RE: cohousing w/in larger development
From: Rob Sandelin (Exchange) (RobsanExchange.MICROSOFT.com)
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 18:16:33 -0500
>Mable Kinzie wrote:
>> 
>> We at Charlottesville Cohousing are in the site selection process.  A local
>> developer has some interest in working with us to incorporate a cohousing
>> neighborhood within his larger development and he wants to know if
>> residents of the larger development will be able to join us for dinner, use
>> some of the common facilities, etc.  
>
>The scale of your common facilities will dictate how many can participate.
>Community dinner is a great opportunity to involve people in real community
>dialogs, I always try and setup tours I give to include community dinner
>whereever possible.  However, your commonhouse budget is a constraint. How
>big a commonhouse do you plan?  Will it accomodate lots of non-cohousing
>neighbors?  Or just a few?
>
>I would be very clear about maintaining control over this facility.  If the
>developer wants to create one large homeowners association to cover all the
>homes in the development, rather than a separate entity, I would be cautious
>about representation.  If you are seriously outnumbered then your commonhouse
>could end up becoming something like an excercise room in a typical condo.
>
>If you are an autonomous organization, attached to the larger development,
>and can control the design and use of the commonhouse, I would go ahead and
>agree to let others be a part of the community and just set up some sort of
>associate member process for those who want to be involved in the community.
>I would setup both a participation and fee expectation for associate members
>so they contribute a reasonable amount of both time and money to the common
>elements.
>
>The key element is self controlled management. You want the community to owm
>and control the commonhouse, however a jointly owned and controlled shop
>might be cool and work out well.
>
>Rob Sandelin
>Sharingwood

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