Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: washrooms - 2 required in commonhouse?

[Chris ScottHanson (chris]

on 10/28/02 8:33 AM, Leslie Myers wrote:

> Hello from Canada,
> 
> This is quite a bit lighter as a topic than guns or burnt-out committee
> members, but our development permit is requiring that we have male and
> female washrooms in our common house, meaning we must have two accessible
> washrooms rather than the one we planned and think adequate.  This will
> cut into the space in a children's room that doesn't seem very large
> already.  Our project is in the early stages of being built and we are
> appealing this decision.  Just thought it might help to find out if this
> has come up in other projects.  If we can say, "no other cohousing common
> houses have gendered washrooms", it may strengthen our appeal.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Leslie Myers

Leslie,

Unfortunately, this is common.  Makes no sense to most cohousers, but it
does to government officials trying to protect the public from bad things,
like sharing a washroom.

At Winslow Cohousing the second washroom was converted into a communications
room, with wall to wall to wall to wall bulletin boards, etc.  All fixtures
were removed.  You might plan to remove fixtures and make the room a place
for storage, or perhaps a nice little office.

Guest rooms often sell better during the permit process as storage rooms,
too.

Chris ScottHanson

Cohousing Resources, LLC
Ecovillages, Cohousing & Sustainable Communities
Development and Consulting for a Sustainable Future
   based on the Natural Power of Community

email:          Chris [at] CohousingResources.com
web site:      http://www.CohousingResources.com

9813 NE Murden Cove Dr.
Bainbridge Island, WA  98110

(206)842-9160
(206)842-9203 FAX
(206)369-7755 Cell 

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