A City of Kamloops-run Land Trust is one step closer to becoming functional.
City Council stopped down for a time during Tuesday’s meeting to appoint the six member Board of Directors of the Kamloops Community Land Trust Foundation.
City Real Estate Manager Dave Freeman making the announcement of the six members.
“Kamloops Community Land Trust Foundation appoint the following people as Foundation Board Directors: That being Mike Broadway, Lindsay Harris, Tina Lange, Mona Murray, Colin O’Leary and Ruth Williams.”
Councillor Stephen Karpuk took a moment to laud the group at City Hall on Tuesday for their desire to step up.
“I think we as a council want to see change. Our community wants to see changes,” said Karpuk. “The six of you here are already making change happen, and have historically done that. The saying goes, those who do always do. They just do. And this is a clear example.”
Councillor Mike O’Reilly has characterized the creation of the Land Trust Foundation as precedent-setting.
“This isn’t something that happened overnight. This is going to be a model that other communities at, and how we are able to do this in Kamloops,” said O’Reilly at Tuesday’s meeting.
The new Board, once fully up and running, will be tasked with identifying and purchasing parcels of land in Kamloops for future development.
“A community land trust is an organization that holds lands with the aim of providing long-term attainable housing for the community’s benefit,” said the City of Kamloops in a release after the appointment of the Board. “Community land trusts have become increasingly important during the current housing crisis as they help ensure housing remains attainable in the face of rising real estate prices.
By getting the City to hold land in Trust, the idea is to reduce housing costs by eliminating bidding wars among developers.
According to the City of Kamloops, the next general steps for the Board is to review the its governance structure and overview of trust activities to date, distribute education materials, and respond to inquiries.