Please read the HALP Declaration of Trust and By-Laws carefully. All information on this website is meant to serve as a helpful guide to living in Laurel Park, but please note that the Declaration of Trust is the legal binding agreement for all homeowners.
The Executive Committee runs HALP and makes general policy. It includes a President, Vice President, Clerk, Treasurer, Property Committee Chair, Finance Committee Chair, and one at-large member, who serves as Orientation Chair.
The Property Committee oversees HALP's common property and also regulates maintenance of the outside of your unit and any alterations to it.
The Finance Committee puts together the budget and recommends it to the Homeowners.
The Nominating Committee nominates a slate of officers and committee members to be voted on each year.
Other Committees may be established from time to time to work on specific issues.
Meetings of all HALP committees are open to any homeowner. Meeting times and names of the current officers are posted on the bulletin board outside the Laurel Park post office. If you are interested in serving on a committee, get in touch with a member of the Nominating Committee (when it's active in the summer) or the Executive Committee. (3.4-11)
Click here for a downloadable version of these guidelines (pdf)
1. If you plan to do exterior renovations or improvements on your cottage you must obtain permission from the HALP Property Committee, which will examine your project to ensure it complies with the park’s by-laws; and the requirements of the City of Northampton Building Department. The HALP Property Committee will review the same application you (or your contractor) will submit to the City of Northampton. This application form is available from the City or on-line at www.northamptonma.gov/gsuniverse/httpRoot/building/. Landscaping projects require only approval from the HALP Property Committee.
2. The material that you will need to submit consists of the following items:
3. For HALP Property Committee review you must complete Sections 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, and 11 (if applicable) of the city’s application form.
The committee will review your proposed project at a regularly scheduled meeting. You will be notified of the date and time your project will be reviewed. The committee may contact you if there are any questions or concerns. When approved, the committee will provide you with a letter expressing its approval of your project. You will need to attach a copy of that approval letter to your application that you send to the city’s building department. If a project is disapproved you will be notified in writing as to the reasons for the disapproval and what corrective action may be taken to obtain approval.
Once you have received a building permit from the city’s building department you must submit a copy of that permit to the Property Committee before any construction may begin.
Members of the committee wish to assure you that we will do all we can to assist you in obtaining approval of your project, while ensuring that the project complies with the park rules and does not unreasonably interfere with other park resident’s quiet enjoyment of their homes.
Tree Policy
Click here for a downloadable version of these guidelines (pdf)
Click here for the Tree Work Request Form (pdf)
1. Trees at laurel Park are to be protected and conserved. No tree may be taken down to accommodate construction except as a last resort. Contractors need to prove to the Property Committee, for recommendation to the Executive Committee, that no other alternative exists For septic systems, replacement of soil in an existing location must be used whenever technically possible instead of removing trees.
2. Absolutely no trees may be trimmed, or cut down without the written permission of the Property Committee. Any Homeowner desiring tree work must complete a written request form for the committee. It will then be discussed and voted upon and the request will be approved or denied and returned to the Homeowner.
3. A tree will be removed by the Property Committee if it is dead. diseased, or dying. It will be removed if it is a hazard to property. (Shedding of needles, pine cones, nuts, leaves, a natural dropping of small branches, or reduction of sunlight do not constitute a hazard.)
4. If a tree is to be taken down for a reason other than the above then all neighbors will be advised in writing and given an opportunity for input before the tree is taken down.
5. Trees taken down will be removed from the Park by a landscape service. However, first a general notice will be posted about tree removal and any Homeowner interested in the wood for a stove or fireplace may contact the Property Committee. A $50.00 deposit will then be posted by the Homeowner with the Executive Committee before the tree is taken down and the Homeowner must agree (in writing) to have the tree cut into wood stove lengths and stacked within one month's time. If this is not done within one month's time then the Park will remove the wood and deduct the cost from the deposit. In the event that more than one Homeowner wants the wood, the wood and deposit will be divided equally among them. Softwood trees will not be a part of this policy as they present a fire hazard to burn.
6. Homeowners should check wires coming into their houses to make sure that all wires are free from touching branches. If a tree needs trimming to clear the wires, the Property Committee should be notified immediately. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should a Homeowner attempt to remove branches near wires.
7. Residents of the Park must refrain from inserting nails or other fasteners into trees or tying ropes and wires around them. Nails breach the protective bark of the tree and can cause disease and insect problems. Ropes and wires affect a tree’s sap flow; wires also cut into the tree's bark.
8. If laurel is removed it must be done so carefully and must be replanted.
Laurel Park Dining Hall
Click here for a downloadable version of these guidelines (pdf)
Click here for the Dining Hall Rental Request Form (pdf)
The dining hall may be rented by homeowners. Renters are asked to observe the following rules.
1. Only homeowners may rent the dining hall.
2. A homeowner may rent the hall only two times per season (April 15 - October 25).
3. The dining hall renter must be present in the dining hall during the entire function.
4. No alcoholic beverages may be served at dining hall rental functions.
5. The dining hall renter is responsible for the compliance of all guests to Laurel Park rules (i.e., parking, speed limit, dogs on lead, no offensive noise).
6. The renter will observe the noise curfew of 9pm (11.8.6).
7. In accordance with the by-laws regarding noise, dining hall renters will have no amplified music, recorded or live.
8. Please submit the request to the Property Committee with two weeks notice.
9. If the kitchen is being used, please make a check out in the amount of $10.00 payable to HALP and enclose it with your request.
10. Please contact the Property Committee chair for access to the dining hall.
11. Please leave the dining hall, both inside and outside, in the condition you found it.
12. The dining hall renter is responsible for all damages. Please report any damages to the Property Chair.
Septic System Guidelines
Click here for a downloadable version of these guidelines (pdf)
1. You must request, in writing, permission from the Property Committee for a percolation test to either install a new system or replace an existing septic system. NO PERCOLATION TESTS SHOULD BE DONE WITHOUT PERMISSION.
2. After successful percolation test, you must submit to the Property Committee a design plan, done by a certified civil engineer, for the proposed septic system. The homeowner is responsible for making the engineer aware that vehicles are liable to drive over any area in the Park and that all septic systems need to be able to withstand vehicles or heavy machinery driving over or parking on them.
3. At the time when the plan is submitted the homeowner should also make a date with the Property Chair for a septic hearing.
4. The homeowner must notify all abutters in writing at least ten days prior to the septic hearing of the septic hearing date and the location of the septic system. An abutter is defined as anyone whose cottage is within 100 yards of the proposed septic system or whose septic system abuts the proposed septic system. The Property Committee will be happy to help you identify the abutters. In addition, it is to the homeowner’s advantage to use certified mail or gather signatures in order to have proof that all abutters have been notified. You must also post the septic hearing date and sketch of proposed site on the bulletin board above the mailboxes.
5. At the septic hearing any interested homeowner will have the opportunity to voice their concerns.
6. At their next meeting after the septic hearing the Property Committee will approve or reject the design plan for the proposed septic system.
7. If design plan is approved, installation can proceed:
Homeowners at Laurel Park
70 Laurel Park
Northampton, MA 01060
413-587-9645
All content copyright © 2006 Homeowners at Laurel Park
