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Staff proposes community land trust to preserve affordable housing; Board asks for feasibility study
Summary
Neighborhood Development staff presented the community land trust (CLT) model as a tool to preserve long-term affordability; the Board asked staff to pursue a feasibility plan and return with recommendations in September.
James City County Neighborhood Development staff outlined the community land trust (CLT) model as a tool to preserve affordable housing in perpetuity and asked the Board for direction to pursue a feasibility study. Supervisors expressed interest and asked staff to prepare a feasibility plan for presentation in September.
Vaughn Poller and Tammy Rosario, County staff, described how a CLT separates ownership of the land from the structures on it and uses a long-term ground lease (in Virginia, commonly up to 90 years, renewable and inheritable) with a resale formula that caps resale price to preserve affordability for successive buyers. “A CLT separates the ownership of the improvement, the house … from the ownership of the land,” Poller said while explaining key lease terms and the resale formula.
Staff told the Board they engaged Burlington Associates to help explain CLT operations and noted existing county projects where a CLT could be applied, including Clark Lane (phase 1 with eight units targeted for construction next spring and a later phase with additional units). Poller said the CLT model can provide ongoing stewardship (maintenance assistance, homeowner support, and programmatic services), can act as a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) to access funding, and can help acquire and steward donated or developer-proffered units to retain long-term affordability.
Board members asked about governance, funding and initial capitalization. Staff described a typical CLT board composition split into thirds — one-third resident homeowners, one-third board appointments and one-third stakeholder appointees — and said a feasibility study would examine expected expenses, revenues, annual units, staffing and sustainability. Staff also noted existing local proffers and grants as potential funding sources to seed a trust; they committed to analyzing those options in the feasibility plan.
Why this matters: the county has created several affordable units over decades, but staff said those units commonly revert to market rate when deed restrictions expire; a CLT offers an alternative model intended to preserve affordability in perpetuity while providing stewardship and wraparound homeowner support.
Next steps: staff will complete a feasibility plan addressing costs, likely unit yield, governance, funding sources and draft organizational documents and return to the Board with findings in September. Several supervisors said they support further study; one asked staff to include examples of long-term performance and governance from other CLTs in Virginia and nationwide.
Speakers acknowledged local volunteers and board appointees who informed the work, and staff named local partners and stakeholders they have consulted during initial outreach.
