Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Need Zoning Law Expertise

[Philip Dowds (rphilipdowds]

You are correct:  As I understand it, a condo association managing board can 
compel and force payment of annual dues and special assessments, and can 
enforce community rules (e.g., no pet alligators), but can NOT require unit 
owners or occupants to show up for meetings or take turns mowing the yard.

But my suggestion was different, and was about a redefinition of what happens 
in the transition of power from the developer to the unit owners.  I was 
suggesting that this transition, rather than arriving immediately at a 
conventional managing board, instead vest all power and duty in plenary until 
plenary can agree to something else.  This is very cohousing-like, but may, as 
an idea, require further work from legal experts.

One of the problems here is that zoning is a very good tool for regulating the 
physical attributes of a property, but a very poor tool for regulating behavior 
or culture.  However, this does not always prevent localities from trying to 
use zoning for lifestyle control, like a provision limiting how many unrelated 
adults can live in one dwelling unit.

Thanks,
RPD

PS:  Many cohousing communities discover, sooner or later, that they benefit 
from a relationship with a bank that “gets it”.

> On Mar 29, 2019, at 3:42 AM, Brian Bartholomew via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l 
> [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> I understand the sales terms of coho units can't demand participation,
> because then unit buyers can't get mortgages because the buyer
> population for a resale is dramatically shrunk.  How then can zoning
> demand participation without causing the same problem?
> 
> If you did get the zoning, you might lose the ability to get mortgages.
> 
> Brian
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