Development: Zoning Issues for Cohousing

Clay Mitchell, Liz Ryan Cole

This session will provide an overview of some of the issues co-housing communities face as they develop their cohousing project. Using a few case studies we will provide some introductory language, a take home list of references, and an opportunity to discuss zoning questions participants bring to share.

Liz Ryan Cole has lived in collective housing on and off since she went to Oberlin in 1968. She is part of a developing cooperative cohousing project with seasonal resort business near Hanover, New Hampshire . Liz is a clinical law professor at Vermont Law School and Director of the Semester in Practice.

Clay Mitchell is a planner and an attorney in New Hampshire. He has recently completed his dissertation in Natural Resources and Earth Systems Science at the University of New Hampshire. Graduating in May of 2008, Clay hopes to use his PhD in pursuit of a blended professional/academic career in planning and energy. He graduated from Vermont Law School with a joint JD/Masters in Environmental Law and loves to get lost in the environment he hopes to protect.