The Tranquille Community Plan
Historically community building was an organic process. An industry would sustain a local economy, an individuals ability to earn a livelihood would give him or her a reason to settle in the community. The automobile changed all that. You could live one place, work another. Tobiano, across the lake from Tranquille is a model of modern land development. Its failure might be a sign that satellite subdivisions no longer make sense. Supply and demand of oil are headed in opposite directions, costs for travel are not likely to come down. If it is true that the carbon from the burning of fossil fuels is causing global warming, then it follows that satellite subdivisions never did make any sense.
In Kamloops, Tobiano also is representative of a high risk gamble. An all in bet with the infrastructure costs that didn’t pay off. Our plan is to take the risks out of the equation by assembling the people who have an interest in Tranquille first. Our bet is that the poor market conditions or the Agricultural Land Reserves lack of willingness to rezone the land for housing may cause the current owners to sell the land. Its also possible the current owners may like our approach and help us out along the way to achieve ownership.
Our plan is to break the project into as many smaller pieces as possible and find ways to involve everyone who would like to help regardless of whether they ultimately live in the community. Our plan recognizes the property has limits of scale, partially determined by the number of people the farm might feed and the number of jobs that could be created on the site. To date we have been working with the number of 400 homes. We have been working with a budget of 40 million to purchase the land, provide utilities and amenities and to make other improvements. The amount an individual homeowner would pay would be dependent on the type of property purchased. We see a mix of housing types. Likely a village center with a park and a market square surrounded by apartment style condos and townhouses, and then this surrounded by a ring or two of single family dwellings.
Affordability will be critical for the success of this plan. One of the ways affordability might be achieved is by making the utility a separate investment. A cooperatively owned or community owned utility might provide a nice, steady, safe annuity for those who could best afford it.
The critical element of our plan begins with the creation of a resilient, durable local economy. We need lots of small investments in independent, highly diversified, local businesses owned mainly by the people of the community. The land development co-operative is the foundation a local economy can be built on. It will be the community’s governing body. Home ownership would come inclusive of a share in the co-operative. It’s what’s left after the private land has been sold off that is critical to our plan. The Commons. The undivided lands that belongs to the members of the community as a whole. The farm land, the lake front, the old buildings etc. These things will be a realm of productivity and value in their own right. The commons is our infrastructure, it could provide a critical platform to grow our local economy and should serve to tie the people, the place and the economy together. The leases and rentals of the commons will be a permanent endowment that becomes part of the community’s support system. If we hope to move beyond ownership to commoning and stewardship it would be useful to together right now identify the commons, value it and set up the rules through which it could be used.
Step one in executing this plan is this website. Its role is to facilitate cooperation by connecting people and information. Threads of common purpose will stretch from you to your family and friends. As networks intersect and circles overlap, cross threads of cooperation should weave together the fabric of community.
Our purpose is not to be involved in all the many possible business opportunities in the community. We will however do everything possible to support individual entrepreneurship. What the website can do to start the community building process is identify a few of the larger opportunities that may work well for cooperatively owned, community owned or employee owned business models then connect people who may have an interest in working on them.
Four potential collaborative enterprises where the wealth created could remain in and be recycled in the community:
1. A food co-op. This enterprise could be the middle man between the farmers and the market. Economics of scale might allow the processing and packaging of local food. Group purchasing should lower the costs on things not grown locally. An urban delivery system could make local food accessible to the regional market.
2. An employee owned health and wellness center. Tranquille has always been a place of healing. Active living, assisted living all ties into the healthy food and nutrition aspect of the organic farm component.
3. A community owned (limited partnership) vehicle might work well for a Tourism aspect. A small inn, cottages, campground, RV park, special events, fairs, festivals, programs etc.
4. An employee owned construction company would have a lot to do on site for the first number of years. With the proper levers deals can be struck so the enterprise works as well for the community as it does for the employees.
Model
The model we’ve found that might best apply for the Tranquille property is the Cooperative du Quartier petit Champlain located in lower old town in Quebec City. About 25 years ago the city slated 27 old buildings for demolition. Many of them are solid stone, the rest are brick, most are 4 storeys, some are 2 and 3 storeys. The oldest among them was constructed in 1750, most date back to the 1880’s. A group of artists, artisans and merchants got together, formed the co-op, bought the buildings and the land they sit on and revitalized them. The built their local economy around their shops, galleries, bars and bistros with the shared common purpose of always selling goods made in Quebec by Quebecers. While they were at it, they managed to preserve a wonderful piece of Canadian heritage. The other part of their model that we think could apply is that within their larger co-op exists other smaller co-ops. Many of the artists and crafters share shops and galleries. They spend about a fifth or their time running the gallery and the rest of their time is free to work on their craft.
In Kamloops, Tobiano also is representative of a high risk gamble. An all in bet with the infrastructure costs that didn’t pay off. Our plan is to take the risks out of the equation by assembling the people who have an interest in Tranquille first. Our bet is that the poor market conditions or the Agricultural Land Reserves lack of willingness to rezone the land for housing may cause the current owners to sell the land. Its also possible the current owners may like our approach and help us out along the way to achieve ownership.
Our plan is to break the project into as many smaller pieces as possible and find ways to involve everyone who would like to help regardless of whether they ultimately live in the community. Our plan recognizes the property has limits of scale, partially determined by the number of people the farm might feed and the number of jobs that could be created on the site. To date we have been working with the number of 400 homes. We have been working with a budget of 40 million to purchase the land, provide utilities and amenities and to make other improvements. The amount an individual homeowner would pay would be dependent on the type of property purchased. We see a mix of housing types. Likely a village center with a park and a market square surrounded by apartment style condos and townhouses, and then this surrounded by a ring or two of single family dwellings.
Affordability will be critical for the success of this plan. One of the ways affordability might be achieved is by making the utility a separate investment. A cooperatively owned or community owned utility might provide a nice, steady, safe annuity for those who could best afford it.
The critical element of our plan begins with the creation of a resilient, durable local economy. We need lots of small investments in independent, highly diversified, local businesses owned mainly by the people of the community. The land development co-operative is the foundation a local economy can be built on. It will be the community’s governing body. Home ownership would come inclusive of a share in the co-operative. It’s what’s left after the private land has been sold off that is critical to our plan. The Commons. The undivided lands that belongs to the members of the community as a whole. The farm land, the lake front, the old buildings etc. These things will be a realm of productivity and value in their own right. The commons is our infrastructure, it could provide a critical platform to grow our local economy and should serve to tie the people, the place and the economy together. The leases and rentals of the commons will be a permanent endowment that becomes part of the community’s support system. If we hope to move beyond ownership to commoning and stewardship it would be useful to together right now identify the commons, value it and set up the rules through which it could be used.
Step one in executing this plan is this website. Its role is to facilitate cooperation by connecting people and information. Threads of common purpose will stretch from you to your family and friends. As networks intersect and circles overlap, cross threads of cooperation should weave together the fabric of community.
Our purpose is not to be involved in all the many possible business opportunities in the community. We will however do everything possible to support individual entrepreneurship. What the website can do to start the community building process is identify a few of the larger opportunities that may work well for cooperatively owned, community owned or employee owned business models then connect people who may have an interest in working on them.
Four potential collaborative enterprises where the wealth created could remain in and be recycled in the community:
1. A food co-op. This enterprise could be the middle man between the farmers and the market. Economics of scale might allow the processing and packaging of local food. Group purchasing should lower the costs on things not grown locally. An urban delivery system could make local food accessible to the regional market.
2. An employee owned health and wellness center. Tranquille has always been a place of healing. Active living, assisted living all ties into the healthy food and nutrition aspect of the organic farm component.
3. A community owned (limited partnership) vehicle might work well for a Tourism aspect. A small inn, cottages, campground, RV park, special events, fairs, festivals, programs etc.
4. An employee owned construction company would have a lot to do on site for the first number of years. With the proper levers deals can be struck so the enterprise works as well for the community as it does for the employees.
Model
The model we’ve found that might best apply for the Tranquille property is the Cooperative du Quartier petit Champlain located in lower old town in Quebec City. About 25 years ago the city slated 27 old buildings for demolition. Many of them are solid stone, the rest are brick, most are 4 storeys, some are 2 and 3 storeys. The oldest among them was constructed in 1750, most date back to the 1880’s. A group of artists, artisans and merchants got together, formed the co-op, bought the buildings and the land they sit on and revitalized them. The built their local economy around their shops, galleries, bars and bistros with the shared common purpose of always selling goods made in Quebec by Quebecers. While they were at it, they managed to preserve a wonderful piece of Canadian heritage. The other part of their model that we think could apply is that within their larger co-op exists other smaller co-ops. Many of the artists and crafters share shops and galleries. They spend about a fifth or their time running the gallery and the rest of their time is free to work on their craft.
