CLT-NOFA-Aug10-2014-handout - Community Land Trust In The

Northeast Organic Farming Association 2014 Summer Conference
Workshop #124 Community Ownership of Land for Farm Viability
Presented by Billie Best, Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires
More information and this document at communitylandtrust.org
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Need for community ownership of land
o Allows allocation of land for strategic purposes (housing, farms, business)
o Enables targeting of social benefits to specific populations (workforce, elderly, farmers)
o Reduces the cost of housing for community members (cost of land removed)
o Reduces the cost of opportunity for entrepreneurs (cost of land removed)
o Increases farming, local food production and food security (increases land access, may
require food production for local markets by ecological methods)
o Encourages local investment in property and business (new business development, food
system infrastructure, community supported industry for wool, timber, woodworking,
fuel, leather and textiles, co-ops)
o Supports workforce development (police, firefighters, teachers, healthcare workers,
farmers, entrepreneurs)
o Mass APR program does not conserve housing for working farmers
o Unintended consequence of land conservation is often an increase in property values
beyond what local residents earning local wages can afford
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Community land trust model for community ownership of land
o Open democratic member organization with public bylaws
o Three-part board: member elected, leaseholder elected, board appointed
o Holds community land in perpetuity for development of housing, farms, business
o Leases land for 99 years with inheritable ground lease
o Terms of ground lease may address community goals (local ownership, environmental
protection, local products for local markets, affordability)
o Ground lease restricts resale price and governs sale/assignment process
o CLT administers ownership of land and ground leases in perpetuity
o Options for financial structure include simple nonprofit registered with state (not IRS tax
exempt) or 501(c)(3) IRS designated charity holding assets in a 501(c)(2)
o Ground lease establishes transaction fees and ground rent which ideally cover CLT
administrative costs and organization overhead
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Permanently affordable land for farms, housing and business
o Price/cost/value of land is removed from purchase/sale price of property
o Property owners have equity in buildings (house, barn, slaughterhouse, commercial
kitchen) and infrastructure (fence, wells, soil, parking area)
o Resale price of property is restricted to replacement value adjusted for deterioration
which aligns price with local wages and materials costs
o Resale price is approved by CLT board, validated by outside professional if necessary
o Sellers have equity limited to value of the property created by them, excluding the land
value which is created by the community
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Working models for a farm and a residential community
Forest Row, Great Barrington,
MA with 18 units clustered in
single and multi-family homes
surrounded by shared forest
Alvastra, Egremont, MA with 5
houses on 11 acres of upland
slope including an orchard and a
small business
Indian Line Farm, South
Egremont, MA with a 300
member CSA on 17 acres abutting
conserved wetlands
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Partnering with conservation land trusts
o Conservation land trusts block development, CLTs hold land for development
o Same values of preservation, stewardship and permanence
o Very different technical requirements and administration: conservation land trusts
manage land to protect ecological relationships, community land trusts manage land to
protect social and economic relationships, both types of trusts protect natural resources
o At Indian Line Farm the Nature Conservancy holds a Conservation Restriction and was
key in setting terms of the ground lease to protect the ecosystem
o At Alvastra the Nature Conservancy owns abutting land and works with Alvastra to
steward adjacent natural resources
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Ground lease agreements include
o Ground lease to establish terms, 99-year lease, ground rent, legal compliance,
inheritability, owner occupancy requirement, re-sale restrictions
o Land use map to establish physical relationships between property and land
o Land management narrative to establish quantitative and qualitative land use
requirements (cutting of trees, production methods, numbers of livestock, harvest)
o A neighborhood association agreement may be required (see Forest Row)
o There may also be a Conservation Restriction or an Agriculture Preservation Restriction
document associated with the ground lease
o Lease agreements are filed at the Registry of Deeds
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Purchase/sale/lease assignment process
o CLT must be notified in advance of making property on CLT land for sale
o CLT must be notified in advance of the assignment of the lease to a spouse or heir
o CLT must approve the sale price of the property
o CLT has first right of refusal to purchase property on CLT land
o CLT may select the new leaseholder based on criteria intended to address community
goals such as housing the workforce, young families, the elderly, new farmers, etc.
o A new ground lease or assignment of an existing ground lease requires legal services,
document management, administration and accounting processes, and filing with the
Registry of Deeds
o Transaction fees are essential to cover legal fees, filing fees, administration and
bookkeeping, and community education

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