Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Enforcing CC&Rs

[Jeanne Juneau (jjuneau98]

Hi Petra. I went on to your community's website (which is beautiful by the
way) looking for information about your chosen structure of governance
(method of community decision-making). I did not find anything specific on
this topic. And you did not mention any form of a governance structure in
your email.

My community uses sociocracy. You can find more information at

sociocracyforall.org.

This structure seems to work pretty well; it requires buy-in from everyone
in the community and a commitment to meeting formats and record-keeping
processes that take a bit of effort. But it makes enforcing rules less of
an issue since the community makes decisions by consent.

I'm sure there are other governance structures that are worth considering.
But it does sound like that's where your group needs to focus.

Just my two cents. Hope it's helpful.

JJ

On Fri, Jun 21, 2024, 8:31 AM Petra Martin <petra [at] petramartin.com> wrote:

> Our (young) community <https://fifthstreetcommons.com/> was founded by two
> couples, one of whom never lived here (but owned a unit that has since been
> sold) and the other who did live here for a while (but that unit has also
> been sold). They retrofitted intentional community into a former apartment
> complex and outfitted us with what looks like a boilerplate set of CC&Rs
> <https://fifthstreetcommons.com/governing-documents/>.
>
> Bottom line, we inherited a bunch of rules that we had no hand in creating,
> one rule is being violated (don't store stuff in the carports), and we've
> been going around in circles for nine months trying to rewrite that rule in
> a way that works for everyone, with no resolution in sight.
>
> Some of us are thinking, "Hey, it seems like it might be less painful to
> just enforce the rules as written," but no one has ever done that here.
>
> So, two questions:
>
>    - Do you have community-generated CC&Rs that you're willing to share
>    with me, so we can see how other cohousing communities have written
> their
>    rules and agreements?
>    - How do you enforce your community's rules? What are the
>    steps/escalations? (These
>    <https://www.hoamanagement.com/how-can-hoa-enforce-rules-regulations/>
> feel
>    fairly standard for HOAs but don't necessarily seem like a perfect match
>    for cohousing/intentional communities).
>
> Thank you for helping us work through this!
>
> Petra Martin (board president)
> 360.202.7403
> *WhatsApp* <https://wa.me/13602027403>
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