Kurt Wachholz
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The Elephant in the Community
How better information and real participation lead to community stewardship There’s an old parable about several blind men who encounter an elephant for the first time. Each is asked to describe what an elephant looks like, but each can only examine one part of the animal. One feels the trunk and describes something like a…
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Having a Voice in Community Decisions
What representation and two-way communication can mean for Coosaw Point Sooner or later, something happens in almost every community that leaves a few neighbors asking the same question: how did that decision get made? It might be an increase in dues, a maintenance project that hasn’t moved forward, or a change to something familiar about…
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The Rules Behind the Rules
Understanding Coosaw Point’s governing documents and why they matter. If you have ever tried to answer a question about Coosaw Point by looking through our governing documents, you probably know it isn’t always as simple as finding a single paragraph. There is the Declaration, the Bylaws, amendments made over the years, and the Rules and…
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Good Governance Starts With Understanding
What Knowledge Series 3 taught us about roles, responsibility, decision-making, and the role of an informed property owner Over the past several weeks, we’ve spent a fair amount of time talking about governance. Governance can make a relatively simple idea sound more complicated than it needs to be. At its core, governance is about how…
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When You Disagree With a Community Decision, What Can You Do?
When You Disagree With a Community Decision, What Can You Do? Understanding how decisions are made, how questions can be raised, and why accountability is part of good governance. At some point, almost every property owner will disagree with a decision made in their community. Sometimes the disagreement is simply about judgment. The Board chooses…
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Serving on the Board: What It Actually Involves
Serving on the Board: What It Actually Involves Why good community leadership requires more than simply being willing to serve. In our first article for Knowledge Series 3, we looked at the different roles involved in governing Coosaw Point and why it helps to understand who has authority for a particular decision. But eventually, governance…
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When One Entity Wears Two Hats
When One Entity Wears Two Hats Understanding the difference between development and governance and why knowing who is responsible for what matters. In Knowledge Series 2, we spent a fair amount of time looking at the Declarant Control period. We talked about why planned communities often begin with developer involvement in governance, the different kinds…
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Understanding the Declarant Control Period: What We Now Know
Understanding the Declarant Control Period: What We Now Know What three articles and one Knowledge Series session taught us—and where the conversation goes next Over the past several weeks, we’ve spent a fair amount of time talking about Declarant Control. We started with a basic question: What is a Declarant? From there, we looked at…
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Stewardship
Why Every Community Needs Independent Stewardship Understanding what we share, caring for it responsibly, and preparing for what comes next Throughout our first Knowledge Series, we have spent a fair amount of time looking backwards. We considered how planned communities mature, what it means to own property within one, and how decisions made years…
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What Is a PUD, and Why Does It Matter
When people describe Coosaw Point, they often talk about its character. The open space. The homes. The streetscapes. The density. The feeling that this community is intentionally designed rather than simply built. Those qualities didn’t happen by accident. They began years before the first home was ever constructed. One of the most important reasons Coosaw…
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Buying a Home Is Only the Beginning
Buying a Home Is Only the Beginning Closing day changes more than your address. It changes your relationship with a place. For months, the focus has been on finding the right home. You compare neighborhoods, walk through houses, review inspections, negotiate contracts, and eventually sit down at a closing table where, after a great deal…
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Every Great Community Grows Up
Communities are often viewed as if they exist in a single moment in time. They don’t. Like businesses, nonprofits, and even families, communities evolve. They grow, they mature, and eventually they assume responsibilities that simply didn’t exist when they began. Understanding where a community sits in that evolution provides important context for many of the…