Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Zoning & SLUD's - Call for experiences

[Rob Sandelin (robsan]

Jeffery asked:
>I'm working on a general plan committee for the city of Davis, and I'm
>curious as to how hard I should push for "Cohousing" zoning or land-use
>designations.What have others' experiences been?

In the comp master plan for Snohomish County came an idea called Rural 
Cluster Developments where rural densities could be slightly increased 
if the housing was clustered and the remaining land was set up as 
greenbelt. The original bill  was modeled after Sharingwood.  It is 
still in hearings, the biggest issues are defining greenbelts (does 
that include golf courses too?) and how much bonus density for clustering.

I testified at the original hearing for this bill and  personally 
called some council members to lobby them.

I think if you want to promote cohousing in your area I suggest taking 
advantage of whatever energy you can find to do this sort of thing.  I 
would also suggest delivering a copy of the Cohousing book to your 
local planning director and staff.  I am pretty sure you can still get 
a box of 30 of the original cohousing book from the Cohousing Co in 
Berkeley for $40.  I am sending one, gift wrapped to all the County 
Council, planning dept. folks and the governor of the State next week 
as Xmas presents.

Rob Sandelin
Sharingwood and beyond