City leaders hear plan to explore community land trust to preserve affordable homeownership

Lisa Pinkney, executive director of the Footprint Foundation, and Jason Webb, community and technical assistance principal at Grounded Solutions Network, briefed council members and community partners on plans to explore a community land trust (CLT) to lock in long‑term affordable homeownership in Chattanooga.

Pinkney said Footprint has committed $4,000,000 over five years to the foundation’s “Buzz” cohort and related work to develop an economic‑stability strategy, and that a core recommendation from that community co‑creation process was to study a CLT as a tool for housing affordability. "We made a commitment of $4,000,000 over 5 years to the buzz community," Pinkney said (SEG 023). She emphasized the presentation was informational and that further public engagement sessions — including meetings with faith leaders and a public session at the library — are planned (SEG 068–069; SEG 069–070).

Webb gave CLT basics and national context, explaining the dual‑ownership model in which the homeowner owns the dwelling and the CLT retains ownership of the land under a long ground lease. "The individual will own the home; the community land…