About LICLT

Mission:

Lummi Island Community Land Trust is a non-profit membership-based organization which promotes community economic diversity through affordable housing, small-scale economic support, and education. LICLT serves as a community resource, provides access to permanently affordable housing and land for Lummi Island residents, creates opportunities for sustainable economic activity, and fosters environmental stewardship.

Memberships

LICLT is a Washington State Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO), and is a member of the following organizations:

Northwest Community Land Trust Coalition
National Community Land Trust Network
Washington State Low Income Housing Coalition

Board:

Dave Ernst, Chair
Anne Gibert, Vice Chair
Jan Peters, Treasurer
Russ Thompson, Secretary
Wanda Cucinotta
Christin Nelson
Pat Wales
Robb Kahn
Zack Sheidler
Brian Giffin

Maintaining Economic and Social Diversity
on Lummi Island

Founded in 1998, LICLT was initially created as a vehicle for maintaining and creating affordable homes for full-time island residents. As the value of much-desired island property began to grow beyond what the average island resident could afford, economic and social diversity on Lummi Island was threatened. Long-time residents came together to develop a way of ensuring the character of the island would not be lost to prohibitive property price tags.

Today, our first project — the Cedrus Cooperative — is finished, and we are looking to the future. Possible future projects include: securing the land and/or buildings for a community/transportation center or an eldercare facility; support for island cottage industries; securing land to be used for agriculture; purchase and renovation of existing buildings for affordable housing or small businesses.

Would you like to help set the course for the future of LICLT? Please consider applying to join our Board of Directors or volunteer your time and talent on a committee. We want to hear your voice!

Events

We sponsor several annual events, and we always welcome community participation. We look forward to seeing you at our events, and if you’re interested in volunteering, please let us know!

All-Island Revue (Spring or Fall Talent Show)
Farmer's Market (Saturdays, Spring through Fall)
Annual Membership Meeting (January)
Make A Difference Day (Third Saturday in October)
Stockings With a Cause (Every other December)

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is a Community Land Trust?
A community land trust is a non-profit organization which acquires and holds land for the benefit of the community. It provides secure affordable access to land and housing for community residents. In particular, CLTs attempt to meet the needs of residents least served by the prevailing market. CLTs avoid speculation and absentee ownership of land and housing, promote ecologically sound land-use practices, and preserve the long-term affordability of housing in perpetuity. CLTs are designed to balance the interests of individuals and the interests of the community at large. Individuals want security, equity and a lasting legacy for the heirs. The community at large benefits from the stability brought about by owner occupied homes. Lummi Island CLT is one of more than 160 CLTs in the nation today.
(Source: Kulshan Community Land Trust website, www.kclt.org)

How are CLTs different from conservation land trusts?
They are similar in many ways. Both CLTs and conservation land trusts control land use for the benefit of people in the future as well as the present, but they tend to be concerned with different types and uses of land. Conservation trusts are primarily concerned with controlling rights to undeveloped land to preserve open space, ecologically fragile or unique environments, wilderness, or productive forest or agricultural land. CLTs, on the other hand, are primarily concerned with acquiring developed or developable land for specific community uses — particularly residential use. These concerns are not mutually exclusive, and some land trusts combine these purposes, preserving some land in a natural state while leasing other land for development. All land trusts have an ethic of land stewardship; they try to see that land is not developed or used inappropriately.
(Source: Kulshan Community Land Trust website, www.kclt.org)