what is a community land trust?
The Community Land Trust model gives a community a host of tools to engage with a number of avenues relating to land use, housing, and common space. The core ideas are simple: take land/buildings out of a speculative market, separate the ownership of the buildings from the land they sit on, and decommodify that space by honoring its unique characteristics to address the needs of the community. The community land trust then works to provide inheritable and renewable leases for lands and buildings so the people who use those spaces gain stable access and long-term affordability.
The modern community land trust movement within the United States builds upon work done by southern Black farmers and civil rights organizers in the late 1960s. The first official community land trust in the US, New Communities, Inc., developed out of this work in Albany, Georgia. Today, there are hundreds of community land trusts in the United States and around the world. The goals and structure of each vary by the specific needs of the local community and the organizers involved, but all work to create secure access to land and housing.
How is KCLT structured?
KCLT is a democratically-governed, open-membership, non-profit corporation. The board is composed of elected KCLT members, KCLT residents/lessees, and public representatives, allowing our regional community to gain more autonomy over decision making around local land use and housing. KCLT will work with individuals, families, and other organizations/ businesses to develop long-term leases for buildings on land owned by the land trust. In our region, the range of needs of our community includes stable and accessible housing, secure tenure for farmers to grow food, infrastructure to foster the local economy, and open space for recreation and education.
