Cohousing-L Mailing List: Cohousing/ Farm Interface

[Joel Plotkin (joel]

Coho'ers:

I'm curious about organizational dynamics of Cohousing communities that have
farms as part of the common land. At Hundredfold Farm in PA, we have a
Christmas tree farm that is a profit-making business. At present, all
residents are required to be members of the Tree Farm LLC, a separate
corporation (easier for tax purposes). We hope to make membership optional,
in which case, the farm will be a business operated by a subset of the
community. They will lease property and own equipment used for the business.

How have other communties handled their farms? Some lease to residents, some
to outside farmers, some own and operate, sometimes the farmer is an
employee of the COHO, etc. What models have you found that work for your
community? What models were problematic? I'm also interested in a governance
issue--do those coho members who are also business partners have to stand
aside during COA decisions about the business? Our condo documents have a
conflict-of-interest clause that would seem to apply there.

Joel Plotkin
Hundredfold Farm Cohousing
Orrtanna PA