Cohousing-L Mailing List: Ah there's that ZONING again!

[Brian Bansenauer (bansenb]

Hello
        I stumbled onto this list after friends and I discovered the
Cohousing idea from the book of the same name. I've enjoyed following the 
discussions quietly so far, but now I need some advice. We are four 
families (hoping to be between 10 and 15 families) who have begun to put
together our plans for a cohousing community in west central Wisconsin.
The area tends to the rural with the city of Eau Claire (~60,000) as the 
predominant urban center. This provides beautiful possibilities for 
those of us who would like to live in the country and those who want
to live close to the city - we hope to find both. 
However, each piece of land we have found so far has been
zoned exclusive agriculture (A1), often whether or not
it is used for farming. The piece we would like to buy at the moment has
beautiful rolling hills, 80 acres of trees, and a fantastic secluded 
feeling, ten minutes from town. A1 zoning means however that we could do 
NO multi-family units, NOR put more than 3 families on 120 acres! 

H E L P   

We have approached the zoning board. Though one person at
the office supports the idea of cohousing (quite a suprise to us),
their official recommendation would oppose re-zoning to A2 because "it
would change the nature of the neighborhood." A2 zoning is 
still agriculture but, with an exception, we could do multi-family 
units and have clustered housing for 15 families. How could we best 
explain to them that clustering a few multi-family units together to leave
the majority of the acreage in its natural beauty would help
preserve the neighborhood. The buildings would not be visible from the
road or other farms yet I get the impression that they perceive
the cohousing idea as another word for 'subdivision.'
Has anyone had experience dealing with this type of ZONING problem?
How should we approach the zoning board and the town board?
How can we most easily introduce people to the idea of cohousing?

Thanks for any help or experiences you think may be informative.
You can send them to me directly or post them if you think others 
could benefit.

Brian Bansenauer
Eau Claire, WI
bansenb [at] eve.cs.uwec.edu