We are Lachlann & Lorelei, currently living in Kingston ON. We are looking for like-minded people to establish an intentional community in the Kingston Area, likely between Peterborough and Carleton Place. We would ideally be looking to purchase as large a plot of land as possible, but realize that will depend on the number of interested parties. We are realistically looking to establish a shared ownership model similar to a co-op, with at least 10 acres total per household, but preferably more.
We are not very specific on organization, location, or plan yet, mostly because we want to do it together as a group. We hope to look at purchasing land together and moving to a property as soon as possible, and would like to organize social gatherings amongst interested parties to figure out further details such as legal organization, obligations, land distribution, etc.
Although we have not yet purchased land or started operation, we will fill out all of the options below in accordance to what we would prefer, to help anyone interested see if their priorities are similar. If we add in members before purchasing land, we will update this page to suit the total group preference.
We want to establish a community of fellow people passionate about homesteading, self sufficiency, and co-operation. We want to make a community with a low cost of living, and as much flexibility as possible.
We are seeking to form a community with a defined number of people. We want to operate on a people-first basis, so for now our process will just be meeting in a public place and then thinking about whether we like each other.
We are currently not established, so we would meet to organize our community in a public place like a park, community center, etc.
The whole membership decides collectively.
Generally seek agreement, but have backup methods when consensus isn’t reached.
Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.
We are seeking to set up a community that has minimum need for governance. Hopefully we will be able to solve conflicts with each other without resorting to a formalized list of rules, but we will have to establish them together to make sure that we don’t have irreconcilable problems with something so important as our homes in the balance.
Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.
Join fee: Yes
Regular fees: Yes
Labor: Yes
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed
We are looking for people interested in sharing equally the costs and benefits of our prospective land. Currently our plan is to buy a large plot of land as a group together. The plan we would be most comfortable with is a co-operative style “share” method. Each household would be given a share, which adds up with the other shares to be equal to the value of the all of the land and the shared structures. The value of the houses we build are not counted, so that if we decide to add new members after establishing they are only paying for what they would have access to. We can decide rules on creating/dissolving/transferring shares as a group, but we would prefer if new holders of shares would have to be approved by community members.
In terms of expenses, we would look to be as flexible as possible so that everyone can contribute what they are best at. Some members may want to work more and don’t have much money, and other members may have an income stream that they want to put on offer to not work as much. The details of our operations can be hammered out together, but we would prefer if we could have fairly even distribution of work and expenses, but roughly follow the system of “from each to their ability, to each to their need”. Nonetheless, issues that can be solved by work ideally would be, and things that can only be solved by money would be. For things that have to be money we would charge each household their share similar to municipal taxes. For purchasing new equipment we would first have to agree, and then from there fund it equally.
We have loans and debt ourselves, but we want to make sure that members have a reliable plan to pay off those debts while living in the community, should they not be able to pay them off prior. Founding members would be expected to be able to carry their share of the mortgage, and founding of the community relies on us to all be approved to do so.
For shared operations and revenue, we would prefer to minimize how much money we spend as a household, and hope to find people who want the same for themselves. We are very interested in the self sufficiency, and would like to do things such as maintain our own vehicles, build our own structures, etc. For the things that have to be paid with money (property tax, internet bills, new equipment we cannot make) we would ideally set up a community fund that each household pays into based on their usage. We could divide things up further if group members wished to, based on certain things being more or less used by some members.
Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Swimming pond or pool, Large Scale Kitchen, Tractor & Farm Equipment, Fire pit, Swingsets & play areas, Gym or sports area, Internet
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A residential project: people live here as their primary home.
An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).
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