Greater Stonehenge

Tonight, Monday night we plan to open with an (our?) intention, which is well stated in the Charter for Compassion, which will be shown (2 mins).
Douglas will offer a brief review of our first meeting, followed by project background and history, up to current status. The target property is 480 Rio Road on the City/County line and we will present purchase cost projections and funding needs.

Fred will present a more comprehensive look at the bee hive building design, which can be viewed at www.GreaterStonehenge.org and review rough costs to own or rent.
We plan to do some sociograms, which will allow us to get to know each other better and for all of us to see, where we are in relation to the project, as well as in relation to each other.

We hope to add to our growing core group of five and reach 10 to 15, which will allow us to move forward.
We will be tapping into the collective genius of those who attend …
I hope you’ll be part of this gathering, share some of your knowledge, enjoy connecting with others and learn something too.

If you come early, you can to meet, greet, mingle and start to build our community …

REQUEST
Would you be willing to?

• if you can come, invite a friend to join you.
• if you can’t come, please let your peeps know about the meeting … forward this email …

  Thank you!
  Douglas

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.
I’ll meet you there …” MJ Rumi

A five minute video on how DG works to help groups establish policies, elect leaders, work powerfully and effectively together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyw0gBsDeho

You are invited
to a public meeting
about our
     EcoVillage
Cville Albemarle
project!

Our focus this coming Tuesday night will be to explore and explain the concept of EcoVillage and answer questions about its importance.
We will review and highlight some of the building blocks important in creating a healthy, sustainable and fun community.
The purpose of this event is to educate those who are curious/interested and to discover if a core group of interested folks will emerge to create an EcoVillage.
To accomplish these tasks we will be tapping into the collective genius of those who attend … many knowledgeable folks will be present to speak and share.
I hope you’ll be part of this gathering, share some of your knowledge, enjoy connecting with others and learn something too.

REQUEST
Would you be willing to?

• If you’re not a Facebook Friend and you have a Facebook page, please send me, Douglas Olson, a Friend Request. I want to invite you to this event via Facebook (also); if you’re planning to come… the larger the visible number attending the more it will encourage others to come.
• If you can come, please bring a friend.
• “Like” the Facebook event (3^rd working title) What is an EcoVillage? See, hear & share ideas … Cville’s 1st EcoVillage!
  Unity of Charlottesville, 7 -9 PM on Tues, Mar 6. 2825 Hydraulic Circle, Charlottesville, VA
• Post a link to the event page on your wall.
• If you can’t come, please send at least two or three in your place.

  Any other strategies you believe will be helpful to support this harmony promoting event …

  We hope to see you there!
  Thank you, Thank you!
  Douglas

Dwelling_FloorPlans_071711
480Rio_Site_AiralPhoto_MasterPlan_071711
http://g.co/maps/rvvx3   (Link to Google Map of Area)

3-D Eco Village at 480 E Rio Road

Access/egress via shared Rockbrook Dr entrance

CLICK  ON  IMAGES  TO  ENLARGE

Rooftops downwiew

Airal and side view of dwelling cluster. Shown from lower side.

 

 

 

 

Arial and side view from higher side.

Airal side view, Winter, lower unit side

Ground view upper side of cluster

Upper side, roof view to neighbors before planting

Lower side, roof view to neighbors before planting

Enriched and informed by the good work of neighbors engaged in collaborative community design led by the Groundworks team… a new team began to focus on an alternate plan for an Eco Village. The team was led by Fred Oesch of Oesch Environmental Design with collaboration and support from studio cahoots and the go partners, Jennifer Van Winkle and Emily Anderson.

project intentions
essence of the living place
harmonious relationships
variety of persons in the community: ages, backgrounds, and both owners and renters
philosophical inspiration the Charter for Compassion
Inspirational Quote by MJ Rumi 13th Century:
    “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
     there is a field. I’ll meet you there…”

exposure to the process of living

for dwellings and buildings
zero energy building for dwellings
ability to be certifiable by LEED (if final residence desire this)

for landscape
SITES (The Sustainable Sites Initiative) by ASLA, etc…

nature/ landscape
existing topography/ sloping nature
existing vegetation, especially trees
existing open space

challenges
relationship to traffic and traffic noise
invasive species already on property

dwellings
clusters
(possibly) by living needs or lifestyle needs
family
senior
single/ non-family

utilities
water
sewer
electric
(centralized utilities for solar voltaic panels, rainwater gathering, etc.)
recycling
compost
garbage

site drainage
rainwater garden
storm water
additional water elements
connections
vehicular
bike paths
pedestrian walkways

accessibility
ADA accessibility (handicap access)
parking (vehicles and bikes)
emergency access routes

gathering points
fire pit
existing house/ community center
gardens
orchards
playscapes with swimming pool
open spaces
active spaces (Volleyball…)

additional design considerations
historical narratives
orientation of dwellings/ buildings
seasonal opportunities
edible landscapes
animals: wild + domestic (existing and potential)
private spaces (sunbathing areas, etc.)
sacred geometry for garden spaces, etc.

What kind of a community would I (you) want to live in if I (you) could have whatever I (you) wanted?
A community that I would enjoy living in would:

• Actively embrace “Affirm” the Charter for Compassion, which grew from a prize winning TED talk in 2008.
  Visit http://charterforcompassion.org/the-charter/#charter-for-compassion  Watch and listen the video runs just a bit more then 2 minutes.
• Be very Green, eco friendly and as close to net zero power consumption as is “reasonably” possible.
• Grow food… edible landscaping.
• Place a high value on Beauty.
• Make a real effort to be intentionally diverse wanting to achieve diversity in make-up including:
  race, socioeconomic means, age, abilities, skill-sets.
• Include both owners and renters.
• Have members who are willing and interested in healing themselves. I’m mainly thinking about emotionally, a willingness to look at their Shadow and hopefully their Light. (There must be a better way to say this)
• Have members who want to experience aliveness and fully embrace being alive… willing to feel their feelings and willing to let those around them know what their feeling and what they are needing.
• Use a form decision making which follows or is informed by Dynamic Governance (DG) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyWRrK_JEoM
  Although started in Netherlands and practiced internationally the film and 3 minute YouTube trailer were largely shot and produced in Cville.

Groundworks, Task 1 completed: Results are in from our two-day workshop
with neighbors to create alternative designs for neighborhood development, including:

• Site Investigation and Findings – pages 1-3
• Overview of Site Concept – page 4
• Create Walking Street and Create Places in Stonehenge with infill development concept shows location of 11 additional units around Crumpet Court. Also shows rough idea of alternate entrance to 480 Rio. See page 4 detail.
• Two preliminary strategies for the Olson property, 6.5 acres at 480 Rio East.
  Side by side, overview – page 5
  a. Intentional Community details- pages 6-9
  b. Village Green details- pages 10-14
• Redevelopment of Stonehenge Neighborhood Center at the location
  of the current Club House – page 15
• Next steps – page 16

We’d love to consider your thoughts and comments and begin conversations
about these ideas.
REQUEST
Would you be willing to share your thoughts, feelings, needs or questions?
If so, please “Leave a Reply”.
Thank you,
Douglas Olson

From Pat Coffey, President and Principle Broker, Brownfield, Coffey & O’Neill:
The more I think about your project the more it has to speak to a person’s desire for a long term community situation.  Real estate is not an investment now and doesn’t look like it will for the near future but we all need a place to live.  If your project has a “relational community design” it offers more than just isolation in a development or neighborhood where all the values are headed down.  If you can create a refuge where people can come together and feel support for one another… then maybe there can be success.  There are lot’s of groovy places to buy with green space… yours needs to have a community component built in.

BUSINESS DAY | March 30, 2011
U.S. Housing Prices Fell Again in January
By DAVID STREITFELD
“A 1 percent decline left prices barely above the recession lows, indicating a still weak market…”