The issue of affordable, decent housing
is in the forefront of those confronting our urban areas today. It’s a contentious issue, because it reaches
down to one’s bedrock beliefs about community and the free market. Often they are placed in conflict; some would
put all emphasis on community, allow only that which a community “needs,”and
force everything to be planned and approved.
Others hold that you should be able to participate freely in the market
and reap the profits of your enterprise, regardless. This is a false dichotomy (most are);
ideology must bend in recognition of reality.
In other words, it’s possible to ensure both profit and stability,
within reasonable limits.
There is no shortage of programs and ideas for how to balance the two in
our towns and cities. Many of them look to
government for both the ideas and the rulebook.
Those of you in Southeast Pennsylvania need look no further than
Pottstown to learn about one approach to affordable housing that does not. And that's only one of the good things about it. A group of people in Pottstown
have begun to implement a concept that has been proven to work, because it
produces a fair rate of return on investment while ensuring long-term
stability in the market. It’s called a
Community Land Trust (CLT).
A Community Land Trust is a nonprofit corporation that purchases
property and holds it in perpetuity for the good of the community. This approach has been in existence for
thirty years, and the basic model is simple and flexible enough to accommodate
several different approaches, not to mention locations. There are some eighty Land Trusts in
Pennsylvania; those in the region outside Philadelphia, such as The Natural
Lands Trust, headquartered in Media, The Montgomery County Lands Trust in
Lederach and The North American Land Trust in Chadds Ford, work to preserve open
areas, farmland and neighborhood green spaces.
CLTs were originally designed to ensure affordable
housing in an urban area, however, and that is the approach on which I focus. A CLT is not about profit,
although profit is built in; the goal is to provide affordable housing and to
maintain it properly, for the good of the community as a whole. An urban CLT obtains
properties, ensures that they are up to code, then either sells or offers a
long-term lease on the house itself, while keeping formal title to the
land. When the buyer or leaser decides
to leave, the house is returned to the Trust for an amount whose formula is
calculated and agreed upon in advance. This
ensures profit to the homeowner, but removes the house’s price from the general
market. A CLT takes property values out
of the hands of real estate speculators and puts it instead in the hands of the
community. It sees that its properties
are properly maintained, by those who have a community interest in doing
so. It also does this without government involvement. No politics, no new taxes, or employees on
the municipal payroll.
The point is to retain affordability;
selling the house but not the land helps to ensure that in perpetuity, not just
for the current owner, but also for future owners,. That’s why most urban CLTs can be found in
areas that are undergoing “gentrification,” with rising home prices and rents. They keep some housing affordable
for lower income groups when the local urban property prices are
rising.
Pottstown is not undergoing any such gentrification, but because a CLT
removes housing from the vicissitudes of the market and puts ownership in the
hands of those who will care for it, it can combat urban decline as well as
gentrification. Pottstown is fortunate
to be home to The MOSAIC Community Land Trust, whose goal is to do precisely
that. I want to call the attention of
others to this organization and to the work it does. It deserves the active support of Pottstown
residents, and community activists in other local towns would do well to
examine the CLT approach and learn how MOSAIC is employing it to build a
positive sense of community.
Mosaic was founded in 2010 by retired United Airlines pilot David Jackson,
Pottstown attorney Dave Garner, urban planner Susan Repko, and County Assessor
Chris Huff. They have begun to attract support
from both interested professionals and the local community of Pottstown. Mosaic’s leaders realized from the start that
a CLT is ultimately not about property values, but about community and people. They acquired a small plot of land at 423
Chestnut Street, and began to build community awareness by offering the plot
for a “community garden.” Neighbors are
invited to plant and tend gardens on the site.
MOSAIC offers a program of events featuring gardening information, and
regularly works with volunteer organizations to present such events for
children and adolescents. The project
has been so successful—and the produce so tasty—that the MOSAIC Community Land
Trust Produce and Information Stand opened in September, sharing both the
fruits (and vegetables) of its gardens as well as information about how neighbors can
eat healthy. The CLT has branched out
with house beautification competitions, and this holiday season sold Christmas trees. Last year, their efforts to beautify Pottstown and to educate its residents won them an award for Excellence in Planning and Design from the Montgomery County Planning Commission, as well as a "Greening Award" from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
I’m leaving some things out, but MOSAIC sets a standard for community
activism that other organizations—as well as municipalities—would do well to
notice, study, and learn from. Remember,
it’s a volunteer group, from its Board of Directors down to its sidewalk
volunteers. MOSAIC has long-term goals,
and a determination to make sure that its infrastructure and finances can sustain long-term survival. It
has been careful to avoid the all-too-common trap of attempting too much, too
soon. In November of last year,
Pottstown Borough Council had agreed in principle to turn over to the Trust a property that
it had taken for non-payment of taxes.
MOSAIC made a careful review of the project’s requirements, and recognized
that it was not yet prepared, structurally, financially or otherwise, to
undertake such a commitment. It
therefore declined the offer. This tells
me that MOSAIC is in it for the long run, and has the professionalism necessary
to grow this first community plot into a community—a true community—of
affordable housing. They are taking
things deliberately, step by step, the way it should be done. MOSAIC just obtained another vacant lot in December, and is currently studying how to
utilize it for the community’s benefit.
All involved hope that 2014 will see the Trust obtain its first house;
several are being studied by “running the numbers.” When they close that historic deal, I’ll be
sure and let you folks know about it.
I can’t describe Mosaic’s
potential any better than did an article in the May 13, 2013 issue of Business Advisor, so I’ll quote it:
“It’s
always a pleasure to encounter examples of sound business thinking,
especially
in endeavors that are noble and community minded.
Pottstown’s
Mosaic Community Land Trust, which has dedicated itself
to
improving the quality of life in a challenged area, exemplifies both of
the
above qualities. By combining good
business sense with genuine
concerns for people, the 'MOSAIC' is emerging as a local force for good."
The MOSAIC Community Land Trust is
located at 10 S. Hanover Street, Pottstown, PA, 19464.
Their phone number is
484-949-4235.
Here is a link to their
website: http://mosaicclt.org/
If you live in or near Pottstown, support them. If you live elsewhere, can you benefit from their example?
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