Lowville, Ont | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Tom Ponessa (tomptvo.org) | |
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 95 20:37 CST |
Russell Mawby writes: The first "cohousing" project in Ontario will likely be specifically for seniors -they are in the planning approvals stage right now, and assuming there's sufficent water on the site they've optioned, will start construction this fall. They have decided to try to set an age floor of 50 years as they search for prospective residents. I and others have tried to encourage a more encompassing approach to this issue - ie. that by describing themselves as a senior's community they would be attracting "the right" people regardless of their chronological age - but they are sticking with the the 50 cut-off. They are aware of discrimination legislation in the Condo Act, and so are being careful about how they approach this, but have had tons of success so far. I have attached an article I wrote about the Lowville project for "CoHousing Ontario" that should desribe this community a bit better. They are working with a developer who has fronted much of the initial costs. They intend to build a mixture of detached bungalows and semi-detached houses. Most of the residents currently live in quite large homes - up to 3000 sf - and so wanted more space than townhouses could offer. All homes will be fully accessible. P.S. they intend to build their common house using straw-bale construction! They will be using an advanced technology communal septic system partly to set an example for the area, which suffers from contaminated and reduced water-tables. I should add that part of their concern about ages, etc., is that the area they are building in is a very desireable place to live, and they want to be sure that their efforts towards building a community aren't blown apart by people (speculators) who want to capitalize on the bucolic location of this project. If anyone would like more information on this project, please send me a note at <russell_mawby [at] tvo.org>, and I'll try to keep you updated on their progress. I should add that part of the reason I like this project, regardless of my disagreement with some of the decisions they've made, is that it has gone a long way to "normalize" cohousing in this area - this is not a bunch of utopists looking for an "alternative" lifestyles, but a group of mainstream old folks who couldn't find community, so they built it themselves. They have had a huge impact on the way the Regional government looks at development, and this, in the end, is what it's all about (IMO). The Lowville Project by Russell Mawby The Lowville Project began 3 years ago when a group of residents of the (former) village of Lowville began to realize that they would likely have to leave the area as they got older. Most of these people had lived in the area all of their lives, many on the farms that had been in the family for generations. They were not happy about the prospect of moving to one of the many seniors villages in urban Burlington, a city of 100,000 on Lake Ontario to the south. Lowville is in the middle of the Regional Municipality of Halton, about 60 km west of Toronto, almost at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment. The area suffers from an abundance of beautiful countryside, resulting in a dignified but relentless sprawl of large lot estate-homes. It was this low-density upscale conversion of farmland to mansions that scattered Lowville's population in the 1970's, leaving behind a lonely general store to mark the site of a quiet rural village. The problem for the Lowville group was that the population density was now too low to justify the support services they increasingly desired as they grew older, thus the potential move to Burlington. At first they thought that building a community centre could serve as a base for services, but quickly realized that this was impractical. They also approached a number of developers to commission a seniors project, but were unhappy with the "cookie-cutter" style of the proposals, which, they felt, would not be all that different than anything found in Burlington. It was only after hearing and learning about cohousing that they realized that the solution would be to, figuratively if not literally, rebuild the lost village of Lowville themselves. They have been meeting as a cohousing group for the past 1- public presentations to attract attention and interest in their project. The group has recently made agreements with a local developer and architect, and is proceeding with design development and the preliminary stages of making this dream a reality. Halton Region Community Services was an early supporter of the project, and offered invaluable encouragement and advice. At the start of this year, the group made formal contact with the Halton Region Planning Department, which led to a significant move forward by encouraging discussions with local land owners about acquiring suitable land. The planners helped the group understand where and why they could build, and to understand the processes required to secure approval. In return, the Lowville group helped the planners to re-examine some of their practices that might have impeded the development of healthy communities. For example, Halton is facing problems with water supply and treatment in all areas outside of Burlington. As a result, the region limits housing density in rural settlement areas to 1 house per 4 acres. This had always been interpreted as a single-family, detached dwelling surrounded by 4 acres of land, to allow separate septic systems, and in most cases, separate wells. The Lowville group encouraged the region to accept that on a parcel of 100 acres, for example, 25 homes could be clustered onto 4 or 5 acres, leaving the remainder as open space, with shared septic systems and wells - something most new developments have a tough time accepting. The shape of the project has changed over the years and hundreds of hours of meetings, and the end is only barely in sight, but what ever the result, the Lowville Project will be a unique, caring community that comes from the hearts and souls of the only people who could have made it happen - the residents themselves. This article is adapted from the Fall 1994 issue of CoHousing Ontario. For more information, contact the Collaborative Housing Society at (416) 255-7446. The first "cohousing" project in Ontario will likely be specifically for seniors -they are in the planning approvals stage right now, and assuming there's sufficent water on the site they've optioned, will start construction this fall. They have decided to try to set an age floor of 50 years as they search for prospective residents. I and others have tried to encourage a more encompassing approach to this issue - ie. that by describing themselves as a senior's community they would be attracting "the right" people regardless of their chronological age - but they are sticking with the the 50 cut-off. They are aware of discrimination legislation in the Condo Act, and so are being careful about how they approach this, but have had tons of success so far. I have attached an article I wrote about the Lowville project for "CoHousing Ontario" that should desribe this community a bit better. They are working with a developer who has fronted much of the initial costs. They intend to build a mixture of detached bungalows and semi-detached houses. Most of the residents currently live in quite large homes - up to 3000 sf - and so wanted more space than townhouses could offer. All homes will be fully accessible. P.S. they intend to build their common house using straw-bale construction! They will be using an advanced technology communal septic system partly to set an example for the area, which suffers from contaminated and reduced water-tables. I should add that part of their concern about ages, etc., is that the area they are building in is a very desireable place to live, and they want to be sure that their efforts towards building a community aren't blown apart by people (speculators) who want to capitalize on the bucolic location of this project. If anyone would like more information on this project, please send me a note at <russell_mawby [at] tvo.org>, and I'll try to keep you updated on their progress. I should add that part of the reason I like this project, regardless of my disagreement with some of the decisions they've made, is that it has gone a long way to "normalize" cohousing in this area - this is not a bunch of utopists looking for an "alternative" lifestyles, but a group of mainstream old folks who couldn't find community, so they built it themselves. They have had a huge impact on the way the Regional government looks at development, and this, in the end, is what it's all about (IMO). The Lowville Project by Russell Mawby The Lowville Project began 3 years ago when a group of residents of the (former) village of Lowville began to realize that they would likely have to leave the area as they got older. Most of these people had lived in the area all of their lives, many on the farms that had been in the family for generations. They were not happy about the prospect of moving to one of the many seniors villages in urban Burlington, a city of 100,000 on Lake Ontario to the south. Lowville is in the middle of the Regional Municipality of Halton, about 60 km west of Toronto, almost at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment. The area suffers from an abundance of beautiful countryside, resulting in a dignified but relentless sprawl of large lot estate-homes. It was this low-density upscale conversion of farmland to mansions that scattered Lowville's population in the 1970's, leaving behind a lonely general store to mark the site of a quiet rural village. The problem for the Lowville group was that the population density was now too low to justify the support services they increasingly desired as they grew older, thus the potential move to Burlington. At first they thought that building a community centre could serve as a base for services, but quickly realized that this was impractical. They also approached a number of developers to commission a seniors project, but were unhappy with the "cookie-cutter" style of the proposals, which, they felt, would not be all that different than anything found in Burlington. It was only after hearing and learning about cohousing that they realized that the solution would be to, figuratively if not literally, rebuild the lost village of Lowville themselves. They have been meeting as a cohousing group for the past 1- public presentations to attract attention and interest in their project. The group has recently made agreements with a local developer and architect, and is proceeding with design development and the preliminary stages of making this dream a reality. Halton Region Community Services was an early supporter of the project, and offered invaluable encouragement and advice. At the start of this year, the group made formal contact with the Halton Region Planning Department, which led to a significant move forward by encouraging discussions with local land owners about acquiring suitable land. The planners helped the group understand where and why they could build, and to understand the processes required to secure approval. In return, the Lowville group helped the planners to re-examine some of their practices that might have impeded the development of healthy communities. For example, Halton is facing problems with water supply and treatment in all areas outside of Burlington. As a result, the region limits housing density in rural settlement areas to 1 house per 4 acres. This had always been interpreted as a single-family, detached dwelling surrounded by 4 acres of land, to allow separate septic systems, and in most cases, separate wells. The Lowville group encouraged the region to accept that on a parcel of 100 acres, for example, 25 homes could be clustered onto 4 or 5 acres, leaving the remainder as open space, with shared septic systems and wells - something most new developments have a tough time accepting. The shape of the project has changed over the years and hundreds of hours of meetings, and the end is only barely in sight, but what ever the result, the Lowville Project will be a unique, caring community that comes from the hearts and souls of the only people who could have made it happen - the residents themselves. This article is adapted from the Fall 1994 issue of CoHousing Ontario. For more information, contact the Collaborative Housing Society at (416) 255-7446.
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