Cohousing-L Mailing List: Sliding Scales & Memberships

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

In Lynn's post she mentioned a  "social member". I'm interested in how
people work out memberships.

Our  physical plant is very much like a 43 unit condo with more common
facilities (and prettier of course) but we are struggling with how much
access to give to renters and to "guests." Some want everything open to
everyone and others want responsibility to be tied to use by restricting use
to members but with an associate membership available.

We do all the cleaning and landscaping and maintenance ourselves so just
keeping the place clean and well-lighted is a lot of work.

The target issue just now is the hot tub but is only an example. The hot tub
involves risk (drowning, heat, chemicals, etc.) and is work to maintain --
chemical balance, security, etc.

Should guests and renters who chose not to be members be allowed free use of
it? Should they be accompanied by members?

How do people define memberships and privileges? This is big issue for us
because in DC there are lots of house sharing arrangements. Renting a room
out is very easy to do and often done. One afternoon I was in the
commonhouse getting my mail along with 6 other people whom I did not know
although I was pretty sure who they were renting from.

We have forty three units with 51 owner members and 72 residents. I expect
that to go to 85 with about 10 children. The rest renters. So you see we
could have a number of renters, not just the odd person here or there.

Just cleaning is a lot of work. Meals are big operations.

Sharon
-- 
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org


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