FAQ

Various abbreviations will be used often in our answers, which you can read in any order, so we put their definitions all here:

• 2T is short for Triangle Traditional Music and Dance Retirement Society, a 501(c)3 whose members are eligible to join H4D.  And…
• H4D is short for the cooperative named Hands Four Development Cooperative which owns and is developing the land upon which FC will be located.  And…
• FC is short for Fiddlehead Corner, the community that this group of people are working to bring into existence. 
• BOCC refers to the Orange County, NC Board of County Commissioners who will make a decision about our rezoning application.

Fiddlehead Corner is being developed by a cooperative called Hands Four Development Cooperative (H4D) as a way to share the cost and commitment among those who will live in the community.  This community has been over a decade in planning, initially under the non-profit called 2T.  To learn more about us, please visit this short version of our journey, or read more at the 2T website. 

We have partnered with experts to accomplish the many tasks required for the rezoning request, but we are firmly in control of this project.  So far, funding has come from the 34 H4D members, with support from 2T.  Once we have the zoning we need, we know there will be more members, but we also understand that we will need some outside financing and are already seeking professional partners who understand that we, the members of the Cooperative, will be making decisions that support our values and mission. 

This is not a profit-driven conventional subdivision.

Fiddlehead Corner has been planned to make the best use of this land – best for the people who live there, yes, but also best for the land and for the neighbors. Increasing use of rural land for residential purposes is inevitable.  It’s important to make good choices about what is put on that land.

The conservation cluster design we employ for Fiddlehead is considered by planning professionals to be the antidote to sprawl. It adheres to best practices for sustainable development in the rural domain. Buildings will occupy approximately 30 acres of the land, leaving about 60 acres of open space to allow native fauna and flora to flourish while providing recreational opportunities for the residents with walking trails.

We hired experts to develop solutions that are ecologically sound.  You can read details at this Orange County Planning Department page which contains PDFs of the attachments that accompany our application for rezoning.  Warning: there are a lot of files at this site.  You could search for your areas of interest, such as “water”.  (In most browsers, you can bring up a search box with command-F on a Mac or control-F on a PC)

It is important to us that Fiddlehead Corner dwellings be available at a reasonable cost, so from the beginning we have taken steps to make that happen.  One way we’re keeping the prices down is by self-financing the pre-development phase.  Shares in H4D have covered these costs (design of the community, water, wastewater, cost of the rezoning application, etc.).  Other strategies include minimizing the square footage of all dwelling units, negotiating with our developer partner to keep profit margins reasonable, and passing along savings from economy of scale material and labor purchasing.  

And to be clear, Fiddlehead Corner will not be able to meet the criteria in the HUD definition of affordable housing, due to the cost of including a common house with a dance hall and community kitchen, and buildings that will support health care needs for our aging population. (HUD, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has strict definitions of what constitutes “affordable housing” which are based on a percentage of an area’s median income.)

All residents of Fiddlehead Corner will be members of the Hands Four Development Cooperative.  Anyone who is interested can apply to become a member. The process involves two organizations: 2T and H4D.

• 2T is short for Triangle Traditional Music and Dance Retirement Society, a 501(c)3 formed in 2015 to learn about aging and end of life, and to consider creating a community in which we could live happily and be supportive of one another as we aged.
  After years of learning and searching, 2T found land that the membership agreed was suitable for that community.  Instead of calling on a few people with deep pockets, 2T decided to form a cooperative to purchase the land. 
  
  
• H4D (The Hands Four Development Cooperative) was formed in 2023. In a cooperative, each member has one vote and shares the risk and the decision making.  We had hoped to have the land rezoned before closing on the land, but that wasn’t possible, so the members decided to take a chance and purchase the land under its current zoning.  Fiddlehead Corner is the name that was selected by the members of 2T for this community.

• • The first step is to become a member of 2T, which requires that you attend an orientation (typically a two hour zoom session) which gives a history of this endeavor and answers any questions you might have.  Then you would make a donation to the nonprofit to become a 2T member.
  • The next step is to become a Core Member of H4D, which is a standard process for a cooperative. This process is shepherded by the H4D Membership Committee. The intent is to ensure that you understand the core values and expectations of the community, and details about the cooperative. The Membership Committee would ascertain your willingness to live in a community that emphasizes cooperative living, care for the environment, and support for the final stages of life. Fiddlehead Corner will support music, dance and art, so we’d want to know that you would be appreciative of, if not actively engaged in, such activities. If the Membership Committee is satisfied, then you would be presented to the full membership of H4D for approval.  (Note that people who joined 2T before May 1, 2023 are exempt from this process.)
    The last step is to purchase a Core Share in the cooperative.  
  •  So in summary:  All residents of Fiddlehead Corner will own a Core Share of the H4D cooperative, which are only available to members of 2T. 

The short answer:  This matter was put to a vote of the H4D members in July 2024, who overwhelmingly agreed that we will designate Fiddlehead Corner as a “55+ community”, understanding that 1 in 5 of the dwellings will not need to include a resident below 55.

The details:  Over the years, the future residents of Fiddlehead Corner often discussed the tension between two of our goals.  One is to design a community in which we can be together as we age, enjoying life to its fullest, with ongoing support as we move through its later–and final–stages. The other is to encourage intergenerational housing which can bring stimulation and growth opportunities for everyone.

From the beginning, Fiddlehead Corner has been designed by and for seniors. Our dwellings will be modest in size and will incorporate universal design features to accommodate residents with age-related disabilities. We will include care facilities to offer additional support for aging in place, the extra costs of which might not be appealing to younger people.  So while we discussed the idea of using the “55+ community” designation, it did not seem necessary, and it was an uncomfortable idea, as discrimination is not in our nature.

The zoning process made us realize that a “55+ community” designation would clarify, for those not in the cooperative, our intent for Fiddlehead Corner.  Therefore, the H4D cooperative members met recently to discuss this issue.  As a group, we came to realize that such a declaration will have little, if any, practical effect on the nature of our community.  We always expected that most of our residents would be of retirement age, and the rules for “55+ communities” allow up to 20% of dwellings to have no age restrictions, giving us sufficient room for those younger people who may want to join the community.