This is a copy of an archival document from 1992 provided by Lois Arkin. Note that a lot of the answers are not accurate according to current conditions.
Urban Ecology Australia
Eco City 2 Conference - Adelaide April 1992
Proceedings
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES ECO VILLAGE
Lois Arkin
More than two dozen questions are addresses in this paper. Based on
actual queries made during a variety of public presentations, the
questions come from representatives of homeowner groups, environmental
activists, local government officials and constituent groups of the
sponsoring organizations.
The questions and answers are divided into four categories:
1. A few basics about the Los Angeles Eco Village
2. Getting into the L.A. Eco Village
3. Living in the L.A. Eco Village
4. The L.A. Eco Village and the surrounding neighborhoods
The answers are not intended to be comprehensive, rather they are
offered as succinct summaries of very complex material that can help the
audience determine a direction for further study.
Question: Will residents be owners or renters?
Answer: There will be both owners and
renters. Two-thirds of the units will be targeted for ownership. There
will be lease-option methods whereby renters can become owners. In all
cases, renters will be required to be fully functioning members of the
community, in a sense have social equity.
Question: Will residents own their own land and buildings?
Answer: The land will be owned by a community land trust. A CLT is a non-profit legal form of
ownership in which land is permanently held by the non-profit
organization in order to permanently remove it from the speculative real
estate market and ensure that it is developed and stewarded in an
ecologically and socially just manner. Board members for the CLT are
elected from residents and public spirited citizens knowledgeable about
and committed to the CLT concept. The built structures will be in
private cooperative ownership. The co-ops will pay land rent to the CLT.
Question: How is a co-op different than a condo?
Answer: In cooperatives, a non-profit corporation owns all of the individual housing and common
spaces. Co-op members own a share of stock in the co-op corporation
which entitles them to occupancy in a unit of the housing. Members elect
a board of directors which is legally responsible for the housing.
Members pay a monthly pro rata share of all of the costs of their
housing unit, including principle, interest, taxes, insurance,
maintenance, reserve fund, education, etc. They receive full homeowner
tax benefits. Departing members may sell their shares back to the co-op
or to a new member approved by the co-op. New buyers must go through
credit checks just as in a conventional purchase. Some co-ops have
resale controls so that the housing remains affordable to future users
whose incomes are similar to the initial owners. Resale controls will be
utilized in the L.A. Eco Village. In condos, each unit of housing is
privately owned and deeded. The common facilities are owned
cooperatively through a homeowners association, elected by the members.
Generally, there are no controls on resales.
Question: What is permaculture?
Answer: Permaculture is a system of design developed
by Australian ecologist Bill Mollison. It is the conscious design and
maintenance of productive ecosystems which have the ability, stability
and resilience of natural ecosystems. Its methods help us eliminate
dangerous herbicides, pesticides and other toxins currently
contaminating our air, land and water. Its methods also allow us to
reclaim many materials currently still classified as trash or wastes,
such as grass and tree clippings. In permaculture, all wastes are
utilized within the systems. The design is always ecologically
compatible with the region where it is installed. Permaculture
associations and training opportunities now exist throughout the world.
In Southern California, the Southern California Permaculture Institute
is located in Laguna Beach.
Question: What is the difference between an eco village and a commune?
Answer: A commune refers to a type of community in which residents share income, a
practice popular among some religious and spiritual communities. In an
eco village, individuals and families maintain their private incomes
just as in the conventional society. The key defining characteristic in
an eco village is sustainability, referring to such qualities as good
neighborliness, non-polluting work and transportation, recycling
systems, etc.
Question: What is a community land trust?
Answer: A CLT is a non-profit organization
with an elected board of directors which holds title to land in order to
remove it from the speculative real estate market and ensure that it is
stewarded in accordance with principles of sustainability. The land is
made available to individual families, cooperatives and other
organizations through long term (lifetime) leases which may be
transferred to the leaseholders’ heirs. Leaseholders may own the
buildings on the land owned by the land trust. There are several hundred
successful community land trusts throughout the country.
Question: What is a mutual housing association?
Answer: A mutual housing association
is democratically structured non-profit membership organization which
develops cooperative and/or member controlled housing. MHA members are
those already in housing developed by the MHA as well as those planning
for future development. The housing might take a variety of physical
forms. The Los Angeles Mutual Housing Association is the non-profit
housing development organization for the Los Angeles Eco Village and
associated small businesses.
Question: How do people get into the eco village?
Answer: Attend an orientation, join CRSP and the L.A. Mutual Housing Association ($35/year), begin an associated savings program, become active on a committee, join a
cohousing cluster group or other applicable committee, meet the
education and training requirements, remain actively involved.
Question: What is cohousing?
Answer: Cohousing communities are resident-developed pedestrian oriented neighborly communities where individual households are clustered around a common house with shared facilities, such as a dining room, an area for childcare, workshops, laundry, gardening and
parking. Each home is self-sufficient with a complete kitchen, but
dinners are often available in the common house on a voluntary basis.
The legal, financial and physical structures vary considerably.
CoHousing? is a new archtype in housing designed to meet the needs of
changing family structures and create more sustainable neighborhoods.
Question: How is all this financed? -
Answer: eco villages, cooperatives, cohousing,
community land trusts, mutual housing associations? A. In all of the
same ways that conventional developments are financed plus there are
many lenders specializing in loans to various types of collaborative and
ecological community development, such as the National Cooperative Bank.
In all cases, cooperative homeowners come up with a down payment just as
in conventional single family homeownership, and make a monthly payments
that cover their pro rata share of the mortgage, interest, taxes,
reserves, maintenance, etc. Community land trusts are often started on a
joint venture basis with local governments which can provide land at
reduced prices to developments which have an educational charitable
purpose which is in the public interest. Members of a non-profit mutual
housing association and community land trust may hold special fund
raising events and obtain grants from various foundations and
corporations which want to support demonstrations of urban sustainable
communities.
Question: What level of self sufficiency is there in an eco village?
Answer: A commonly used figure is about 40%. That is, people who live in eco
villages can expect to meet about 40% of all of their basic needs within
or near the village: food, energy, livelihood, clothing, recreation,
leisure and social activities, education, etc. Of course, some will use
the village for meeting many more of their needs while others will meet
more of their needs outside of the village.
Question: Do people have to eat together?
Answer: No, meal sharing is strictly voluntary. Generally, speaking though, those who live in Cohousing communities find that they prefer to eat fairly regularly in the common
house. There are well established finely working systems for sharing
meal preparation, clean up and costs. The book CoHousing?: A Contemporary
Approach to Housing Ourselves by Kathryn McCamant? and Charles Durrett
discusses many meal sharing methods.
Question: How will people be recruited for the eco village?
Answer: The non profit sponsoring organizations (CRSP, Eco-Home Network, TreePeople?, etc.) have well established constituencies of people interested in eco village
types of projects. All of these organizations are fairly prominent in
the news and have open membership policies. Anyone with a cooperative
and ecological orientation is welcome to sign up for membership in the
Los Angeles Mutual Housing Association. Eco Village planners are also
talking with people who live in the neighborhoods surrounding the
proposed L.A. Eco Village site in the Montecito Heights area. Many of
these people have expressed interest on behalf of them selves,
relatives, and friends in living in the eco village. Because the L.A.
Mutual Housing Association is an on-going organization, it is not
restricted to developing housing in the original 11 acre site.
Eventually, any one who wants to live in an eco village in the Los
Angeles area and is willing to assume the responsibilities of membership
will be able to do so.
Question: Will this be a low income housing project?
Answer: No. People of different income levels will be members of the L.A. Eco Village including low, moderate and middle income persons in proportions approximately similar
to their representation in the general population.
Question: How will an eco village guarantee it will not illegally discriminate?
Answer: The sponsoring organizations are public benefit corporations which
are mandated by law to non discrimination policies. People involved in
the movements for cooperatives, eco villages, land trusts and mutual
housing associations are traditionally in the forefront of being
inclusive with respect to ethnic backgrounds, income level, age, sexual
preference. The first principle of cooperatives is open membership to
all of those who can use the services of the cooperative and are willing
to assume the responsibility of membership.
Question: What will the architectural styles be like?
Answer: In CoHousing?, the future residents determine the size and style of their homes. However, in the interests of energy efficiency, affordability and security,
residences will be attached as in duplexes all the way up to 8-plexes,
solar and wind sited and pedestrian oriented. It is anticipated that
housing will be two story, and provide a number of different
arrangements from small one bedroom residences to 3 or 4 bedroom
residences. Art and greenery will play a major role in all of the designs.
Question: Why shouldn’t people who want to live this way just go to the country
with this idea?
Answer: In America today, 74% of people live in cities. That
figure continues to grow very rapidly. The trend is the same throughout
the world. For centuries, cities have exploited the ecology for the sake
of the economy. If our species is to survive, we must teach and train
ourselves how to live ecological lifestyles in our cities and how to
restore our cities for human habitation in balance with nature. Rural
land is being developed also at an unprecedented pace. Urban sprawl is
at the heart of some of our worst urban ecological devastation;
developments have jumped city boundaries requiring more auto dependence
which produces more air, water and land pollution as well as human
alienation from community. Early urban eco village developments, such as
the L.A. Eco Village will demonstrate that our cities can become centers
of ecological restoration actually reversing the negative environmental
impact of traditional development and eliminating uncontrolled growth.
Question: Will there be restrictions on the number of autos and vehicles
residents can own?
Answer: In the L.A. Eco Village, no fossil fueled vehicles will be permitted. Instead, electric vehicles, alternative fuel and hybrid fuel vehicles will be permitted. Residents in the surrounding neighborhoods as well as the Eco Village core will have the opportunity
to join a community owned vehicle pool which can provide more
flexibility in vehicle choice than people generally have now. Also, a
community owned electric van service will circulate regularly in the
neighborhood taking people back and forth to nearby shopping and mass
transit stations.
Question: Will an eco village lower property values?
Answer: No, eco villages are expected to raise property values, because an eco village adds to neighborhood stability; it adds green spaces, and it adds desirable
community services within walking or short non-polluting commute distances.
Question: Won’t the commercial uses planned in an eco village bring unwelcome
loitering, traffic, pollution and noise? Answer: Part of the security system in an eco village and its surrounding neighborhoods is that people go out of their way to know one another. When people are in neighborly relations with one another, unwelcome loitering is rare. The commercial activities associated with the Village will be community owned for
community use. Here, community is defined as those within the eco
village proper and its adjacent neighborhoods. Car trips will be reduced
by having a community café and market, childcare and a community center.
Pedestrian life will pick up, because many people accustomed to driving
to such services will choose to walk. Fossil fueled auto traffic, noise
and pollution will be further reduced by those who ride bikes or use the
community owned electric van. The planned system of electric vehicles
will actually reduce noise and pollution in the neighborhood since many
residents in the areas will choose to use the van rather than drive
their own fossil fueled vehicles for many local trips.
Question: Isn’t it dangerous to build on a landfill, both because the earth is
unstable and because there may be toxic substances in the fill?
Answer: Many communities throughout the U.S. and the world have been safely built on
landfills; others have not. Safety depends on the nature of the landfill
to start with and what measures have been taken to restore the earth or
render any hazardous levels of toxins harmless. The proposed L.A. Eco
Village site is planned for the DWP landfill in Montecito Heights, used
to dump sand, rock, gravel and dirt from DWP construction sites. The
landfill was closed in 1978. According to the historical records,
asbestos was also permitted to be dumped in this fill, although current
research does not confirm that any was. More research is necessary.
Approximately 3 to 4 acres of the site was not used for the fill area;
therefore, conventional construction would be permissible in these
areas. It is possible that other areas of the site would also be safe
for different types of construction, but additional research must be
completed to determine the possibilities, such as earth boring tests,
etc. There are many established architectural solutions for safely
building on fill areas. Ground water tests have recently been completed
by the DWP, and no hazardous levels of any toxins were discovered.
Further tests will be required to determine if there are any unsafe
levels of toxins in the earth, and what the remedies are for restoring
any unsafe areas. These activities are expected to proceed in early 1993
with the help of faculty and graduate students in Landscape Architecture
at Cal Poly Pomona as well as other professionals associated with the
project.
Question: How many housing units will there be?
Answer: EcoVillage? planners expect there to be three to four cohousing clusters of from 18 to 30 units each housing between 150 and 300 persons.
Question: How will the eco village enhance the surrounding single family
neighborhoods?
Answer: The Eco Village when complete will have a park-like
setting adding an aethsetic quality to the neighborhood. The
pedestrian-friendly Village will provide opportunities for local
neighbors to have garden plots, childcare, neighborhood based business
spaces, access to non-polluting transportation, on-going educational and
training opportunities in sustainable technologies that can save local
homeowners on utility and water bills and provide for cooperative
purchases of equipment. A local exchange trading system (LETS) can
provide local homeowners with a variety of neighborhood based services
which cuts down on local traffic and pollution. The affordable housing
component of the Eco Village can provide housing opportunities for low to
moderate income relatives and friends of homeowners. Homeowners will
have socially responsible investment opportunities within their own
neighborhoods and can help plan the Eco Village.
Question: What is meant by non-toxic, local, regional and recycled building
materials?
Answer: These materials are much the same as most materials
currently widely available. In deciding on which materials to use,
ecologically sensitive builders consider information such as where the
materials come from. It is important to minimize energy costs associated
with the production and transportation of materials because much of our
fossil fuel dependent energies create greenhouse gases. What effect does
the extraction of materials have on the area from which they come? For
example, old growth redwoods, some of which are over 2,000 years old,
are considered an important natural resource to the planet and are not
replaceable. Clear cutting of forests for wood products is not an
ecologically sensitive method of providing wood, when many timber
companies have shown that selective cutting can be both economically and
ecologically viable.
Many of the plastics, paints, lacquers, finishes and other materials in
common use today are highly toxic, dangerous to those who work with
them and unhealthful for many who live with them. In many cases, no
proper testing has been done, especially regarding the cumulative
effects of outgassing of certain products. Many new products that do not
contain toxic substances have come onto the market in recent years, and
we would encourage their use, whenever practical. Many recycled
materials can be used for home building. Often such materials are sent
to our overcrowded landfills or exported to other countries for reuse,
again at a high energy cost. Many of the problems associated with
environmental degradation are directly connected to the negative impacts
of living in a ‘throw-away’ society. By seeking new uses for appropriate
discarded materials, we can alleviate some of those problems.
Question: What happens if the Eco Village fails in a few years?
Answer: An eco village is not a single legal entity; therefore, in order for it to
fail, many of its systems must fail, an unlikely occurrence when
development is phased according to sustainable practices - economically,
socially and physically. If there are failures in the eco village, they
most likely will take the form of simply not fulfilling the full vision
of its initial planners, rather than any particular financial failure,
which is generally what is meant with the use of the word ‘failure’. A
mutual housing association, the non-profit housing development entity
includes among its members a waiting list of qualified home buyers or
renters prepared to move in when there are vacancies.
In the L.A. eco-village, the legal form of home ownership will be
cooperative. The default rate on cooperatively owned housing units is
less than 1%, significantly less than for condos, single family
ownership or rental apartments. The land will be owned by a non-profit
tax exempt community land trust. In the event that it failed, the assets
of the corporation are required by state and federal law to be dedicated
to another tax exempt entity acting in the public interest. If one of
the community enterprises failed such as the electric van service, after
creditors were paid, the assets of the cooperative or mutual benefit
corporation would be distributed to their owner members in proportion to
their shares of ownership.