Cohousing-L Mailing List: Converting PUD to cohousing project

[Ben Blount (blount]

I am a member of a group located in Santa Cruz, California, that
for a long time has considered building a cohousing project.  There
have been times in the past ten years where it looked like a project
could actually get started.  But for a variety of reasons a real
project never jelled.  The most significant aspect is the extreme
restrictions on building in this community (and county) make it extremely
difficult to build anything unless you have experience and 
connections.  
Anyway, two families have recently bought into a 18 unit condominium
complex (we are one) and want to slowly add people to this project, through
buying units when they come up for sale.  The complex is amenable to
cohousing, though it is not perfect.  With this in mind, I have three
questions for anybody out there who wants to help us:

1.  Are there any others who know of an example where a PUD or condominium
complex has been converted to a cohousing project?  We are working
with California's standard "Covenants, codes, and restrictions" for condos.

2.  Most of the current residents like sticking to themselves and may
be reluctant to make any significant changes in landscaping, building new
facilities, or rearranging parking.  Any ideas how to deal with this issue
in the short and long term? 

3.  What is the best way to attract people to this project?

Thank you for your input.


John Deck