Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Is the Common House a Public Building?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Dec 20, 2004, at 10:32 AM, Laura Fitch wrote:

> There is absolutely no other way that the common house can be 
> interpretted
> in Massachusetts (or Vermont, Maine, or NY) code other than as a Public
> Building.  It is a building with public access.

Depends on how you define public access.

The general public does not have access to our commonhouse. We do not 
allow meetings that are advertised to the public. We have hosted 
occasional neighborhood meetings but only in the same way one would 
invite a group to one's home. A member has to host every event. Members 
are responsible for their guests. We don't rent the space.

The Mail Carrier has the entry code. A few people  have given their 
cleaning people the code (unauthorized).

That doesn't seem "public" to me. We do have exit signs, and fire 
alarms, etc.

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