Creating an old-fashioned neighborhood in a new sustainable way.
NOW TAKING RESERVATIONS!
Our Mission
To promote and develop Altair EcoVillage and to educate ourselves and the public in sustainable methods and practices of developing and governing an ecovillage. Our ecovillage will be formed around the following objectives:
Creating a self-governing, vibrant and diverse community providing the opportunity for a range of economic levels, and religious, ethnic, and racial backgrounds to live together in supportive relationships.
Architectural design that promotes a comfortable balance between community interaction and privacy
Attractive homes and common facilities designed on a model that is ecologically sound, emphasizing moderate consumption, resource sustainability, and horticulture.
Our Purpose
To develop our land on a sustainable basis and promote community living.
In December, 2021, East Pikeland Township adopted an overlay ordinance for 4-acre properties in the Kimberton Village area that will allow Altair to build an EcoVillage based on the Cohousing model. Here is what they say:
FROM THE ORDINANCE:
Development is encouraged that provides housing stock for the senior population, is low impact to the community and environment and is sustainable in nature. The Kimberton Low Impact Development (KLID Overlay District) is intended to serve the following purposes:
Provide housing stock specifically to meet the growing demand of the senior population.
Provide supportive amenities and facilities to promote a higher quality of life for aging seniors.
Provide seniors with housing options with fewer responsibilities such as exterior maintenance, snow removal, and landscaping, allowing them to live in their communities as their needs change.
Provide opportunities for seniors to relocate to new age-restricted housing and sell their former homes.
Provide additional housing options in the community with fewer additions to school enrollment, creating a positive fiscal impact for schools.
Provide housing options that generate less traffic than conventional housing.
To encourage land development to occur on a low impact basis.
To continue and enhance the reputation and history of Kimberton Village and East Pikeland Township as centers of progressive thought, progressive practices, and stewardship of the land.
To promote a mix of smaller lower impact residential units in a neighborhood that encourages social interaction among the residents and within the community.
To minimize the use of fossil fuels and encourage the use of renewable energy sources.
To minimize the use of automobiles and encourage walkable connections to Kimberton Village.
To limit the extent of impervious cover including streets, hard-surfaced parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks and to replace them with internal pervious surfaces including pedestrian pathways, walkways, and trails that encourage physical activity and social interaction.
To create opportunities to live and shop in and near Kimberton Village.
To continue and enhance economic revitalization and adaptive reuse of historic resources within Kimberton Village.
To encourage infill development and redevelopment at designated growth areas and there by limit the expansion of suburban sprawl and encroachment on rural landscapes.
To encourage the preservation and use of Open Space including expanding the scope of recreation activities.
To promote development that has less ecological impact and comparable fiscal impact when compared to traditional development styles.
To promote a lifestyle that has less impact on the environment and promotes conservation.
Our Values
Planning for Altair EcoVillage in Kimberton is guided by the following values:
We believe that trust and respect are fostered in an active community (or neighborhood) environment.
The village is solely governed by its residents in a non-hierarchical model.
Rather than majority-rule, decision-making is a group process in which all present must consent before action is taken.
Because everyone has a piece of the truth, this method can help spread power throughout the whole group.