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

[PattyMara Gourley (pattymara]

Hi Norm,
To answer your questions:
>     Do the fences in your community represent the boundaries of 
> "Exclusive Use Association Common Areas", or is each fenced area owned
as part 
> of an individual's condominium?  

We have privately owned land which surrounds each home.  

Does each fenced area appear on a map as an officially recognized amenity
appurtenant to the adjacent residence 
> and
> therefore automatically transferred to the new owner upon sale and 
> with the
> same boundaries as those originally delineated?

ummmm.  It is privately owned and goes with the house on the deed.  There
are markers designating property lines...some of which lie under common
pathways and such.  

Our garages and carports are on common land though, and we have a use
contract for those, and pay the property taxes for them.  We own the
structure and use the land they occupy.

Patty



> Norm Gauss
> Oak Creek Commons
> Paso Robles, CA
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "PattyMara Gourley" <pattymara [at] juno.com>
> To: <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 7:29 PM
> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Re: [C-L]fences/walls in backyards in cohousing
> 
> 
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > ________________________________________________________________
> > The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
> > Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
> > Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info 
> at:
> > http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> >
> >
> 
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
> 
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> 
> 
> 
> 


www.gourleydesign.com



42

________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!