Campground as practical commune/ecovillage? (Medford, Klamath Falls: for sale, HOA, houses)

[NaomiRae]

First post after lurking here awhile, so sorry if this is in the wrong place - OR is where we plan to move in a year or so.

I'm rather clueless about red tape, and zoning and all that, and can't seem to find any resources to help.

My family is close with a handful of other families with similar beliefs and lifestyles, and we have always joked about living in a commune together. I've been playing with the idea of purchasing a campground as a way to achieve this. Now - as far as what I know - it's common for small campgrounds to have a residence for the owner and their family since most of what I have found for sale has something like that included. I also know as a kid when going to Girl Scout camp, there were people who lived there year round who weren't necessarily family, but they all worked there. Is this something that is still possible, or legal in OR? To basically have multiple permanent housing facilities on a campground for employees and their families?

And a somewhat different thing I am having issues with - we are leaning towards the idea of building via earthbag or cobhouse methods if the weather in the area permits it. I can't seem to find much on how difficult it is to pass building codes for these kinds of structures. I'm kind of clueless, so it could just be a lack of a place to look. Anywhere I have looked says to do it illegally, or doesn't touch on it at all.

[Wytchcat]

Hi NaomiRae,

I too am planning on building with earthbag. Here's some of the scoop.

Building codes are a statewide thing though some counties and municipalities have additional codes. What this means to you is that you usually will be dealing with a county planning department for your building/zoning permits but if you are building in an unincorporated county area you will usually only be dealing with the state codes. In city limits or a counties "urban growth area" (an area around town where the county would really like to see new builds) you will have additional codes usually.

Once you have a couple of counties you are interested in call their specific planning department and begin the discussion about what you want to build. USUALLY if it is non standard building methods (earthship, cob, strawbale, earthbag) you will be required to have an Oregon licensed structural engineer or architect sign off on the plan to verify it meets all of the codes for the state and your area.

That said, Precision Structural Engineers in Medford/Klamath Falls is the home firm of the one of the main gentlemen behind the Cal-Earth earthbag project. Which is good news for those of us interested in earthbagging.

Zoning depends on the parcel you are looking for and you can use ormaps to see what a particular parcel is zoned. Changing it for the needs you have in mind will depend on where it is usually. Agan the planning division of the county you are interested in will be the biggest help.

A few days ago I started a discussion of alt building methods in OR. You can see it here Alternative construction methods..

Here is the link to ormap: http://www.ormap.net/ You can use geo coordinates though I had limited success with that. LOL

Precision Structural Engineering: http://www.structure1.com/index.html

[Silverfall]

You can't have multiple families living in a campground. Zoning won't allow it.

[Wytchcat]

So Silverfall how does that work when, for example, a parcel is actually two lots each zoned for 1 or more houses?

[NaomiRae]

Thank you for the explanation and resources Wytchcat, that will definitely give me a place to start and it's more than what I had!

Silverfall - That's actually kind of surprising since a lot of people live permanently in RVs at campsites. Is it just the permanency that makes it impossible to zone? And do you know of any way to achieve what we are going for here? The only other thing I can think of is that in a lot of areas it's acceptable to do this for farm workers and there is a way to zone it - which would be fine for our purposes, it would just take away the income aspect.

[PNW-type-gal]

I suspect that is how the land is titled. An organization owns the land/fixtures, is in charge of well and sewer and then sells/rents the spaces. Call it an HOA or commune, when the space renters/owners have control of the organization's decisions, it doesn't really matter. Although I suspect the country would prefer HOA.

Zoning may be a problem, though, finding a property that works size-wise that has the potential for a large enough well and septic field. Farm land can't be used for residences (only) and property out in the woods generally can't be subdivided.

[peaceloveandjulie]

Yeah, I don't think you could put multiple permanent residences, even small ones, on large acreage because of zoning and septic/water issues. My builder's family have a 650-acre family farm with cows and other ag. and timber-related businesses and they're not allowed to build a second home on all of that acreage! It means that the three generations of family members who are running and working this farm either have to live all together in one super-large home or one of the brothers had to buy land and build a home elsewhere, which is the case.

I have 2.5 acres. I don't want anyone else on my land, lol, but in reading the zoning regs just for my own knowledge, I saw that one can apply for a variance to allow for a second residence to accommodate a caregiver if one has proven medical need for assistance with care and daily living. That makes sense.

There is a lot of "raw" land for sale in the southern and eastern parts of the state, it seems. You could always buy abutting properties and build your own places. It might be better -- and preserve friendships -- anyway! Yeah, you'd each have to spend the money on septic, water, alternative energy, etc. but you'd all build what you wanted and there wouldn't be any present or future financial hassles over costs, maintenance, repairs, etc. regarding who's doing what. Things like that can cause problems among people.

[Elk Wallow]

In Curry County to even apply for a zoning change costs $6000. Doesn't mean it will be changed, however.

[Wytchcat]

I have 2 2.5 acre lots, each zoned R2. I was told I can put a second house up and we can share a well. Not sure what OR does for ADUs but small steps.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by Wytchcat

So Silverfall how does that work when, for example, a parcel is actually two lots each zoned for 1 or more houses?

Well when you split the deed to create the two parcels, then each can build one house per zoning laws. You can only have more than one house on multi-family zoned lots, or EFU zones which allow for buildings for workers.