Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: to build fences or not to

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Mar 28, 2006, at 9:21 AM, suzanne hirsch wrote:

> Hello, I am part of the cohousing group in NYC. But more from a 
> psychological perspective/inquiry, I was wondering if any communities 
> out there have dealt with the question of whether or not to build 
> fences within and around Cohousing communities, and if folks can 
> expound on deas for, against, or somewhere in between on that matter.

We do not have large spaces of limited common element land that people 
would want to fence, so the issue for us, essentially settled before 
move-in: fencing the whole property. The neighborhood and many 
residents did not want a gated community. Our property is thus open on 
the front where you enter the green and then the piazza. But it is 
fenced on sides where it is adjacent to neighbors (most of whom also 
have fences) and on the back where the parking lot is fenced and has an 
electric gate.

Any desire, as far as I know, for a fence comes from wanting children 
to be able to play more protected. There have been no instances of 
children either wandering away or being harassed but some parents would 
be more comfortable allowing children to play unsupervised if we were 
completely fenced in.

We have a small adjacent lot behind our property, adjacent to the 
parking lot that we will fence so children can play there. Zoning 
allows a 4 foot fence and we want a 6 foot fence. Any of our 18 
children (including the two-year-olds) could easily make it over a 4 
foot fence and that lot is on a very busy through street. An eager 
child could easily go after a ball and be run over.

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