Hi folks, I just signed up for the group. While the information below
does not specifically relate to the topic of detox, I thought it might be
of interest to some in the group. It is an info sheet about an MCS
neighborhood around 30 miles from Tucson Arizona. There is a building
lot
currently available there for someone who wants to build their own
nontoxic home, and have some mcs neighbors. The person who initiated the
project does not do computers, so I offered to put this info on the web.
If you have any questions or would like more info, please contact me at
foxyrich @ mailhaven .com. Thanks, Richard


Thank you for inquiring about the available lot(s) at Quailhaven. I am
not the originator of Quailhaven, but I’m one of the lot owners and I’ll
do my best to answer the basic questions I’ve been receiving about the
property and community. If you have specific questions after reading
this, please let me know. It will be a week or so before I can get
photo’s of the available lot up on the net or on email.

Concept. The idea behind Quailhaven is to have an MCS neighborhood in a
relatively clean air rural area, within striking distance of a city
(Tucson), where individuals or families with MCS can interact with each
other, share pot luck meals or gardening, perhaps work together on home
based businesses, and in general have some camaraderie. Each person or
family is expected to provide their own caregivers when necessary, so as
not to be a burden on other MCS residents. Restrictive covenants guide a
number of different features including the land clearing and building
process (passive solar, natural appearance, non-stick-built), as well as
protecting MCS air quality, MCS person or family residency (instead of
general public), as well as defining methods for lot owners to make rules
and make any needed changes in the future. Decisions will be made
through a lot owners association, on the basis of what we called
“consensus minus one.” The decision would have to be almost unanimous to
bring about any changes or rules. Diane (the developer) envisioned
Quailhaven as somewhat of a model (an example) for MCS folks to live as
neighbors in a decent looking neighborhood and be environmentally
conscious in terms of our treatment of the land and each other. The
covenants are geared toward these goals. Since it is a desert area, and
the well share needs to serve possibly as many as six lots, the size of
each home is limited in the covenants, so as to discourage overly-large
families who would be heavy water users.

General area. Quailhaven is located in a relatively flat desert area, a
little higher than Tucson at around 3,000 feet in altitude. Winters are
sunny, dry, and warm; summers are hot. There is clean air often with a
slight breeze. We are near Park Link Rd., which is 11 miles west of
Oracle Junction, Arizona. From Park Link Rd, it is a couple miles on dirt
roads to the actual location. As the crow flies, we are probably around
15 to 20 miles west of Oracle AZ and 15 miles northwest from Catalina,
AZ. It takes approximately 40 minutes by car to reach health food stores
in the the north section of Tucson, from the land. We are 15 to 20 miles
by car from I-10 which connects Phoenix and Tucson, and we are several
miles by car from the two-lane road which connects Florence, AZ with
Oracle Junction, AZ. There is an active MCS HEAL chapter in Tucson.

There are other people living in the immediate area around Quailhaven,
but it is relatively sparsely populated, and their lots vary in size from
4 acres to 20 acres each. The vegetation in the area (including Q.H.)
would be considered lush for a desert, and includes Saguaro cacti, Palo
Verde trees, Mesquite trees, Barrel Cacti, and many other species of tree
and shrub. One that is not particularly friendly is the type of Cholla
which is sometimes called “jumping cactus”. I recently cleared a lot of
these off my lot and I can verify they can be a real pain! But the area
is beautiful for a desert. We have the Suizo Mountains to the west, and
a short drive away is some state land which is good for walking and
hiking. There is some protected owl habitat to the south and southwest
of Quailhaven, but I’m not sure of the exact location. People outside of
the Quailhaven area are allowed by Pinal County regulations to use a
woodstove for heat, so there might be occasions when woodsmoke is
present, as it was one evening when I was at my lot at sunset. (once out
of perhaps 10 or 15 occasions).


Quailhaven is a 10 acre area purchased by Diane and then split into 5
lots. Four of the lots were sold shortly after they became available in
the spring of 2002, and the 5th lot was sold at that time as well.
However, the buyer of the 5th lot declined to proceed to the closing,
which all the buyers were participating in at the same time (for
convenience). The 5th lot (Lot E) is the currently available lot, and is
double the size of the other lots. It could be split in two if the buyer
(or two buyers) were interested in that scenario, resulting in a cost of
either $30K or $15K for each of two buyers. This represents a lower cost
than what Diane has actually invested in the property and its
development, but she had given someone a maximum figure of $15K for his
lot, so she has stuck with that ever since even though that individual
never actually bought. Keep in mind that even though the utilities are
to the property line, a buyer would have to engage in the process of
building a home, or having a home built. In either case, for some
people, this is an overwhelming process and should be considered
carefully before actually buying.

Diane has installed infrastructure, and each lot is ready for a septic
permit application and building permit application. Diane has a number
of house designs available (depending on the size of home you need) if
you don’t want to spend time designing your own. A well share is
included, and the well produces 8 gal./ min. which is very good for that
area. A food grade storage tank was installed, and water lines were
extended underground to each lot line. Electric and phone are also
underground, to each lot line. Non-creosote telephone poles were
installed at the edge of the property, and a road (wide driveway) links
all lots. The well water was tested and Diane was told the quality of
the water is outstanding. There is a “walking easement” included around
the outside edge of the original unsplit 10 acres, so that we can
eventually make a walking path of approx. one-third mile, around the
outside perimeter of the neighborhood. Diane has tested the EMF’s and
gets a reading of zero, but she cannot guarantee the area to be free of
emf’s. The overhead telephone wires at the edge of the property, carry
phone and possibly electric to another property adjacent to Quailhaven.

The covenants allow animals, but they are limited in number and of course
the usual kind of stipulations apply – they have to be well cared for and
can’t a be nuisance. There are no roosters or screeching birds allowed,
but the usual type of domestic animals are okay.

One consideration during the building process, if someone is moving from
out of town, is where a person would live while their home is under
construction. (Construction could take 6 months, more or less, depending
on many factors). Diane’s house, which she is close to starting,
includes in the design, an extra but small living quarters for a guest or
renter. My house, which is at least a year away, will do the same. So
as places are built, there will be modest non-toxic accommodations
available on a temporary basis.

I hope this serves as a good introduction. If you have specific
questions, please ask them, because this will help me add additional
appropriate information to this intro!

Thanks again for your interest, and please do not hesitate to get in
touch.
--
Richard Fox
foxyrich@...