NeahCasa

10th Street Project Morphs into Coyote Ridge

On September 18, 2010 a group of 30 community members met for a NeahCasa-sponsored "Green Charrette" - a collaborative all day work session to move forward on creating a model neighborhood (ideally using the community land trust model of ownership) on 10.5 acres just outside Nehalem. Potential homeowners, investors, builders and interested community members gathered at the Nehalem Bay Methodist Church. The day's efforts and some of the design work leading up to it was funded by the Enterprise Foundation.

The project under discussion was a phased development of 5 houses that could be an on-the-ground collaborative demonstration of a higher level of green affordable housing. The initial phase was to be construction of two Net Zero Energy FlexPlex houses, one in the shade and one in the sun. (The original dream had been 20-30 houses in the community land trust model but zoning issues and lack of political support made that impossible for the foreseeable future.)

Interest was high and discussion was lively. We left with a to-do list.

However, by the winter of 2010 it was clear that there was not quite critical mass of the elements needed to take the project the next step: neither investment nor grant funding, nor enough folks who could afford to buy into the project and build. At the same time the shifts occurring in the housing sector and lack of public support funds combined to make it essential to put the project on hold.

Tom Bender and Lane deMoll, owners of the property, decided to let things season to see what might come together. Beginning in March with the help of Dawn Shears to facilitate both volunteer and hired help, they created a large garden where the site plan showed it.

The property is now called Coyote Ridge.

Narrative Project Plan as of 8/30/09 in PDF format

SUMMARY OF PROJECT PLAN:

The site is a 10.6 acre property abutting the west city limits of Nehalem, Oregon. It is within two blocks of the elementary school and playground, community center ( seen above from property - with swimming pool, daycare, after-school program, fitness center and community college), Senior Meals, Head Start, and the Post Office. It is only a few more blocks to the downtown shops, bus stops and the river. Elevations of use areas are between +130' to +170' Mean Sea Level, ensuring protection from tsunami and global warming. 

The property was purchased by Tom Bender and Lane deMoll to hold for the project. NeahCasa has had an option to buy it and it was hoped that it would become a Community Land Trust.

10th Street is a demonstration project for a series of innovative approaches to housing developed by NeahCasa. Valuable individually, together they create a new and more effective paradigm of housing design and ownership with exciting possibilities to:

• Obtain an order-of-magnitude reduction in housing costs, including finance, energy and operating costs.
  
• Show how green neighborhood design and affordable housing can enable the 90% reduction in our energy and resource consumption needed for global sustainability.
  
• Improve the living quality of affordable housing.

The project is being pioneered by a core partnership between NeahCasa, the NW Regional Community Land Trust Coalition, Northwest Oregon Community Development Collaborative (NOW CDC) and Community Action Team, with a dozen or more additional local community and professional partners.

PROJECT ELEMENTS - The site’s topography and rural residential zoning made its acquisition affordable, while presenting opportunities to demonstrate creative green planning to benefit difficult sites:

• Clustering of affordable housing along its ridge (30% of the site) permits:
• development cost savings
• access to solar energy
• reuse of roof water runoff and grey water
• community gardens and food production in housing area
  
• An Open Space Preserve on unbuildable portions (50%) of site that includes:
• Walking trails
• Sustainable forestry on wooded portions of the site
• Permaculture of edible perennial native plantings on sloped portions of site abutting housing
  
• Easements for community utilities: 10% of site

• Restoration of sacred and community dimensions of affordable housing through art and community action that can help ensure the care and maintenance needed for durability.

• Development of a pioneering rural carshare system is planned in conjunction with the project.

 

ZERO ENERGY HOMES: As well as being permanently affordable under the Community Land Trust model, it is intended that the homes on the Nehalem site be green prototypes that showcase NeahCasa's ideals such as flex housing, sweat equity construction and more.  Tom Bender is in discussion with the Tillamook County Public Utility District (PUD) to help sponsor two prototype Zero Energy Homes - one for a shaded site and one with good solar exposure.   Stay tuned!

FINANCIAL: The landuse issues of this project have taken much longer than expected, so the original purchasers of the property have set up  a LLC of local investors to land bank a portion of the property. The 10th Street LLC is now complete (as of Fall, 2009) with 10 investors contributing a total of $60,000 (most contributing $5,000 each) to purchase Parcel 3 (1/5 of the total acerage). Their intention is to landbank this for up to 5 years while NeahCasa raises funds to purchase it back.   Anyone interested in how this model for local investment works should contact NeahCasa or Tom Bender or call 503-368-6294.

.