Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re: [C-L]fences/walls in backyards in cohousing

[PattyMara Gourley (pattymara]

On Tue, 18 May 2004 18:32:53 EDT DGSCCoho [at] aol.com writes:
 
> are there any 
> words of wisdom that any of you can give us.

Ok, I'll bite:  good fences make good neighbors?  
But seriously, folks, they do.  Here at Tierra Nueva (central CA coast)
when we becgan moving in five years ago, we had a heck of a time coming
up with a fence policy.  The few of us who had moved first were faced
with the reality of yard clutter,  garden tools, kids toys, toddlers who
needed containment, dogs, AND a need for private, or even semi-private,
outdoor space.  The rest of us who were waiting to move in were more
caught up in the cohousing Myth of No Fences.  They held firm to the
notion that good communities don't have fences, don't need those stinking
fences, those evil fences.  O, brother.......oh, sister.  So we went
round and round until most everybody moved in and realized that well,
yeah, we do need some private outdoor space, and dog places and toddler
containment and potting areas and garbage/recycling container areas that
are somewhat fenced in or disguised.  Clutter cover.   For the most part
all this stuff (except for toddler yards) mostly gets located in the
"back" of the homes, which is oops, the front yard of someone else....so
all the more reason for pretty fences, lath screens, vine trelleses, and
any number of garden walls (the latest we made was earthbag construction
as a practice wall for our entry way wall/sign/welcome to Tierra Nueva.) 


The process that finally evolved is:  fence committee (open to all)
convenes when someone needs a fence or wall or yard.  The person presents
a drawing with the dimensions and a sense of what the desired fence looks
like, materials, colors..  Immediate neighbors are consulted.  Committee
and person talk among themselves.  Committee makes a recommendation to
the group at the next business meeting to accept the design or redesign..
 Design is posted for 2 wks for comment.  Anyone who has a comment or
question goes directly to the person. After two weeks the person builds
the fence, or whatever.  If there is a more immediate need (usually there
is if a dog is involved) the process can be speeded up by the committee
making an email or bulletin board announcement, and the time for review
can be shortened.  So far, after five years, no big problems, though some
of us are more willing to go through the motions of consulting the
committee, than others.  Some of us built decks or privacy screens
without consulting anybody, some of us went to the committee when we
wanted to put up a little bitty plant trellis.   

So far everyone seems to be getting their needs met. And, I might add,
the variety of fences, walls, trellises and assorted garden
gates/structures add variety and visual interest to our community.  Good
fences make good neighborhoods.  Really.
Patty Mara Gourley
Tierra Nueva, central CA coast
Where we are finally, halleluia, praise jesus, building our community
workshop.  GroundBlessing was on Sunday, after oh, maybe 7 years of
planning, replanning, scraping together funding, redesigning, scraping
together more funds, paying skyrocketing fees and utility charges and
getting permits at last......finally we are going to build it.  sigh.  

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