

Rocky Hill folks wanted more trees in their center area.




Thursday August 20, 7:00 PM: Public Meeting - Learn More About
Join us for dessert and cold drinks while exploring displays and materials. Free.

WESTPORT - Central Village could host a community where residents share everything from meals to lawnmowers to vegetables if a group of residents succeed in bringing a cohousing development to town.
The group has just launched a Web site and is promoting a meeting in Dartmouth later this month about the cohousing movement, lead by the cofounder of a renewable energy building company and a cohousing resident on Martha’s Vineyard. It is scheduled for 7 p.m. July 23 at the Apponagansett Meeting House at 850 Russells Mills Road.
“This summer is our coming out,” said Elaine Ostroff, a Planning Board member who is leading the cohousing effort in town.
The group is considering multiple sites in Central Village, and an architect will soon present a conceptual design for the community, Ostroff said. Plans call for about one-fourth of the 24 units to be designated as affordable. Most cohousing developments are that size, though some have more than 60 units.
If built, the Westport project would be the 15th in Massachusetts. The nearest is Alchemy Farm in Falmouth, a 13-unit development on 16 acres. The group planning the Westport development prefers a site of about 3 acres, Ostroff said.
“A guiding principle of Westport cohousing will be sustainability” — socially, environmentally and economically, the group’s Web site says.
The Cohousing Association of the United States, which promotes awareness and development, lists defining characteristics of cohousing developments as: a process for residents to participate in the design of the project; a design that encourages a sense of community; common facilities like a kitchen or exercise room; and a management structure run by residents.
Management is not hierarchical and residents do not share incomes.
Residents usually share two or three meals a week, baby-sit for each other and plan trips together. Most developments cluster houses together like an old village. “It’s the idea that people can walk between the houses and see each other,” Ostroff said.
The Westport cohousing group will set up a table at the Westport Farmers Market this summer and has a meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Macomber Community House to explain their plans.
E-mail Grant Welker at gwelker@heraldnews.com.
We had a a site planning workshop with architect Randall Imai as part of our meeting on July 16. This was a conceptual exercise to help us begin to understand the density in having 24 units on 3 buildable acres. We came to a few agreements; we wanted more open space in front of the houses; we wanted to feel connected to the Town; there should be a mix of configurations - ranging from a stand alone house to duplexes, Town Houses and perhaps a 2 floor 6-unit dwelling that would have an elevator. This multi-family unit might be adjacent to the Common House. The parking might be in clusters around the site, with pathways connecting the houses to the parking and Common House. We understood that this was 'site planning lite' - to do this properly would be a weekend workshop. We wanted to do this initial planning to have some concepts to share with the community at our big public meeting on August 20.Thursday July 23, 2009 at 7:00PM
Cohousing guru John Abrams will discuss the philosophy behind the growing Cohousing movement, and other ideas on how to build inspired thinking into communities at every level. His talk is entitled “Thinking Like Cathedral Builders: Affordable Housing, Community Preservation and Business for People and Place.”
Abrams is cofounder and CEO of South Mountain Company, a 34-year-old employee owned design/build and renewable energy company on Martha’s Vineyard in West Tisbury,
Abrams serves on the Island Housing Trust and Island Affordable Housing Fund boards, the Green Building Advisor, and the steering committee of Island Plan, which is working on a 50 year plan for the
enjoying a group dinner
Apponagansett Meeting House is located at 850 Russells Mills Road in Dartmouth, MA 02748.
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