Cohousing-L Mailing List: big land

[Casey Morrigan (cjmorr]

I am enjoying this thread as I consider the two acres on which 14 households
live in our small town cohousing setting.  We had to balance the veggie
garden, keeping a scrap of the original oak forest, play space for kids and
dogs, lawn and plaza. When I saw another cohousing's large garden I got
cohousing envy but then heard, even with more space, that negotiation was
needed on use of their land.  I concluded that negotiation was needed no
matter how big the parcel.

(As an aside, apropos of nothing except early land use negotiations, I
remember growing up in San Francisco with a standard urban back yard, and
begging my mother for a horse.  It must have been really hard explaining
zoning laws to a 6-year-old as I pressed her to say why we couldn't keep it
in the back yard and exercise it in the park across the street. )

Although I was born in Alaska I've lived in mainly urban settings and I
drool over the idea of acreage in the "three figures" range.  I've not heard
yet of cohousing on a piece of land as big as you are envisioning; hope it
happens!  No problem with the horse issue there  :)

Many of us here work from our homes and maintain an office in our homes.
We'd hoped to build offices over the garages when we did up our plans but
money reality dictated carports after all.  We do have a workshop area in
the same space where the carports are.  It is close to my house and noisy
occasionally.  If there is a project going on the worker will usually warn
me and I can do earplugs, shut windows or negotiate a quiet time if I need
it. For short term saw use, I ignore it.   No one uses it to make their
living.

Casey Morrigan
Two Acre Wood
Sebastopol, California


Greetings  : )

My family and I are cohousing wannabes in South Central Alaska.  There are
so many aspects of cohousing we are attracted to, but as we work through our
overall vision and primary goals, we're wondering if some of the things we
don't want to give up are even compatible with cohousing.  We'd love some
input on the following:

How have small business (out of the home) been handled?  In particular,
artist/shop space, where the activities are not hobby but the family's
primary source of income?  (Individual shop/studio space on the family's own
land, community shop, or ?)

What kinds of farming activities, and how have they been handled by the
community?  Two things here - when animals are kept on common land for
personal use such as horses and chickens, and when animals are also a source
of income, such as sheep.

If one derives economic benefit from community resources, how does one
compensate the community, or is it even an issue?  As an example, the
community has 20 acres set aside as pasture and you're not just grazing your
horse but raising animals to sell.

Have any communities dealt with these issues, and can you share how it was
handled?

Thank you ever so much,
Rhea
in Alaska, looking to cohomestead on 160 acres or more, with other wonderful
people.  (Email me for more info!)

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