RE: Could I ask about dogs in your community? | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Rob Sandelin (floriferousmsn.com) | |
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2000 11:09:56 -0600 (MDT) |
It might be useful, as a preamble to your discussion to ask the question: Why have any rules about pets at all? This will generate some conceptual goals, such as Pets should not unduly annoy others, cause damage, hurt people, kill and drive away wildlife. From the concepts of "Why have rules about pets" it will be a bit easier to get agreement on specific controls, if any, that meet the conceptual goals. This kind of hot topic is a good place to go carefully, start slowly, don't be in any huge hurry, let people talk and listen well. Start from goals you can all support down to specifics that support the goals. It also seems to have a lot of parts, are all these necessary at this time? Maybe start with 3 main issues, than add others later? Our Pet Policy at Sharingwood is pretty restrictive, and yes, people have come through here and chosen not to live here due to the pet policy. So for us, as a greenbelt steward community, this is actually a good thing, since our goals for restricting pets, especially cats is to preserve and protect the abundant wildlife. Your goals may be different and your agreements should reflect your goals. (Our pet policy, which has stood since 1991 is being rediscussed for the first time next week, and it will be an interesting mixture of long time residents and new comer opinions) Also the agreement below reads to me like it was written by a lawyer. I would suggest you Humanize the language so its not so formalistic. Maybe include a goal statement at the top. The agreements that you make amoung yourselves, that guide how you want to live together should reflect the spririt of your group. Remember as you move in you are moving away from building legal things and structures and building relationships between each other. Let your meetings and agreements reflect the kind of relationship building you want to have. It may take awhile for your relationships with pets to clearly emerge and so be willing to examine how pets effect your relationships and how you live together at some future time as well, to see if in fact, all the issues are real, or just unrealized fears being projected. Culture can transmit actions and values much better than written legal agreements. For example, our pet policy does not say a word about poop clean up. However, when people walk their dogs, they carry little plastic bags and use those to clean up after their dogs. Nobody every said the dog owners HAVE to do this, they do it as a common community courtesy, they understand that nobody wants a bunch of poop around and so, without any rule at all, take care of the issue. This sort of culture builds from comments at meetings, over dinner, converstations and reactions which form the web of relationship. So perhaps, once you have a disuccsion about some aspects of this, you only need to formally agree to those things not obviously reinforced by the community culure. Then if the culture fails, you can make the agreements you need. Rob Sandelin Community works!, group process training for social change non-profit groups -----Original Message----- From: cohousing-l [at] freedom2.mtn.org [mailto:cohousing-l [at] freedom2.mtn.org]On Behalf Of LScottr2go [at] aol.com Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2000 6:47 AM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Could I ask about dogs in your community? Hi all, We are hammering out our pet policy as new move-ins. Looks like the proposal we're considering has kitties being free-roaming, and, after looking at standard condo pet policies, dogs are not. I wonder: is this standard in cohousing? Portland, OR, is "Dog-Town", a very dog-friendly place, and I wonder if such restrictive policies will make dog owners unlikely to want to live with us (we still have half our units to sell). So my question is, are any of your communities setting dog policy on an individual basis - that a dog who's offending, scares kids, or owners who don't control their dogs and leave poop around, allow digging, and other such stuff are fined, and eventually roaming privileges revoked? We don't have enough yard space for dogs to be anything but penned up during the day. I don't have a dog, myself, but I'd hate to be deprived of the company of dogs if the policy is more restrictive than it absolutely needs to be. Thanks for any input, info, or suggestions. Linda Scott Cascadia Commons Cohousing, Portland, OR P.S. Here's parts of the policy we're looking at - standard for condos, but I don't know if it's standard in cohousing: 3. Dogs shall at all times whenever they are outside a unit either be confined on a leash held by a responsible person or be securely contained by a fence (where allowed) on the owner's limited common element. 4. All pets shall comply with all local laws including requirements for registration, inoculation, noise control, use of a leash, etc. 5. All damage created by a pet is the sole responsibility of the pet owner (or the property owner if the pet owner is a renter). Damage to general or limited common elements will be repaired by the association and reasonable repair costs billed to the property owner. Any damage caused by cleaning chemicals or other such materials used by the pet owner in the attempt to remedy such damage shall also be the full responsibility of each pet owner (or unit owner, as specified above), who shall pay the full cost of restitution or removal or replacement of such damaged items. 5. Pet owners shall clean up after pets immediately and without exception, including removal and disposal of excrement. 6. No animals shall be allowed in interior common spaces except those assisting the physically challenged. 7. Pets may not create a threat, health hazard, or undue noise, or engage in offensive behavior or create other offensive conditions. Complaint Procedure. If a pet is being offensive or any of the above rules are broken, the offended party should first talk with the pet owner and request correction. If the offense continues, written details should be submitted to the Board. The Board or its representative(s) will discuss the problem with the pet owner and seek to reach agreement on remedies. Further offenses or failure to reach an agreement may result in the board's establishing consequences such as levying fines or seeking removal of the pet. Fine Provision. Pet owners (or the unit owner if the pet owner is a renter) are subject to a fine of $10.00 per occurrence for violations of this policy. Pet Removal Provision. Repeated violations of this policy may result in permanent removal of the pet from the property. In such case, the pet owner (or the property owner if the pet owner is a renter) will be given 30 days' notice to remove the pet from the property. If the pet is not removed by the deadline, a fine of $10.00 per day will be chargeable to the property owner and subject to normal collection procedures established by the association. Right of Appeal. Appeals must be received in writing by the Board of Directors before the notice deadline. If the pet in question belongs to a renter, the appeal must be made by the property owner. Once an appeal is received, the Board will schedule a meeting as soon as possible and no later than 14 days to review the matter wit the pet owner and/or property owner. No further fining will take place pending the outcome of the appeal. The Board's decision on the appeal is final. If the appeal is rejected, fines and other provisions become effective three days following written notification to the property owner. Collection Provision. All fines, costs, and expenses necessary to enforce this resolution will be levied against the property owner and shall be an assessment against the owner's property and subject to all lien and collection powers of the Association.
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Could I ask about dogs in your community? LScottr2go, August 12 2000
- RE: Could I ask about dogs in your community? Rob Sandelin, August 12 2000
- Re: Could I ask about dogs in your community? Sharon Villines, August 12 2000
- Re: Could I ask about dogs in your community? RowenaHC, August 12 2000
- Re: Could I ask about dogs in your community? Jeff Buscher, August 14 2000
- Re: Could I ask about dogs in your community? Kay Argyle, August 14 2000
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