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Judge may force Love Israel clan to sell off land
For more than 30 years, the Love Israel family has been espousing the virtues of communal living, love and unity, first from Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill and later from the group’s sprawling compound east of Arlington.
But a judge’s decision next week could end the social experiment that had its beginnings during the late 1960s.
The Love Israel family, facing bankruptcy and debts of about $4 million, could be ordered next Friday to sell its 300 acres in unincorporated Snohomish County to a group planning to develop a campground on the site. Proceeds from the sale would be used to satisfy the organization’s debts.
“We’ve managed to buy this much time out of the bankruptcy,” said Serious Israel, spokesman for the religious group. “But the clock is ticking.”
The commune was founded in 1968 in Seattle by Love Israel — formerly a television salesman named Paul Erdman — who persuaded followers to pursue his vision of a Christian Utopia.
At one time, the family had more than 400 members and owned several houses in Seattle and property in Alaska, Hawaii and Eastern Washington.
In 1983, the family was sharply divided when some accused Love Israel of using family money for drugs and an extravagant lifestyle. Although he denied the allegations, the rift prompted many members to leave.
In 1984, Love Israel moved his remaining followers to the Arlington compound.
Since then, members of the family have become ingrained in the community, with members’ children attending local schools. Each summer, the family hosted a Garlic and Music Festival that drew several thousand people.
Serious Israel said the 40 people who live on the property aren’t sure what they will do if the federal Bankruptcy Court judge orders the sale. “We haven’t crossed that bridge yet,” Israel said. “We’re hoping to have about three months.”
The family filed for bankruptcy in February after plans to become a self-sustaining community failed. In the bankruptcy filings, made through its business name of Golden Triangle Development and on behalf of Love Israel, the group described debts of about $4 million, including $2.9 million owed to the Asia Europe Americas Bank and $1.1 million owed to Frontier Bank. Assets then were estimated at $3.2 million.
Since the bankruptcy filing, Serious Israel said, the family has made strenuous efforts to sell its property, including by subdividing it and inviting developers to look at the land.
All the efforts have resulted in one feasible offer, he said, by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, a national Jewish camping club looking for property in the Pacific Northwest. That offer is for about $3.3 million. The question before the judge next week will be whether to sign an order approving the sale, Serious Israel said.
The two banks also have received court authority to order a foreclosure on the property, he said, but have held off pending next week’s hearing.
The family has one final possible solution, Serious Israel said. The family has asked Snohomish County officials to change planning rules to allow the development of an “eco-village” on the property, which could qualify for affordable-housing funds.
Serious Israel, 63, said family members met with county officials Wednesday to discuss the rules changes but have had no response. It could be a longshot since the family has been seeking such changes for years.
“They’re chewing on it,” he said of county officials. “We wanted to test the waters yesterday with the county, to see if there’s been any change in the mentality.”
But county officials yesterday held out little hope.
“They have a desire to create a kind of community that doesn’t fit into people’s normal idea of a community,” said Pam Miller, a manager for the county’s land-use division.
Miller said the eco-village concept doesn’t fit into the county’s planning regulations, and it would take at least a year to change them.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s going to work,” she said. “It’s a vision that they have that just doesn’t fit neatly into the rules. … It’s a little late in the process to be doing this, unfortunately.”
If the sale is approved, Serious Israel said family members would have about three months to move. “Spiritually, it’s been really good for us,” he said. “It’s tested our mettle. We’ve become fatalistic about it.”
Serious Israel said he and some other members have expressed an interest in visiting eco-village sites elsewhere in the world, perhaps in Denmark. He said the sale could leave the group with a small nest egg that would allow the family to start again.
Serious Israel said the collapse is upsetting, but members have come to grips with it. “There’s a lot of history here,” he said. “A lot of kids were born here.”
Times Snohomish County bureau reporter Emily Heffter contributed to this report.
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