Consensus agreements

Introduction

These Rules, Regulations, and Policies are derived from consensus agreements, made over the years by the HOA.

Children

Childlife Committee Agreements

6/23/02

Policy regarding adult/children agreements and guidelines. Child life Committee Agreements

Neighborhood children are welcome at Cascadia

Proposal about neighborhood kids visiting which was passed in 2011:

“Neighborhood children are welcome on the grounds of Cascadia Commons and may use the play equipment, provided that a resident of Cascadia Commons supervise the children to a reasonable degree.  As such, the children are considered guests of the Cascadian.  It is expected that the Cascadian will interface with the parents of the neighborhood children and that the Cascadian will require the children to check in with the Cascadian when they come on-site.  The Cascadian should also let the community at large know that they have established a relationship with the children.”

This proposal was passed without a Sunset Clause. The current policy states that a Cascadia adult must supervise.

Pets

This pet policy establishes a common philosophy about what is best for our community, based on a broad perspective and common courtesy. lt does not expect to change anyone’s personal philosophy about pets. lt does expect both that pet guardians’ habits will adapt to community needs. and that the community will respect pet guardians needs. 

Our community pet policy supports the following tenets: 

The harmonious enjoyment of our community life together

  • Pets are not allowed in the common house. [See notes below.]
  • There will be no commercial breeding of animals at Cascadia. Exceptions will be considered.
  • Guardians will take all reasonable steps to ensure that their pets do not become a nuisance to others (ex: barking, spraying, etc.)
  • The Cascadia Pet Policy applies to both resident & visiting pets & their guardians. 

The prevention of illness and injury to people and pets 

  • All cats and dogs, and other species as deemed appropriate, will be spayed/neutered. Exceptions will be considered.
  • Guardians will take all reasonable steps to ensure that their pets do not become a health or safety hazard to others (ex: disease transmission, allergies, fleas, aggressiveness, droppings, etc.) 
  • Pet Profile Forms will be completed for each pet, and filed in the Common House. If something happens to a pet while his/her guardian is away, members should consult the information on file before taking action. (unless emergency) 

The right of Cascadians & our neighbors to enjoy a property free of animal waste, damage and trespass

  • Guardians will remove all outdoor messes daily (feces, vomit, dead animals, etc.). Pets should not use garden areas, non-guardian LCE areas, or the children’s play area as a bathroom. Dogs should use designated areas only. Use pink flags to designate found messes. 
  • Guardians are responsible for the remediation of any damage caused by their pets.

See Pet Policy page for additional notes.

Rental Policy

Rental policy – Document that combines all known work on rental policy over the years

HOA Meetings

Adjustable Quorum Policy

If a unit is not represented by an owner at a meeting of the Association’s Board of Directors for six (6) consecutive meetings, then on the seventh (7th) meeting, the quorum pool is reduced by one. If that unit is active, and again represented at a future meeting by an owner, then this unit again contributes to the quorum pool.

Tracking active unit representation will be done at each meeting. It is the obligation of a unit’s representative to make sure they are accounted for accurately, if they arrive late.

Non-Owner HOA meeting participation

HOA MEETING 2 10 13

It is proposed that all HOA meetings will continue to be referred to as “HOA Meetings” but will be conducted in an open meeting format whereby renters and non-owner residents may attend and participate in discussion at the discretion of the facilitator in the same manner available to unit owners. Renters and non-owners may participate in straw polls, and a straw poll may be done before all tests for consensus. Renters and non-owner residents may participate in discussions but not participate in a test for consensus or vote.

Guest Room Policy

  1. The following groups are acceptable for guest stays in the Common House:
    1. Family/Friends
    2. Prospective Buyers
    3. Other co-housers
    4. Contacts curious about co-housing
  2. In the event of scheduling conflicts, guests will be given preference in the order listed above.
    All Common House guests must have a Cascadian sponsor.
  3. The maximum allowable stay is one to two weeks, depending on the time of year and other requests.
  4. Guest need to specify:
    1. Length of stay 
    2. Number of people 
    3. Special needs 
  5. A donation of $20-$35 per night is suggested for stays at the Common House.
  6. As pets and service animals are not allowed in the Common House, guests will need to make arrangements for their pets or service animals. 

Note: Since service animals are not pets, they are not restricted by our Pet Policy.

Exceptions to the above guidelines may be granted by the Common House stay coordinator with the assistance and agreement of the Common House committee.

7/11/10 Suggested Common House stay donation

  1. For friends and family of members, we keep the current policy.
  2. For people visiting for cohousing- related business the statement will be, “We request a donation of $10.00 per night per room.”
  3. For anyone else, the statement will be, “We request a donation of $25.00 per night per room.”

Use of facilities and commonly owned property

“Ben’s Law” (GCE breakage)*

In the event that a Cascadia Commons family member or guest breaks an object in the common house or GCE, then the following decision matrix shall be used to determine who is responsible for repair or replacement of said object. 

  1. If it is determined that the object broke as a function of normal wear and aging of the object, and the break occurred at the end of its life expectancy and just happened to occur while being used, manipulated, or operated by the HOA family member or guest, then the HOA is responsible for replacing or repairing the object. Put simply, if the object is at the end of its lifecycle and just happens to come apart in someone’s hand, then they will not be held personally responsible for it. 
  2. If it is determined that the object broke, was damaged, or was rendered inoperable by malfeasance, misuse, or by accident, and it was not at the end of its lifecycle, then the Cascadian, or Cascadian hosting the guest is responsible for repairing or replacing the object.  
  3. In the event of #2 cited above, and the Cascadian is unable to pay in full for the replacement or repair, then the HOA front the cost of replacement with a written agreement in place where the Cascadian will pay the community back over time. 
  4. As to the issue of determining the lifecycle of a particular item, as referenced in #1, it is assumed that it is most likely that it will be common knowledge that a particular item is nearing the end of its lifecycle simply by common observation, or that a particular subset of Cascadians will have the appropriate expertise and make such a determination.

Small Decision Process

The goal of the Small Decision Process is to:

  1. Enable “small” decisions to be made more easily without burdening the larger group with the overhead involved. 
  2. Free up umbrella and subcommittees to make decisions within their arena, and easily socialize ideas. 
  3. Educate the group regarding negative issues of micro management, and positive aspects of appropriate delegation, complete with modeling of new socially responsible behaviors.
  4. Reduce complaints from members of the community regarding holes in the present decision making system. 

For more detail you can read the Small Decision Mechanism agreement.

Planting native plants materials in GCE

Homeowners are allowed to plant native plants materials in their backyards in GCE (peripheral) areas that border their LCEs. This applies to plants, not structures.

The 4-step conflict resolution policy

4/14/02
  1. Identify the conflict or problem;
  2. If possible, speak directly to the person(s) with whom conflict seems to be recurring. If no resolution, go to step 3.
  3. Select another person to mediate between conflicting parties.  
  4. If the above is not effective, the volunteer mediator may meet a 2nd time with parties to develop recommendations or additional steps needed for resolving the dispute.

NOTE: The amendment included in this consensus was that the following would be revisited in July 2002, and at that time it would be decided whether this policy would be mandatory. No note of that happening.