Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: common spaces use policy and procedures

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Nov 25, 2015, at 1:47 PM, Diana Porter <porterd [at] cinci.rr.com> wrote:
> 
> How does someone go about trying to reserve the common Space?  How far in 
> advance can they reserve?  

We have a calendar for reserving all spaces in the CH, on the grounds (not used 
much), and 3 spaces for guests. There is no restriction on future reservations 
except for the guestrooms. That restriction is 4 months in advance, but 
exceptions can be made. Reservations can be for 10 days but exceptions can be 
arranged.

> Is it first-come first-serve?

Yes. But people often have discussions to see if a conflict can be worked out. 
Sometimes other people will offer a bedroom in their unit also.

> What is a small group wants to use it weekly, even on a night that no one 
> else wants to use it?  

This is allowed but if a larger group wants to use the large room the smaller 
group or the ongoing group will move to another room. 

I personally find it tedious to see the same group in the living room week 
after week on a Tuesday night. We have an NVC group meeting for years (?) and 
it meant the living room was never available on Tuesday night without special 
arrangements. Since the TV is in there, it made spontaneous watching difficult. 

Once a month meetings are more common.

And outside group would not be able to do this.

> Is there a cost?  

We don’t charge for using the CH but if it is a group of people mostly 
unrelated to the community or a neighborhood meeting, we ask for a donation. 
When we moved in, some thought it would be a good revenue source to rent the 
CH. It was fairly quickly realized this was unfeasible. It meant the space was 
too often not available to the community, and raises insurance and liability 
issues.

> If it must be clean up by those who use it, who decides if it is clean enough?

Who ever uses it cleans it. A resident is required to supervise any outside 
group. We don’t have an official person for judging “clean” but we do have 
point persons for each room. They would raise a fuss. But this isn’t really a 
problem. The room is usually left as it was found.

> Our condo association is working on a new policy and we would love to see 
> what is “usual and customary” in other communities.

In your high rise building the expectations might be different for those who 
are not part of your community. But I think it would be good to have more 
collegial and transparent use than most condos have. Condos tend to ruled by 
privacy which is interpreted to be no information shared about anyone or their 
activities. 

In cohousing it is more likely to be activities within a person’s unit, not 
necessarily in common rooms and spaces. Transparency brings with it less need 
for policing. Everyone knows or can know who was using a room.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org