Cohousing-L Mailing List: oooooops! Re: [C-L]_ Chris Kemp's Response to Rules & Regs Violation

[S. Kashdan (skashdan]

It is really important to not jump too quickly to conclusions. There are,
indeed, more aspects (more elements) than have been explained on this list
so far.

Moreover, there are, as in any human situation,  interpersonal aspects, and
they are, in my mind not really appropriate or fruitful to discuss on a list
like this.

But, I will try to explain a little more of what I think is relevant to
cohousers in other communities.

All cohousing communities certainly do need to learn how to orient new
residents and how to remind old residents of rules that we continue to
consider important, since people don't automatically check the rules before
doing many things. At Jackson Place, we need to work  on both more. It is
also important to have a process for reviewing rules to decide if they are
still relevant as time passes. And, we also need to continually work on
improving processes for dealing with situations when people don't follow the
rules.

In this case, I think that more than just a rule about the esthetics of
satellite dishes is involved. I think there is another important rule that
has a rational basis that needs to be kept in mind.

Jackson Place is a condominium association as well as a cohousing community.
It is constructed as connected townhouses and duplexes, one triplex, and the
common house with apartments built in. The condominium association jointly
owns the outer shells of all the buildings up to the inner walls with the
paint or other finish, etc. The inside of the living spaces are owned by the
homeowners, but not the interiors of the walls with the insulation, wiring
and building supports, etc.  If there is damage to the property owned by the
association, even if it has been caused by an individual homeowner, the
association is obligated to pay the cost of repairs, either through the
insurance deductible for an insurance claim, or directly.

Satellite dishes are objected to by many people, and a lot of condominium
associations in Washington State have rules against them, which is
apparently not illegal. The housing development next to ours, which is also
a condominium association but not cohousing, apparently also has a rule
about them, which some of the homeowners neglected to follow, and they are
faced with the problem this has generated too.

When a satellite dish is installed through an outer wall, it might create an
opening for mold or mildew or for other types of serious damage to occur.
One neighbor reports that a friend's partner used to "install dishes. He
says they absolutely had to get a written release from either the landlord
or the pres. of the condo association before installing anything. I guess
experience had taught them the hard way."

As far as I understand things, given the fact that the condominium
association jointly owns the outer shell of the buildings up to the inner
walls with the paint or other finish, etc., the association (or the teams
that represent the association and the community) should be consulted before
anything is done that might compromise that outer shell or the wiring, or
insulation, or supports in the space between the outer surface and the inner
walls with the paint, etc. This could avoid costing all of us a lot of money
in fixing mistakes, and it could avoid a lot of hard feelings too. I think
this is as important as the issue of the appearance.

Best,

Sylvie

Sylvie Kashdan

Jackson Place Cohousing

800 Hiawatha Place South

Seattle, WA 98144

www.seattlecohousing.org