Community land trusts are best known for providing affordable homeownership opportunities to families. But across the country, community land trusts are also being used for farms, gardens, nonprofits, and other community institutions.
This Resource at a Glance
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55 Files
Key take-aways
- Community land trusts can be part of a locally controlled approach to land use that fosters community activism and engagement while responding to evolving market conditions and neighborhood needs.
- Many opportunities exist for community land trusts to expand into non-residential roles, but they should focus on the management of land-based resources, rather than solely on the ownership of land to advance contributions in comprehensive community development.
This bundle of resources includes five items relating to community land trusts (CLTs) used for agricultural and commercial purposes. The first community land trust in the country, New Communities Inc ., was developed to protect farmland.
The 43-page “Beyond Housing: Urban Agriculture and Commercial Development by Community Land Trusts” was written by Greg Rosenberg and Jeffrey Yuen and published in April 2013 by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. The authors examine non-residential programs and activities implemented by community land trusts with focuses on the urban agriculture and commercial development sectors.
The 13-page report “Project Directory of Urban Agriculture and Commercial Development” was published in April 2013 by the National Community Land Trust Network. It offers detailed profiles on 13 community land trusts across the country that held land for non-residential uses.
The five-page “Urban Agriculture Project Decision Guide” was produced in April 2013 by Greg Rosenberg for the National Community Land Trust Network. The decision guide assists community land trusts in evaluating new urban agriculture projects. It is designed to be a companion to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Working Paper titled, “Beyond Housing: Urban Agriculture and Commercial Development by Community Land Trusts,” which is the first item listed in this bundle of resources.
The eight-page “City Farms on CLTs: How Community Land Trusts Are Supporting Urban Agriculture” was authored by Jeffrey Yuen and published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in April 2014. This paper examines community land trusts as tools for securing access to land and the unique challenges they might face.
You will also find a link to the Equity Trust website . Equity Trust is a nonprofit that offers two programs: Farms for Farmers, which promotes alternative ownership structures for farms; and he Equity Trust Fund, a revolving-loan fund enabling socially conscious lenders and donors to support projects that are creating new ways of owning, using and stewarding property.