CRCLT and Northfield HRA meet to discuss Maple Hills Development

Here are the minutes from our recent meeting with the HRA. This appeared earlier this week in the Northfield News.

On September 14, 2006, the Cannon River Community Land Trust Board (CRCLT) and the Northfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) met to discuss the successes and challenges of the Maple Hills Development.

The Maple Hills Addition was developed through a collaborative effort of the Northfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), Cannon River Community Land Trust, Three Rivers Community Action, Inc., Habitat for Humanity and the Northfield Community Action Center on approximately 10 acres of land owned by the Northfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

The group developed 39 units of housing, including 14 Community Land Trust (CLT) homes, 2 Habitat for Humanity homes, 16 market rate homes, and 7 affordable rental units. Significant local participation of over $700,000 was provided, including substantial funds from local employers, the City of Northfield, and the Northfield HRA.

The City of Northfield and the Northfield HRA provided funds for the land acquisition and infrastructure development costs through the use of tax abatement and HRA resources. It was agreed that the goals of the development have been achieved and the collaboration of all of the groups added financial and other significant resources to the effort.

However, the collaboration of the several groups did add complexity, which was at times difficult for potential homebuyers to navigate. The two Boards also discussed how the actual revenues and expenditures of the development matched against the previous projections.

Preliminary numbers provided to the HRA by staff indicated that there may be more costs than revenues; but it was determined that tax abatement revenue approved for the Maple Hills development had not yet been accounted for and could balance the revenues with the expenditures.

Land trust session at Minnnesota Housing Conference

Land trusts are relatively new in Minnesota and have been gaining popularity as a fiscally conservative lont-term solution for affordable housing.

One indication of the growing acceptance of land trusts is that I will be speaking (along with Sheri Harris, Executive Director of the Central Minnesota Community Land Trust in St. Cloud) at a session on land trusts entitled “Land Trusts revisited” at the Fall Conference of the Minnesota Chapter of National Association (NAHRO) at Breezy Point on September 27, 2006.

The NAHRO Fall Conference runs from September 25th through September 29th. A complete list of events can be found on their website.

Incorporators of the Cannon River Community Land Trust

In my previous weblog I mentioned that the Cannon River Community Land Trust (CLT)was formed in October of 2001.  However, the formal creation of the group was preceded by almost two years of work by dedicated members of the Northfield Community, who started this process by serving on a steering committee that was researching the issue.  Members of this steering committee included the following:

• Wendy Thorpe
• Donald Tarr
• Kris Vohs
• Thomas Neuville
• David Shumway 
• Kim Clausen
• Joel West

Upon the conclusion of the work by the steering committee, a number of the members from that group became incorporators of the Cannon River Community Land Trust.  These incorporators were:

• Wendy Thorpe
• Donald Tarr
• Kris Vohs
• Tomas Neuville
• Joel West

Thank you to all the members of the the steering committee and the incorporators of the Cannon River Community Land Trust for their dedication to affordable housing in Northfield.  I would also like to thank Michael Brown from Burlington Associates  for his assistance in guiding the steering committee and the incorporators through the policy and technical aspects of creating a land trust.

New Cannon River Community Land Trust Weblog

By way of introduction, I am Joel West, the President of the Cannon River Community Land Trust located in Northfield, MN.

The Land Trust was formed in October of 2001 as a non-profit to assist in the creation of long term affordable housing in Northfield and the surrounding area. The area of operation for the Land Trust is the boundary of the Northfield School District.

Since its creation in 2001 the Land Trust has created 16 affordable single-family and twinhomes and plans to have 19 homes in the program by the end of 2006. The Cannon River Community Land Trust (CLT) was able to accomplish this by partnering with the Northfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) on its projects.

The CLT and HRA have partnered on four projects in the past five years. With this strong beginning, the CLT looks forward to its future projects in Northfield and this venue to keep the community informed.

Coming soon

Watch for blog posts from Joel West at the Cannon River Community Land Trust… real soon now.