About CCLR

The Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR or "see clear") is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded on the belief that intelligent, innovative land use is the key to ensuring a healthy future for both our communities and our environment. Our mission is to enable communities to develop sustainably and equitably through land recycling---restoring underutilized sites to productive use. Our particular expertise is remediating and redeveloping environmentally-distressed properties, commonly called "brownfields".

Land recycling is a critical alternative to traditional sprawl development. By directing development to built-up areas, we can preserve open space and protect natural resources, lessen our dependency on automobiles, and reduce the carbon footprint of development. Because abandoned properties often lie within economically-distressed areas, land recycling catalyzes critical economic investment and creates jobs, affordable housing, and other amenities in historically under-served communities.

Through training and technical assistance CCLR offers communities the tools they need to turn blighted properties into opportunities To ensure the greatest outcomes for our projects, we lead policy efforts at all levels of government to remove the obstacles to sustainable development, and to increase available funding and access to resources. CCLR engages stakeholders from all sectors in creative partnerships that promote collaboration and innovation in sustainable development.

CCLR was founded in 1996 as a project of The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national, nonprofit land conservation organization with seed funding from The James Irvine Foundation. CCLR became an independent 501(c)(3) organization in 1999.

Our programs and accomplishments:

Workshops

Recycling land requires specialized knowledge and tools in order to manage complicated environmental issues. CCLR’s practical, interactive workshops provide project managers and stakeholders with the tools, techniques and resources required for remediating and redeveloping environmentally distressed properties. CCLR developed its training program after documenting a clear community need for education regarding the management of the technical, legal, regulatory, and financial hurdles that can impede the successful reuse of brownfields.

To date CCLR has educated nearly 5,000 community stakholders through our workshops. Our graduates return to their communities with new tools and resources, ready to tackle redevelopment.

Policy & Research

CCLR draws upon its wealth of experience with redevelopment projects to inform policy research and advocate reforms with the goal to make land recycling an encouraged, economically-feasible pattern of development. CCLR promotes reform of state and local land use and development policies that help level the playing field between brownfields and greenfields, the undeveloped areas at the outskirts of metropolitan regions. CCLR provides leadership on land use initiatives at both the state and federal level that work toward creating a regulatory regime that meets the needs of communities and sensibly weighs risks and rewards. CCLR’s research program provides a scientific foundation to support our progressive policy initiatives.

CCLR provided catalytic policy leadership on two innovative funding programs in California: the Calreuse Loan and Grant Program and the Urban Infrastructure Grant Program. Combined, these programs allocated nearly $900 Million for brownfield cleanup and redevelopment with priority funding going to under-resourced communities.

Consulting

CCLR offers pro bono technical assistance to certain nonprofit developers, community-based groups, and municipalities for redevelopment projects. In addition to helping communities revitalize land, the objective of this program is to gain a better understanding of the conditions that lead to underutilized land and the barriers to brownfield redevelopment, particularly in under-served communities. We use these case studies to inform our programs and policy efforts in order to develop and implement solutions that can bring other redevelopment projects to completion.

CCLR also offers fee-for-service consulting and technical assistance in support of land recycling and brownfield redevelopment efforts for a diverse range of groups. CCLR serves as a trusted advisor, facilitator, and project manager focusing on the environmental components of brownfield redevelopment.