Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Abingdon, VA ? commercial vs. common house

[harmony (harmony]

Brenda,
Please find a local architect to work with. You want one who is experienced
in small commercial and building code/zoning code analysis. They will know
how to balance what uses you are asking for in the clubhouse with the code
requirements and utilize wood frame construction. But please do not think
that "Commercial" necessarily means more expensive than "Residential".
You say "cottage court". That makes me think of individual structures for
each residence, or two together sharing one common wall. Which also makes me
think that your clubhouse will be a separate structure as well. With those
assumptions, the key to avoid the Assembly designation is how large your
gathering space is, which translates into how many people can fit in there.
If you will be satisfied with a space that can hold 49 or fewer people (49
people x 15 square feet per person = 735 square feet) at tables and chairs,
then your architect will be able to state that on the permit & construction
drawings and you can keep the cost down. But it will still be reviewed under
the commercial building code.
Your architect will also help you navigate the zoning code, and that pile of
regulations. The involvement of an architect EARLY will save you from going
down some dead ends. They will be your advisor during pre-planning &
planning, and your advocate speaking to those officials who sound like they
are talking in another language. They will also translate the code
requirements to the Contractor and keep them on track during construction so
you will get what you asked for. An architect is a sound investment, which
can save other costs down the process.
Phillip Dowds may have additional comments to share as well.

Best of luck!
Neena Jud
Cincinnati, Ohio 
(yes, I am an architect, and part of a management committee for a cave
preserve whose organization is similar to co-housing)


-----Original Message-----

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:11:31 -0400
From: Brenda Uekert <docbku [at] gmail.com>
To: Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org
Subject: [C-L]_ Abingdon, VA ? commercial vs. common house
        classification strategy
Message-ID:
        <CAA-mz+pu7cvpO_PUVp12a=8+zk65k4zyeYgONadJk3PtUc5hHg [at] 
mail.gmail.com>
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Hi all,

I'm in the due diligence phase of the purchase of a 2-acre parcel in SW
Virginia (Abingdon). My plan is to develop Blue Ridge Cottage Court, a
12-unit net-zero multi-generational cottage court.

Our local building official flagged that a "clubhouse" gets tagged as
commercial/Assembly occupancy under Virginia's building code ? which brings
a real cost premium (sprinklers, panic hardware, commercial-grade
construction, higher permit fees). So now we're wondering how to replace the
"clubhouse" with a "common house" that we use for meetings and crafts and
get residential status.

Curious how other communities have handled this:

   - Did your common house get classified as commercial, residential, or
   something in between ? and what drove that outcome?
   - If you avoided commercial classification, how did you do it?
   - Any regrets or things you'd do differently, cost-wise or design-wise,
   in regard to the common house, looking back?

Thanks in advance ? happy to share back what we land on once we've worked
through it with our architect.

Brenda
Blue Ridge Cottage Court <https://drbrendau.com/blue-ridge-cottage-court/>
-- 

*Brenda K. Uekert, PhD*

Sociologist | Writer | Adventurer

? Read my Substack - Cottage Court Chronicles
<https://cottagecourt.substack.com/p/coming-soon>