Declaration Restatement Newsletter

At the suggestion of several Arrowhead owners, your neighbors on the Declaration Restatement Committee are providing information about the Restatement Project through periodic newsletters. In this second edition, we will provide an overview of where we are in the project, and then discuss the potential intersection of the project and rentals in the community. If you missed it, please read our first newsletter here.

Project Update

To recap, a “declaration” serves as the constitution of a planned community. Our existing declaration was written decades ago by and for the benefit of the original developer, not Arrowhead’s owners. We are undertaking this project to protect the consensus expectations of our owners. To “restate” our declaration, owners representing 67% of our lots will need to approve it.

There are three phases to the Project: (1) Initial Owner Engagement; (2) Finding Owner Consensus; and (3) Declaration Drafting and Approval. We launched Phase 1 with a Town Hall last July. Since then, we have been using small group “listening sessions” to gather ideas about Arrowhead from a broad range of owners. Read the Listening Session Responses here.

The Committee is now turning to Phase 2, where we will find areas of owner consensus that could be included in a restated declaration. We will use surveys to determine levels of support for various ideas owners shared with us.

Phase 2: Finding Owner Consensus kicks off on May 4!

We highly encourage you to attend this presentation with the ALCA Board of Directors.

Wednesday, May 4

Declaration Restatement Project Presentation to the Board

6 p.m. at the Lodge & via Zoom

No registration needed to attend in-person.

Short-Term Rentals & the Restatement Project

The Committee understands that short-term rentals are a hot button issue in Arrowhead Lake, as it is across the Poconos and countless other communities. Owners have differences of opinion on the issue. In fact, we have both renting and non-renting owners on the Restatement Committee. Although we may have differing views on renting, we all agree that there is a pressing need to protect our community for the future with a restated declaration. We are committed to working together constructively toward that common goal on behalf of all owners. Our listening sessions to date suggest that there are broad areas of agreement among owners. Renting is but one issue among many in the community.

That said, a declaration is an appropriate place to establish and protect owner expectations on renting in a planned community. By agreeing to a restatement, owners may set sustainably, enforceable rental standards. Owners must always comply with any municipal ordinances that may apply to their properties (such as Coolbaugh or Tobyhanna ordinances), but they are otherwise free to manage their planned community through their declaration as they see fit.

Although some in our community have suggested otherwise, it is clear to the Committee that our current declaration does not limit renting and does not provide authority for ALCA to implement significant rental limitations (whether through a bylaw amendment, board action, or any other mechanism). Restrictions on the use of private property must be clearly stated in a recorded covenant. The covenants that form our declaration simply do not contain language restricting rentals. The Committee researched this issue and prepared a detailed analysis, which can be read here.

Thus, in the Committee’s view, the only practical way for Arrowhead Lake to establish community-specific rental standards is for we—the owners—to include them in a restated declaration. We would need to find language that a large majority of the community will support. The Committee expects to include rental topics in surveys during Phase 2 of the project. Be sure to participate in those surveys if you want your opinion to be heard on this or any issue.

As you think about this issue going forward, however, we encourage you to consider the following:

There may be more common ground than you realize: A broad majority of both renting and non-renting owners may be expected to agree on some rental limitations. For instance, a common limitation in planned communities is that new owners may not rent their homes for a certain period of time. Such a limitation could appeal to non-renting owners, as well as currently renting owners who may be concerned about growth in competing rental inventory. This is one example among many of a common rental limitations.

It is up to YOU: Whether or not rental limitations are included in our restated declaration is entirely up to you, the owners. The Committee will continue to listen and will help find and build consensus, but we will need you to participate honestly and constructively in our upcoming surveys. It is highly unlikely that a supermajority of owners will support extreme positions. We encourage you to approach this issue, and all of the issues raised in this Project, reasonably and constructively. Consensus solutions will be built by those who find ways to agree.

Meet the Committee

Victor Bellino is a retired attorney/CPA. He and his wife, Norma, have lived in Arrowhead part-time for nine years and his family has owned property here for forty-nine years. Victor is chairing the Restatement subcommittee because he loves delving into covenants, researching legal materials, and compiling information on community declarations. He has accumulated a collection of existing declarations and covenants from a variety of communities. Victor has also been assisting with our listening sessions.

We depend on Victor for level-headed assessments of legal, financial, and technical issues we are experiencing as we move through the project. Victor views the Arrowhead community as a partnership between various groups in the community and believes we function best as a community when we seek compromise among groups, have proper leadership, and enforce the rules and regulations already in place in the community and region.

Email the Committee

Declaration Restatement Committee

April 28, 2022 - Newsletter - Vol. 2

Arrowhead Lake Community Association | Contact Us