Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Unprogrammed suites

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

As a practicing architect familiar with zoning and building codes, I know 
exactly what you are talking about when you get into the technicalities of the 
wiring, stove and hotplate.  But speaking personally, I don't think you have a 
technical or legal problem that can be resolved by enforcing the fine print.  I 
think you have a political problem that will get properly resolved only by the 
community — not you alone, but the whole community — confronting the party whom 
you report as having a loose relationship with the pre-agreed values and 
principles.  Traditionally, many cohos do not have trustworthy conflict 
resolution mechanisms.  Communitarian living is not the long suit of many 
Americans, who tend to value individuality, autonomy and self-realization well 
above collaboration, cooperation, and subordination of personal interest to the 
success of the group as a whole.

One ideal outcome is that your outlier, with proper persuasion, will understand 
better the communal interests, and willingly back off without getting 
permanently crosswise with the community.  Another ideal outcome is that you 
and your community will come understand how this kind of individual initiative, 
and a certain number of "suites", within limits of course, can be beneficial 
for everyone.

Try to keep your boat on a steady course, with everyone in it.  Good luck.

RPD

PS:  Under no circumstances should you tolerate the creation of an additional 
dwelling unit without proper local building permit.  That's just plain illegal.

On Oct 24, 2012, at 3:17 PM, Beverly Jones Redekop wrote:

> 
> Thank you Ann, Phillip, and Randy for your replies.
> 
> The home in question has a finished basement space already existing.  It
> seems like they plan to have tenants (with separate entrance and separate
> kitchen/eating) in the existing space without getting permission from the
> city for a legal suite, let alone permission from the cohousing community
> for an additional unit.
> 
> Our cohousing has some rental units: this isn't about viewing tenants as
> inferior residents to owners.  There are also several roommate situations.
> 
> In this area, the city will respond to calls about illegal suites if the
> complainant lives within a certain distance.  The repercussion, however, is
> just to demand that the owner remove the wiring for a stove.  It is fairly
> common practice for people to have "roommates" instead of a "suite" by
> providing a hotplate instead of a stove for the tenants.
> 
> We paid a lot of money for the workshop to determine the number of units in
> our community, and, as someone who sold her single family home to create
> something wonderful with like-minded individuals, I feel threatened by
> people who cheerfully ignore the agreements we created.  I valued the
> autonomy in my single-family home to create and maintain beauty, peace, and
> order for my family; I thought cohousing would be a civilized and safe
> place to co-create beauty, peace, and order while having fun and being
> connected.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
>          Beverly Jones Redekop
> 
>    beverly.jones.redekop [at] gmail.com
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> 
> On Wed, Oct 24, 2012 at 4:40 AM, Ann Zabaldo <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net> 
> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Hello Beverly -- I don't know what Canadian law or local law requires but
>> here in the U.S. in my jurisdiction and surrounding areas The Declaration
>> in the condo docs specifies what the project is and what will be built e.g.
>> 
>> 1.43 acre site
>> 1 attached building containing
>> 43 homes w/ shared walls single roof
>> etc. etc.
>> 
>> It would be impossible to add another unit w/out a change in The
>> Declaration.
>> 
>> While By-laws can be changed with some effort, The Declaration is almost
>> impossible to change.  Do your legal documents contain something of this
>> nature?
>> 
>> One other important thing ... how are the common expenses calculated for
>> your community?  Is any part of the condo fee (are you are condo BTW?) or
>> shared expenses calculated using square footage?   If people are
>> refinishing or adding space and square footage is in the algorithm
>> calculating the monthly fee this should change the household's monthly fee.
>> Also by building out more inhabitable space, the entire development would
>> be gaining square footage of the built environment and that additional
>> square footage would change the percentage interest of the household in the
>> whole development.
>> 
>> Actions have consequences.  Start messing w/ this stuff ... it gets really
>> complicated and maybe even illegal --  after all your project is a contract
>> w/ the municipality that gave you the right to build on this site.  Did the
>> household in question go through any kind of permitting process to add this
>> basement?
>> 
>> Maybe I don't have the whole picture here and I'm not a zoning or
>> construction specialist.  And I certainly don't know anything about
>> Canadian law.  Just some things to consider.
>> 
>> The bigger issue you may have is having people in your community simply
>> making decisions on their own about the built environment and its impact on
>> the community as a whole.
>> 
>> Best --
>> 
>> Ann Zabaldo
>> Takoma Village Cohousing
>> Washington, DC
>> Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
>> Falls Church VA
>> 703-688-2646
>> 
>> On Oct 24, 2012, at 5:15 AM, R Philip Dowds wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Your condominium or HOA Bylaws should have something to say about
>> additions, renovations, subdivisions and other modifications of each
>> dwelling unit — something like Yes, No, or Maybe If, depending on the scope
>> and nature of the modification.  Do your Bylaws allow for running a
>> for-profit enterprise out of one's basement?  Rental real estate OK?  What
>> about a psychoanalyst's office?  Your local zoning, and/or the special
>> permit you may have received, could also govern what happens in this
>> basement.
>>> 
>>> On Oct 24, 2012, at 2:02 AM, Beverly Jones Redekop <
>> beverly.jones.redekop [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> .
>>>> 
>>>> It seems that one owner may be proceeding with a basement suite in his
>>>> townhouse. The suite's entrance would be through the home's backyard
>> (20'
>>>> deep backyards).
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Thank you,
>>>> Beverly
>>>> 
>>>> Groundswell Cohousing at Yarrow Ecovillage
>>>> Yarrow (Chilliwack), BC, Canada
>>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
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>> 
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