Community Property
Happy New Year Carmelita Gardens. I think this is going to be an exciting year with lots of change as the community grows and moves forward. We have had several houses constructed over the past year and a bunch of new folks moving in. Jackie and I are planning several upgrades to the gardens, Cottage Park West, the market, and lots more food-related events. Phil has made progress on the depot and has gotten several new companies up and running over the past year and is gearing up for a renewed focus on community amenities. That exciting news is for Phil to share, so I will stick to food, permaculture, and news relating to our company. For those of you who don’t like change and were hoping for lot sales to come to a crawl, no new neighbors, and construction at a minimum, you are out of luck.
Jackie and I are thrilled with all the folks joining our community and the positive energy and activity that comes with all the new construction. Some of the new community members will be here full time, and a few will be seasonal, but all are welcome in my book so long as they bring a smile and good attitude! With all the new people coming into our community, there are some misconceptions floating around that I would like to correct, and help the new folks avoid being confused by rumors and misinformation.
Cottage Park West community center
Cottage Park West is the building on lot 115 that has the gathering place for the community. First, I will share a little history, so we all have the same background. When Phil designed CG, he had envisioned two sections with tiny homes and cottages. Cottage Park West was one of the earliest buildings put in. It had an office, laundry room, shower, water pump, cistern, filters, and a solar room. There were also two banks of solar panels in the back yard with storage closets underneath. This provided the power for the cottages. We often refer to this area as cottage row. The master plan was to have another series of cottages and possibly a second mini-grid on the east side of Carmelita Gardens.
As is often the case, things did not go as planned and only a few more cottages have been built since then. So, Cottage Park East was never built and the cottage owners upgraded most of the little houses. Now they have decks, screened porches, full kitchens lots of electric appliances, AC, and other amenities. This increased the need for power so more panels and batteries were added over time. The owners of the cottages invested in a battery upgrade a few years ago. But the cottage owners never invested in Cottage Park or any of the utilities and services associated with it.
The small lots and cottages were designed with the idea they would be a minimalist home that could be purchased for under $100,000 USD for house and land. For that price they did not get any ownership in the grid, the utilities, or the Cottage Park West structure. Now the cottages are better outfitted than the typical tiny house and upgrades to all the utilities are needed. Phil and the cottage owners are addressing the needed upgrades. Cottage Park West is owned by Phil, it is not owned by cottage row. Phil has chosen to make the facility available to all Carmelita Gardens residents. So CG residents, not living on cottage row, should not worry about imposing on the cottage owners when we have a community meetings, dinners, or special events. That is what the facility is for!
Farmers Market
As the gardens came into production Cottage Park West became the site to hold the farmers market. While there is a community center in the long plan for CG, Cottage Park has become our community center until we outgrow it. In 2023 Phil added the concrete slab and roof joining the two solar arrays.
A few people have the misconception that Cottage Park belongs to the owners of the ten cottages in cottage row. There is no contract or any document that makes that statement. It is an amenity built by Phil and maintained by my company.
Community tools
Recently, Jackie found a cottage row resident going through our tool room in Cottage Park and confronted him. He told her he had borrowed the community ladder that was stored in Cottage Park. He went on to tell Jackie that the ladder was owned by the community and he had been using that ladder for seven years and needed no permission to take it. Jackie had to explain to this senior member of our community that there are no community tools at Cottage Park. All the tools were bought by Phil, by Sunshine Property Management or by my company. The ironic part is this lot owner has the cottage with the big NO TRESPASSING.
There are not any community tools at Cottage Park. There are some garden tools that we can loan out. But you have to go to Dalia’s office and ask first. She will sign out what you need. You can use our ladders, shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, etc. With permission. We plan to come up with a more formal tool sharing plan later this year. Anything you borrow needs to be returned at the end of the day. Our staff cannot be running around looking for tools.
We do have a community woodshop in the depot. Phil bought these tools or had them donated and paid to transport them to CG. Phil also paid for building that houses the tools. These are amenities available to CG community, but it is not Community Property that anyone can just take when they want it. Donald Houser is managing the shop and can explain to you the process for borrowing tools or using the shop.
Other Miscellaneous property
We have tables and chairs at Cottage Park that can be loaned out. We do not want them leaving CG. Any piece of equipment or tool you see on the grounds is private property, and should not be borrowed without first getting permission from the owner. The construction companies, my maintenance company, the developer, and others have tools and equipment all over Carmelita Gardens and are not free for the taking. Signs and traffic barriers are not community property. You cannot just take this equipment and move it without getting permission from the owner. If you ask someone if you can take a piece of equipment, and that person says “I don’t own it but I think it is ok for you to use it” YOU STILL DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO TAKE IT.
Gardens and Orchards
The fruit and vegetables growing in the Stellar Plot behind Cottage Park are not free for the taking. This produce is cared for and harvested by the garden staff, cleaned, cooked, or canned and sold at the market. The income from the market sales goes back into the market fund for new investment into the gardens. The display orchards in Plumas Park and Macaw Gardens are also harvested for sale. These areas have many different kinds of fruit growing. CG residents are free to pick a piece of fruit off the tree or pick it up off the ground and enjoy the taste of fresh tree-ripened fruit. If it looks like there is an abundance of fruit, you can ask Daria if you can harvest it for canning, cooking, or fresh eating. But do NOT help yourself to boxes of fruit to use yourself without asking first. And do not even think about taking our community fruit and selling it for your personal benefit.
Mulch, compost, woodchips, tree stakes, firewood, or any other items in the orchards and gardens are not free for the taking. Believe it or not we have had people help themselves to these materials. We have also had people dump branches and other yard waste into the green spaces and orchards. My staff is not your free disposal service. We do have a composting system where you can dump your yard waste, brush, and branches for composting. But there are rules about dumping. Please ask Dalia about the compost system if you want a place to dump your yard waste.
Carmelita Forest Garden Staff
Unfortunately, Carmelita Gardens does not have a secretary, customer service department, or any other free service. The developer does not have staff to take care of you, and the construction companies only fix things that are under warranty. CFG does offer lawncare, housekeeping, and banking/bill pay service for a fee, but we do not have any staff standing by to help you for free. If you do not have a contract with Dalia, please do NOT ask her to fix your internet, order gas or water, repair your home, or light your water heater. She can provide you with a list of contacts if you need these services.
A Future HOA
Hopefully we will set up an HOA in the next year or two. We already have a set of bylaws drafted for community self-governance. In 2024 the Steering Committee put together a draft of about ten bylaws relating to the structure of a unique system of self-governance. The ten bylaws that define our governance structure showed lukewarm acceptance when we surveyed the community. But there was about 1/3 of the respondents adamantly against the governance structure. This dissenting group said they would prefer to have Phil continue to manage the community over enacting the by-laws and setting up the HOA. So, the Steering Committee disbanded and handed back full control to Phil. For now, we do not have community governance and the developer makes all the funding decisions and sets the fee structure with input from the Finance Committee. Until we set up an HOA and purchase new amenities with our HOA dues, we do not have any community property. After we have an HOA in place we will have the option to invest in capital improvements and purchase some true Community property.
