Community Land Trusts: Fighting Displacement from Below

Community land trusts in Puerto Rico represent one of the most promising forms of practical resistance to colonial displacement — communities taking control of their own land.

The Crisis:
After Hurricane María (2017), Puerto Rico experienced a real estate crisis:
- Mainland investors, crypto entrepreneurs, and Act 60 beneficiaries began purchasing property at unprecedented rates
- Housing prices in desirable areas (Old San Juan, Santurce, Rincón, Condado) skyrocketed
- Airbnb and short-term rentals removed housing stock from local markets
- Long-term residents were priced out of neighborhoods their families had lived in for generations
- Public housing communities faced demolition or privatization
- The FOMB's fiscal plans encouraged private real estate development over affordable housing

What Are Community Land Trusts:
CLTs are nonprofit organizations that own land permanently on behalf of a community:
- The CLT retains ownership of the land
- Residents own their homes but lease the land from the CLT at affordable rates
- When a resident sells, resale prices are limited — keeping housing permanently affordable
- The community (not outside investors) controls decisions about land use
- CLTs have been successful in mainland cities (Burlington, Boston, Atlanta) for decades

CLTs in Puerto Rico:
Several CLT initiatives have emerged:
- Caño Martín Peña CLT: The most established — created by the Corporación del Proyecto ENLACE to protect eight communities (approximately 26,000 residents) along the Caño Martín Peña waterway in San Juan from displacement during the canal restoration project
- Community organizations in Santurce, Loíza, and other neighborhoods have explored CLT models
- Legal framework: Puerto Rico enacted legislation (2004) specifically enabling CLTs — one of the few jurisdictions in the Americas with CLT-specific law

The Decolonial Dimension:
CLTs in Puerto Rico have a significance beyond housing policy:
1. Land sovereignty: Collective land ownership challenges the individual property model that enables displacement
2. Community control: Decisions about land use are made by residents, not external investors
3. Anti-speculation: By removing land from the speculative market, CLTs prevent the Act 60 dynamic of wealthy mainlanders displacing Puerto Ricans
4. Permanence: CLT affordability restrictions are permanent — they don't expire like tax credits or subsidies
5. Self-determination: Communities making decisions about their own territory is a form of self-governance

Challenges:
- Funding: CLTs need capital to acquire land, and competing against well-funded investors is difficult
- Legal complexity: CLT structures require legal expertise that community organizations may lack
- Scale: Individual CLTs protect specific neighborhoods but cannot address the island-wide displacement crisis alone
- Political opposition: Real estate interests and their political allies resist restrictions on property speculation
- FOMB priorities: The fiscal oversight board's emphasis on private investment conflicts with CLT goals