Cohousing-L Mailing List: private open spaces ... or not. was RE: drivable emergency access

[Kay Argyle (Kay.Argyle]

"Do you have formal private open spaces--like individually owned lots?"
(Probably responding to my suggestion, "Benches ... would give a
psychological separation [of a pullout along the emergency access] from
resident's yards.")

Informally only, and of varying privacy -- some quite private, some hardly
at all.

Wasatch Commons is a condo development, mostly townhouses in du-, tri-, and
fourplexes. 

The units are clustered to preserve open space. The buildings are thirty to
forty feet apart across the central path, twenty feet of which is the
drivable emergency access, and spaced about fifteen feet at the sides. Thus,
front and side areas are very small.

According to the plat, each unit has a "limited common area" for its sole
use, consisting of its porch, a small back patio, and an assigned carport.
Everything else is officially common area. I was told that it was decided
during planning to keep the plat simple, but that it was always intended
that people could garden around their unit if they wished. 

Following move-in, it was agreed that residents are in charge of the area
around their unit. Some have nice landscaping; others have bare dirt with
the occasional weed. Open space is mostly unlandscaped.

Six units which back on a property line and four that back onto carport
storage units have fenced back yards. Those that back onto open space are
not permitted fences. Kids and loose dogs trample through cultivated areas,
and in the case of dogs leave squishy evidence of their passing. As you can
imagine, fences are a touchy subject.

Kay

 

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