Cohousing-L Mailing List: Zoning authority relationships

[Sherri Zann Rosenthal (76671.1561]

Hello, cohousers. Sherri Zann Rosenthal here, from Eno Commons Cohousing, in
process in Durham, NC. I've been lurking for a bit and haven't had time to
contribute. I am the developer-type person for Eno Commons, while I work 3/4
time as an assistant city attorney. We've got an 11.2 acre site across a small
street from beautiful Eno River State Park. We plan for the community to have 22
homes, a mix of duplexes and single family detached units. We have a bit over
1/3 of our membership, we're actively recruiting, and hope to break ground in
May or June of '96. E-mail me if you'd like info. on EC.

Our Durham, NC City-County Planning Department has been very supportive,
although some of the zoning ordinance and departmental procedures are arcane. My
relationships formed as a member of city staff have probably helped in a vague
way. A big help was to meet with the head of City-County Planning and his
relevant department heads, when the project was first conceived, to ask where in
the county they would support siting such a project. At that point, I had three
possible sites in mind. This up-front research both pleased and flattered them,
and staked them out as having "pre-approved," in a way, the site eventually
purchased. The department was *very* helpful during the rezoning process.

Our zoning ordinance, like most, is an odd mix of planners' inputs, combined
with the input of the much more conservative Engineering and Inspections
Departments, and a political layer of input. When I say "conservative," I mean
oriented toward single family suburban grid layouts, with large lots. An odd
result of this was that our Planned Unit Development (PUD) portion of the
ordinance required detached single family homes in a PUD to have front and rear
set backs from the lot lines of 20 and 25 feet! This defeats the idea of a PUD,
and would have been a real design straight jacket for us, since Eno Commons
plans to have a mix of duplex and single family detached homes.

The upshot is that by lobbying staff in Inspections and Planning, we were able
to get the ordinance revised--which required votes by both the City Council and
the County Commission. The set backs now are 8 feet, all around.

I couldn't agree more with Rob's approach to relationships to staff. Finding the
smart, creative person in the Planning Dept. who knows how to get around the
rules through creative interpretation and design is a must. Thank you notes go a
long way to create a relationship of mutual affection. And my experience is the
same as Rob suggested with regard to the Engineering Dept.: our department tends
to be the bastion of good ol' boys. Get as much help as possible through your
Planning Dept. connection, and consider, when you *really* need to, going above
the dept.to your City Manager-type person after enlisting the support of a
council member. I haven't had to do that yet, but I have been told of a
particular engineer who recently roadblocked another project's sewer line plan,
then completely flipped his position to one of support after his chain got
jerked through the manager's office.

Hope to meet some of you in Boulder next week.

Sherri Zann from Eno Commons