Ownership Structures

The concept of private ownership of land is a relatively modern invention of Western society.  The original cultures in most of the world did not have this concept. Ancient societies only considered occupation and stewardship of the land, reminding us that we are tenants on this planet, not owners of it. The concept of land ownership is part and parcel of the concept that everything exists for our personal pleasure only, and this is the consciousness that causes many problems. The earth was here long before us and will remain long after our lives are over.

Although this short history is primarily Western-based, it is reasonably accurate. And here is a more modern history in one country.

There are many different ownership structures, ranging between two extremes:

1) Complete personal ownership, without any rules. This typically creates a mentality of “this is my land and I’ll do whatever I want - and get off my property.”

2) Government or public ownership of the land, and everyone serves the government. This typically creates a lack of personal incentive and a lazy or easily controlled population.

Every model requires supporting systems to prevent control by self-interested parties. There are other models in between these two, such as holding the land in trust, or a cooperative model.

For forming communities, we recommend either a private ownership model with a strong neighborhood association and/or deed restrictions, or a cooperative model.

Cooperatives

“Cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.” Wikipedia

Cooperatives generally follow seven internationally recognized principles: 1) Voluntary and Open Membership, 2) Democratic Member Control, 3) Member Economic Participation, 4) Autonomy and Independence, 5) Education, Training and Information, 6) Cooperation Among Cooperatives, and 7) Concern for Community.

A cooperative is an ownership model, and not a lease or right-to-use model.  There are many different types of cooperatives. For example, there are many residential buildings in New York city that use a housing cooperative structure. If you are familiar with timeshares, there are two types: deeded and right-to-use. A cooperative is like the deeded time share model and not the right-to-use model; your share is equity stock - except that it is not just for one week of the year.

Multiple cooperatives can also be used, or a cooperative can even be used along with a private ownership model. There are many types of cooperatives - some examples are agricultural cooperatives and worker cooperatives.

There are more than eight hundred million people who are members of cooperatives internationally.  Credit Unions are a well-known example. Co-operatives provide 100 million jobs worldwide, 20% more than multinational corporations. There is also a separate Internet sponsored top-level domain for cooperatives - .coop - but it’s use is not required. The United Nations estimated in 1994 that the livelihood of nearly 3 billion people, or half of the world's population, was made secure by co-operative enterprise. Currently, at least 12% of humanity is a cooperator of any of the 3 million cooperatives worldwide. The International Cooperative Alliance is one of many resources for understanding more.

In a community with a cooperative model, each member has one share, which gives that person voting rights.  All the principles, restrictions, goals and so forth that the community members have agreed upon are all in the cooperative agreements. These are typically in the co-op's bylaws.

We have chosen the cooperative model. If you are interested in our community, please take some time to learn about cooperatives online.  

Private Ownership 

Private land ownership requires supporting agreements in order to build a sustainable community.  We want our community to consist of members to naturally have higher principles than are found in general society. We don't want certain activities in the community even though they are legal in the US. Intoxication and animal slaughter are two examples.

The principles behind sustainable communities are completely different than the principles which developed the present societal systems.  There is no respect for the land, and giant corporations (which ultimately means the people in charge of them) cause havoc. There is no understanding of natural consequences, little consideration for the needs of others, and everything revolves around money. All this arises due to the ignorance of identifying the body as the self.  

In a private ownership model, the supporting agreements are just as important as title to the land.  In the city, many nicer neighborhoods form associations such as HOAs in order to maintain a higher standard than the city requires. 

A community can put whatever everyone agrees upon in their community agreements.  This may include restrictions on animals or noise, requirements for maintaining one's home, building styles and sizes, restrictions on using the community lake water, requirements for one day per week of community service - everything. 

People trying to form intentional communities sometimes forget that they currently live in a society with hundreds of thousands of rules. Some are good and some are not good, but forming our own communities has to be done within that legal system - and we can create many of our own rules just like an HOA. 

For Either Cooperatives or Private Ownership Models

In either model, villages can use an additional cooperative agreement or village association agreement if they desire.  A particular village may want more specific rules, such as a certain motif or style for their eight houses. The entire community will generally be less restrictive than particular villages, which allows for greater variety between villages, but if an entire community agrees on many details then villages may not need their own documentation. Of course a village cannot allow something that is restricted at the community level.

In either model, various financial or other legal arrangements can be made between members.  Once again such agreements must be within the parameters of the community. For example, one member in a household may put in $50,000 and another member of the same household may put in $0. One household can grow food on another household’s land in exchange for some other good or service, and so forth. 

All such arrangements should always be put in writing, signed by both parties, and witnessed.  This is a way to make sure all parties have the same understanding, and will help considerably in resolving future disputes. 

The community or villages may want to restrict certain types of agreements between members.  For example, two people might make an arrangement whereby one person establishes the food crops and builds houses on two properties, in exchange for owning one of them. The other person pays for the land and materials for both properties. We recommend that the community or village prohibits any agreements requiring more than three years of labor.

Each household, collectively between the members residing in the home or by agreement with other members or households, must utilize their home site acreage productively. Someone who wants to personally utilize more land in their village can easily make arrangements with other households. In this way those who become expert at gardening and enjoy it may have all the land they desire at their disposal. Everything produced in the village is for personal consumption, gift, or barter within the community, and not for outside business purposes. The community will have a separate section of land for profit farming by those who desire it.

Buying Land

Once a group of people have fully agreed upon all details of the community, have drafted the Community Constitution and/or Master Plan, and are committed to a general location, we will seek suitable land for sale for that number of people.  Those in the group that are actively researching available land can post pictures of available suitable properties for sale for review by the group. Anyone can look at the land, and the group votes on which land to purchase.

The community of people starts before the purchase of land. Those who have become members will be attending meetings, learning and researching many subjects, and making decisions together. The community rules should be followed from the beginning - even though we have not come together on the land. Land should not be purchased prior to this stage. Keep in mind that 90% of such forming communities fail, for a number of reasons, but one primary reason is that there was no clear agreement on all the details.

A good property for sale may require earnest money to place it on hold until the group members can all meet and make a decision. 

The forming community can opt to wait for more members, or close the opportunity to new members and purchase land sufficient for the current members.  A community can re-open membership opportunities if they find a larger parcel of land than their current members need. They can also purchase excess land, if they have the financial resources, to allow others to join later on. Extra land should be accounted for in the planning stages because far more people become interested once they hear that land is being purchased. Most people are settlers; few are pioneers. The pioneers have to do the hard work to form the community, do the research, hash out the rules, and prepare for buying land - after which the settlers sometimes come in droves, often bringing the necessary finances. But it is the pioneers who ultimately decide whom they accept into the community. 

During the initial phases of purchase and development, one household may hold more than one lot of land, for future sale to others.  Owning multiple lots should only be allowed for three years. It makes sense for new communities to get more land than the number of available members. Growth may happen internally from within the community, or through new people and families applying and being accepted to the community. Other than this three-year exception from the time of original purchase of land, a member or household cannot hold extra household lots. An individual or household should not be allowed to own more than three or four lots in this way, otherwise some people may use it as a method to gain control later on.

People who have more money should not try to profit from others who have less, but rather serve the community by holding a place for others and helping the community to purchase a larger quantity of good land that might otherwise not be possible to buy.

Future Sale of Land (or Cooperative Shares)

Except for sale of extra land or shares as above, selling land or shares in a community should be prohibited for at least the first two years of ownership.  The beginning phases are naturally the most difficult time in developing a new community. Everyone should be patient while a community of people are coming together and discussing and finalizing the plans. Once the community is physically established on the land, everyone will reap the rewards of an agrarian-based, ecologically sound, self-sufficient lifestyle in a community of similarly minded people.

Shares or land, including any home on the land, can only be sold to someone who has been accepted as a member of the community.  Every Intentional Community has a process of admission, and most such communities have several stages that a person must go through before full acceptance. Land ownership is typically only allowed at the level of full membership. In some communities the full membership process requires more than a year so that the community member and the newcomers can really get to know each other. Membership usually culminates in Voting Members, namely the people who make the decisions, and some communities do not give voting rights very easily because they don't want someone new to potentially disrupt what they have worked so hard to build. 

A prospective buyer must also be accepted by the particular village to which he is applying for residence. 

Land can also be sold to existing householders in another village within the same community, provided that the existing householders are approved by the village AND the village that they are leaving is willing to find a new owner or shareholder for the household being left.

Even when a community is full, villages can still accept new members if a household has room and is looking for more members. The new person must apply and be accepted by that community and village.  A full community only means all village sites have eight households. Each household may have from one to six adults.  

Next - (Membership) Supporters