ANST - Land funds...

[Lee Forgue]

At 09:52 AM 11/18/97 -0600, Dennis Grace wrote:
>Considering the number of land funds that various groups have established
>throughout the Knowne World over the past thiryt-something years, does
>anyone know of any success stories?

It depends on what you mean by "success".  I've been active with the West
Kingdom Land Fund since before it separately incorporated as Kingdom
Historical Trust Inc.  (We wanted to be Kingdom Trust Inc., but the State
Banking Commission thought that sounded like a bank.  We had to add the
word "Historical" to make them happy.)

The amount of money we have raised currently stands at $230,000.  Even with
the high price of land in California, we have found several pieces of land
that were attractive, accessible, and affordable.  We were even within
three days of closing escrow on one of them.

Let me tell you something about Land Funds.  You learn more about zoning
than you ever want to know.  (We lost the piece we were in escrow on to a
zoning/use permit problem.  The neighbors didn't want a "campground" in the
same valley where the sheriff wasn't cracking down on the illegal
campground whose denizens rode around o noisy dirt bikes and shot up the
road signs.)  And sanitation requirements, and use permits, and endanger
species surveys, and the cost of gravelling roads.  In addition, there are
different things we want in a site we may use once a year and a site we're
going to go back to regularly.  And owning *is* different from renting.

However, I feel that the West Kingdom Land Fund *is* a success.  We don't
own land yet, but we are in a position where we can buy land when the right
parcel is available.  However, it took a lot of work on the parts of a lot
of people!  (additional information on request -- I really don't want to
regale the entire list with information of interest only to a few.)

  --- eilis o'boirne
       Fundraising Coordinator, KHTI
       Western lurker on the Ansteorran list

PS:  KHTI and the West jointly sponsor a fundraising event every Labor Day
weekend, with all profits going to KHTI (a 501(c)3 corporation).  This year
we netted between $16,500 and $17,000 -- the money people are still playing
with the numbers.

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