Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: NIMBY-ism & Opposition to Cohousing

[Stephen Hawthorne (hawthorn]

Steve from Buelah Road wrote about neighboring opposition.

Rob's suggestions about contacting the neighbors were great.  

When we were planning Blue Heron Farm we got the names and addresses of 
all adjacent propoerty owners and sent them a letter informing them of 
our plans to leave a majority of the land open, etc., and invited them to 
the meeting of the count Planning Board which was to review the project 
as a PUD.

This made them much less frightened and more friendly at that meeting.  
The county always notifies adjacent landowners in cases like this so they 
can attend those meetings.  The fact that we invited them before they got 
the county notice was in our favor.

In addition, we had met several times with the county planner, and since 
he was in favor of our project, he spoke for it at the meeting when one 
neighbor questioned our impact on property values.

In closing, I hope you leave a lot of the existing farmland open and go 
with the ideas John Gear expressed.  Blue Heron Farm is putting 15 units 
on a small part of 64 acres of old farm and planning to continue to farm 
it for organic vagetables and livestock for  our own consumption and local 
sale.

We're in the process of developing  the legalese for how one or two 
members can do the farming, others can participate as possible while 
working off site at paying jobs, and how the coop, Blue Heron Partners,
can be reimbursed for the use of the land.  Any suggestions about how to 
do that would be welcomed.

Thanks,
Stephen Hawthorne
Blue Heron Farm
Pittsboro, NC