A Vision for Cottage Community on Mauck Street

in Clarkston Georgia – Strong Points

 - Ever Evolving

 

Purpose of the Website:   To promote the acceptance in Clarkston Georgia of a development of the property 3741 Mauck St., into a cottage community development that will enhance the value of the surrounding neighborhood, as well as become an asset to greater Clarkston. 

 

Basic Description:  A cottage community of approximately 20 small privately owned cottages ranging in size from about 350 SF to 700 SF.   Houses would be designed with a signature architectural style that would be unique to the project’s own special formula for community, yet compatible with, and complimentary to the surrounding neighborhood properties.     

 

City of Clarkston’s new Cottage Zoning Ordinance  (see link for complete City of Clarkston text)  The ordinance as proposed, allows for minimum 650 SF houses  I believe that the ordinance should allow for smaller houses of 350 SF.  A greater variety of house sizes from 350 SF to 700 SF should increase the appeal of the development.  Going for smaller houses though would necessarily require a variance on the new ordinance.  The variance process could slow the project down, therefore the project should be ready to proceed, with the plans and rendering for the entire development done up according to the new zoning ordinance as is.  That would be Plan A.  Plan B could accommodate for a few smaller sized houses sprinkled in, for which the variance process is engaged

 

Development Economics:  Employing the proper design formula, small cottages will sell for a higher per square foot $ value than would larger square footage houses.  People will pay more per square foot for a nicely designed home that is smaller, because the overall price is less, and therefore more affordable.   From a developer’s point of view, the entire land value per acre, in cottage development should prove to be higher than conventional subdivision development.  Further research and a business plan must be done to bear this out.    It must be determined; the maximum per square foot value with the smallest number of square feet in a cottage, below point of which returns are diminishing.  

 

Compatibility with surrounding properties:  The location of what is presently 3741 Mauck Street has basically three sides.  One side is adjacent to a persimmon tree nursery (de-facto green space) another side is to a bike path and the other is to residential ranch style houses.  If there arises any significant objection to developing this property in the cottage ordinance fashion, it would most likely come from the residential side that has only two adjacent houses.  One of the main appealing features of cottage ordinance to surrounding homeowners and civic minded folks, is the exceptionally subdued nature of the cottage structures, as opposed to towering three story infill style “mcmansions” that, with their typical height and close proximity to neighboring houses, present a serious imposition on neighboring lifestyles.  A cottage community will blend.   

 

Covenant Community – that starts out with a set of rules/bylaws unto itself and subordinate to the new Clarkston zoning ordinance.  

The community will be provided a set of covenant rules and a democratic process for changing them, once the homeowners are in place.  Covenant rules apply to the private property, as well as the common areas, although the rules for private property would be more static with less expectation of change for a homeowner that will expect more personal freedom with his own property. The most active decision making process would be for common areas.

The common or communal area facilities that provide instant community and possibilities for socialization with neighbors, will add greatly to the appeal of wanting to live there, which in turn will make the properties more desirable. 

 

Covenant Home Financing  -  The covenant can choose to help a home buyer into the community with low interest loans, financed by the community itself.  If some homebuyers have more elbow grease than cash, they could do work for the community, on common areas and have their labor converted to payment on their mortgage.  

 

Off the Grid technologies and Self-sufficiency:  It should be an object in the planning of this project that as many technologies as possible be employed that will allow a high degree of self-sufficient, “off the grid” living for the residents.   This will allow greater economy for community residents in savings on utility bills for example.  Profit derived from the selling of electricity for example, by the covenant to residents, could be reinvested in additional energy saving technologies.

      

Many of the below ideas reflect an idealistic bent and may not be financially or legally realistic for the present time.  I believe though that with the direction of the cottage movement in this country, that more of these ideas will be employed in the future and will enhance the appeal and value of cottage properties.  As economic trends in the US force communities to become more self-sufficient, so will these ideas, one by one, become more realistic.  The question is, how ahead of the curve do we want to be?  

·       Community garden – with full time resident gardener.  Residents can also work for a wage, under the direction the gardener.  Vegetables are sold back to the residents and surplus at a roadside stand.  Profits return to the covenant (with perhaps a percentage to the gardener) 

·       Livestock – most likely are chickens and perhaps goats to eat the kudzu on the bike path bank.  (said property maintained a goat population before the year 2000.) 

·       Workshop – with tool and supply facilities enough to maintain the infrastructure of the entire community.

·       Laundromat – household washer and dryers take up too much space from small abodes.

·       Crusher run, permeable surface, shared driveways. 

·       Each household pays a fee of let’s say, $50 per month for the first vehicle and $100 per additional. (These fees are nominal examples.)  Additional and larger vehicles must require special covenant consideration and are parked in two semi-underground facilities at either end of the community.

·       Larger van or truck type vehicles could be owned and maintained by the community and rented to the residents. 

·       General store, restaurant, community kitchen, pub, meeting hall and supply facility, all in one, are commercially run by the covenant.  This is the original general store.  Stop in for a bowl of Brunswick stew, pick up a paper; buy a bottle of shampoo. 

·       Power plant to run on a multiplicity of fuel/energy sources. 

·       Wood fired water heater – hot and cold water are metered to each property, so that space in the houses is not taken up by individual water heaters.  Water is used for heating and cooling living spaces.

·       Sauna and exercise room

 

Organic Development – means that the building plans for the community are implemented gradually, on a house by house basis, with a flexibility of design that reflects changing buying trends in the same community.  In other words, the vision may change (hopefully only slightly) after the first few cottages are built and occupied.  The entire proposition of a cottage ordinance in metro-Atlanta presents risks to an investor/developer, which may warrant this organic development, that can change direction with market dictates.  This is not to say that we shouldn’t start with a master plan for the entire development.  

 

Visitor’s Center and Guided tours -  Every part of the community is a point of interest for people wanting to develop similar communities an guided tours are on Saturdays.  Lectures or DVD presentations are made at each station, which guests proceed to by the numbers.

 

More Supporting Ideas and Philosophies

Regarding the appeal of small houses,  I relate something that someone said to me recently in support of the idea.  He said that he had lived in many a comfortable and well designed efficiency apartment, inside of some larger house structure, that could just as easily have had exterior walls and nicely designed elevations. 

As cost of living goes up, people want more affordable housing, that is cute, well thought out, and with design that makes maximum use of small spaces. 

 

I am discovering that the cottage community development is becoming a nationwide trend that is accelerating, with progress in the Pacific Northwest migrating to the East.  Clarkston may actually be a first for Georgia.  Although I have found no analysis of the underlying causal factors in this trend on the websites of many of these developments, I believe that Americans are reckoning with the fact that they will not be able to afford a bank mortgage with a larger house, as they perceive a gloomy economic forecast for this country.  Even though a cottage costs more per square foot, it is cheaper to get into and allows the owner to get out faster, from underneath whatever mortgage they use. 

  

Seeking investment capital and Implementation Agenda (points not necessarily in order)

·       Assemble all personnel resources for the vision, (architect and people who are familiar with all aspects of off the grid living) for a total brainstorming session.  Develop a complete description of our vision for community living.

·       Philosophy of brainstorming the possibilities: We come up with the wildest and most way out ideas that we can think of, even if bordering on the radical and not realistic for this time and place.  Then with the fullest variety of ideas on the table to pick and choose from, we scale back as present realities check us.  It is better to have a large assortment of ideas to choose from, than not enough.

·       Drive-by appraisal that shows $ return on however many lots allowable by the ordinance, and their structures.

·       At some point in the process funds must be acquired for a more thorough business plan, including creation of legal package that determines relationship of investors.  There are off the shelf legal packages for this kind of venture.  In the case that there is not one strong, single investor, several smaller investors bring differing amounts of capital to the venture which determines percentages of ownership and vote in decision making, that are proportionate to the amounts of capital invested.

·       Present the Economics:  Per acre of property values for cottage communities with houses of 400 to 700 SF will prove to be higher, than standard subdivisions with houses that are 2000 SF.  This hypothesis must be born out as fact, with proper studies made available in an eventual business plan. 

·       Attract investors with the promise of large profits to be made from the creation of a community where residents are incubated in a social and economic bliss; something that Americans will more desperately be seeking amidst the fallout of post WWII Brady Bunch zoning laws that continue to isolate homeowners from where they work and socialize.

·       Investment capital is consolidated, with present owners, Chris and/or Lidia Busing securing a percentage of ownership with their existing equity in the property.

·       Create architectural rendering, and/or a small scale diorama of the development. Build around this diorama eye candy depiction; a dream, an enticement for additional prospective investors.

·       Units may be pre-sold; the utility thereof being the ability to be able to amass capital in the case that the investor/developer doesn’t have all he needs.   

·       As the cottage development proceeds, monthly meetings are held for the investors to bring their contributions and other decision-making for the progression of the venture.

·       Chris Busing (present owner) and his construction company, Innovative Homeworks, may be included in some capacity, in the eventual construction of the cottages.