintaining a conservation trust. They also sponsor trainings and publish a newsletter.
Summary
This week we continued exploring Community Land Trusts. We looked at how these types of trusts are being implemented in several states, including Connecticut, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. We also learned about some National Non-profits who aim to support all types of community and conservation Land Trusts.
The next couple of posts will wrap up everything you need to know about Land Trusts. Then we'll take a couple of weeks off to compile our course into an e-book, for even easier reading. Watch this blog space for information about the book.
Being Connecticut residents ourselves, here at The Law Offices of Heath D Harte, we are very proud of Connecticut's trusts. We have all types here: investment Land Trusts, Conservation Land Trusts, Housing Trusts, Regional Trusts, and local Trusts. Our own State Government believes in using Land Trusts as a solution, as is evidenced by their open application process for state funds. Like Palm Beach County, we have a wide range of socio-economic status in Connecticut, and we'd like to keep our own talent in-state. We have seen the utility of ALL types of trusts, and we believe investors can benefit from participation in all of these types. It is why we've spent so much of our energy developing our Real Estate Law practice. We also believe successful investors can reduce their tax obligations through donating to non-investment trusts, while also significantly improving their own communities. And as always, we look forward to assisting you with all your Real Estate Law needs, including setting up Land Trusts.
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