Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Questions about events open to the public on community property

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On May 24, 2023, at 8:02 PM, PatZy via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] 
> cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> I know a number of cohousing communities Just Say No to events open to the 
> public.  And presumably some do hold them.  We’d love to hear more about why 
> those who don’t do them, don’t. 

We started out in 2000 in being open to community events and decided to play it 
by ear. We didn’t want to become the standard go-to for anyone who wanted to 
hold a meeting, but we wanted to be open.

Charging for events was out because it creates liability and tax issues. We 
were open for donations and at one point kept a list of items that we would 
like to have donated — most were appliances for the kitchen. We were still 
minimally stocked. That list expired at some point.

We have had good experiences with members hosting monthly meetings of their 
associations and groups — DC Birders, eBikers, Folk Singing, Early Music, 
office retreats, small organizations’ annual dinners, etc. Many of the clubs 
met monthly for a year or more. Lots of friends of members birthday parties.

After liability and safety concerns, what it comes down to is a lot of work and 
who wants to do it. Member-sponsored events are best because then someone is 
responsible to organize set up and clean up. And we know who to talk to if the 
group’s behavior is over the line, or larger than we could handle.

We have had large “emergency” safety meetings of neighborhood groups and 
presentations by the city about proposed changes to intersections and traffic. 
These were one-time events for the most part — perhaps a follow-up meeting. And 
very welcome because the neighborhood associations didn’t have to rent space.

With the pandemic, of course, we have only just begun meeting in groups 
ourselves. But I think the requests from outside groups have been declining. 
There seems to be less neighborhood organizing which is probably cyclical based 
on generational swings. 

When we had 20 children and were newer we were more concerned about security 
and “who is coming”. We have rules about no publicly announced events — nothing 
with an ad in a newspaper or distributed to the public. Outside groups have to 
be announced so everyone knows that strangers will be around and where to 
direct them. If I host a meeting, I would put it in a club newsletter with my 
Unit number, not described as “the common house” or “meeting room”. 

Our common house is open plan, so to speak. The great room is open to the 
hallways and kitchen. The small rooms open off this area. That is both an 
advantage and a disadvantage. It is flexible so a group might meet in one part 
of the room or expand in all directions. But it is not closed so the group has 
no privacy. People walk through to get their mail or go to the laundry room. 
Children might be using the playroom. 

When we moved in there were many assumptions about what the common house would 
be used for. Some thought the common house would be used for income to help 
support operations costs. Fairly quickly we realized that we wanted it for 
ourselves. Occasional meetings and being able to extend hospitality to groups 
in need is nice, but managing a space that is open to the public is a whole 
operation with its own demands. 

How many demands can you maintain your common house ready to meet? How much do 
you want a group to depend on being able to reserve space in the common house 
especially, during holiday seasons like December. At what  point do you have to 
check “outside reservations” before you can plan your own? Clubs, in 
particular, would plan holiday dinners up to a year in advance — months before 
we would even start thinking about it.

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