Cohousing wins approval in an ardent no-growth town

In the great and historic town of San Juan Bautista, CA (pop. 1500), any new building project of more than three houses has to win a simple majority vote by the general population in a special election before it can proceed. That is, the applicant has to spend $50,000 and about six months of work just to get an election date, a ballot printed and all of the rest.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007, two-thirds of the electorate of San Juan Bautista voted to approve a new 24-unit senior cohousing community that will be designed by McCamant & Durrett Architects along with the future residents – yet again proving the effectiveness of real people power in the context of an extremely ardent no-growth town.