Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Common HOuse fees

[Patty F Gourley (pattymara]

At Tierra Nueva Cohousing, central CA coast:

> 1.  Do members pay for use of guest rooms for their own personal 
> guests?

No.  We feel that our homeowners association dues ($120 - 160 per month)
is enough to pay.  Friends and family of members stay in the guest rooms
at no additional charge.  The member who schedules the guest rooms for
use, also cleans it after the guests are gone.  

> 2.  Are guest rooms available for non-member guests?  If so, at what
cost?

Yes.  $25.00 per night.  $15 goes to the member who schedules the room,
as compensation for doing the cleaning and laundry.  $10 goes to the
homeowners association.  

> 3.  Do you allow outside groups to rent space ( e.g., dining room,
kitchen, meeting room)?  If so, how do you charge?

We discussed this hot and heavy before we moved in.  When we finally got
here, and the common house became available we were initially hesitant to
rent it out to others.  We needed time for ourselves to get to know the
space, and assess how much we really use it.  Over time we have become
more comfortable with others using our common house, but haven't
officially rented it out or charged anything yet.  So far members who are
part of other organizations have had gatherings here, such as
environmental action groups meetings, community health center planning
meetings, passover meals, or shabbot gatherings,  cub scout and soccer
meetings.  The member notifies the rest of us by announcing the upcoming
use at a meeting and posts it on the community bulletin board, and takes
responsibility for directing parking and doing all the necessary clean
up.  

> 4.  Is there a charge when members reserve common house space for a
private
 purpose?  

No charge yet.

<If so, do you make a distinction between a member hosting a
 private party, for example, and a member teaching a course for which a
fee is paid?

This hasn't come up yet.  But we've discussed the possibility of it when
our workshop is completed and we have a larger space available.  It is a
contentious issue, this notion of a member making money from the use  of
community property.  I don't really understand the heat, and am a
proponent of charging a fee.  

The biggest issue for us so far is not the using of the common spaces,
but the cleanup.  When one of our young women hosted her 20th birthday
party in the common house, she didn't "have time" to clean up after it
was over.   She soon discovered what it is like to have "20 mothers" all
at once, reminding her to clean her room.  

For the most part, our common house is empty of traffic much of the time.
 It feels good to me to see it being used for meetings and gatherings
from the larger community.  We had to scramble to find meeting space when
we were in our planning stages, and so it feels good to have it to offer.
 

Take your time in developing your own rhythms.  My advice is to go
slowly, see what works, and what doesn't, and stay flexible about rules. 
Early on for us there were members who NEEDED to be included in every
gathering and event, and felt left out if the common house was used for a
dinner that didn't include everyone.  This got to be a huge burden for
many of us who had chosen smaller houses, with the idea of using common
space to spread out into when we needed to have a dinner party for more
than six.  Slowly we just started doing it, making carefully worded
announcements like:  "I'm making dinner for Bruce's 50th birthday and am
inviting a few of his pals on Friday night.  We'll use the mezzanine." 
Well "a few of his pals" meant 4 families instead of the 27 families who
live here.  But it worked, and no one felt left out.   Over the two years
of being here we've had lots of small gatherings like this that now feel
acceptable.  

coheartedly,
Patty Mara Gourley
Tierra Nueva Cohousing, cen CA coast
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