Glastonbury Landowners Association

The Articles of Incorporation are the highest-ranking GLA governing document. The Articles align the GLA with the Montana Nonprofit Corporation Act and other State Laws. They define the GLA's purpose, prohibit most political lobbying, define the GLA's powers, define membership, and place limitations on liability for members and directors. Further provisions identify the incorporator (CUT), list an outdated address for the registered agent, and address amendments to the Articles and what happens if the GLA dissolves. Members could lose millions of dollars in land assets if dissolution occurred.
The Articles of Incorporation are at the top of the legal hierarchy of GLA governing documents. Just below are the Covenants and Master Plan. Then, below those two documents are the Bylaws. In case of conflicts between documents, the Articles rule above everything else.
They were signed on April 28, 1997. On that day, the current Glastonbury Landowners Association (GLA) was born. It was reincarnated from an earlier legal structure first established by Royal Teton Ranch and Church Universal and Triumphant when they created Glastonbury in 1982.

Click here to download a PDF copy of the GLA Articles of Incorporation. For your conveniance this will open in a seperate tab.

The birth of Glastonbury occurred when the Declaration of Covenants for the Community of Glastonbury was signed on December 16, 1982. They contained shocking surprises and the seeds of many injustices. A close reading will help you to understand the current state of our community.
In the beginning, Royal Teton Ranch, a subsidiary of Church Universal and Triumphant, owned the land. As they leased "undivided interests" from 1982 to 1993, the Church retained ABSOLUTE power over leasees. Leasees were not allowed to exercise their choice of religion; Church Universal and Triumphant was the "official" religion, and if you were not a firm believer in the teachings and did not give 10% of your income to the Church, you were not allowed to lease land. The covenants did not have a fining system because the Church could simply cancel your lease and seize your property. The church required bomb shelters capable of withstanding thermonuclear blasts, and they demanded that you have at least a one-year supply of food on hand in case of warfare. Glastonbury was designed to be a spiritual home, and an apocalyptic haven, but an always under siege community for people who wished to follow the teachings of the Ascended Masters as interpreted by Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Some settlers still refer to the 1980's as the good old days when wonderful things happened. Read the rules laid down by the Church in the 1982 Covenants and draw your own conclusions.

Click here to download a Searchable PDF copy of the 1982 Glastonbury Covenants. For your conveniance this will open in a separate tab. Click here to read a Glastonbury Community Forum article about the 1982 Glastonbury Covenants. Click here to download a PDF copy of the 1993 CUT settlement agreement with Park County. The agreement ended CUT's illegal subdivisions and
paved the way for true land ownership, the 1997 restated covenants, and the birth of the present Glastonbury Landowners Association (GLA).

1) On June 1, 1983, Royal Teton Ranch(CUT) amended Covenant 6.03 Utilities to bring it up to date with then-current utility industry standard practices. Since CUT owned more than 50% of the parcels in Glastonbury and thus controlled the majority vote, they did not need any other landowner approval.

Click here to download a Searchable PDF copy of the 1st Amendment to the 1982 Covenants. For your conveniance this will open in a seperate tab.

2) On December 1, 1983, Royal Teton Ranch(CUT) "corrected" their previously amended Covenant 6.03 Utilities to bring it up to date with then-current utility industry standard practices. Since CUT owned more than 50% of the parcels in Glastonbury and thus controlled the majority vote, they did not need any other landowner approval.

Click here to download a Searchable PDF copy of the corrected 1st Amendment to the 1982 Covenants.

3) On December 18, 1983, Royal Teton Ranch(CUT) added parcel 21 in South Glastonbury to the 1982 Covenants. Sections 1.04 and 1.05 of the covenants allowed the grantor, CUT, to add or remove parcels from the legal jurisdiction of the covenants. No landowner vote was required. Only grantor approval was needed because the covenants were NOT being changed. Only the appendix changed.

Click here to download a Searchable PDF copy of the 1st parcel Addition to the 1982 Covenants.

4) On December 30, 1986, Royal Teton Ranch, a subsidiary of CUT, officially assigned the 1982 Covenants to Church Universal and Triumphant. Because the covenants were not changed, a landowner vote was not required.

Click here to download a Searchable PDF copy of the 1st Assignment of the 1982 Covenants.

5) On July 31, 1987, CUT added parcels 49A and 50A in North Glastonbury to the 1982 covenants. The creation of Golden Age Village mobile home park required permission from Park County. The project was approved on the condition that a second entrance and exit be constructed for North Glastonbury residents. The new road, known today as the North Entrance, ran across parcels 49 and 50. The covenant addition established the road as "platted" and thus part of the Glastonbury platted road network. Although required for the safety and benefit of GAV, which CUT then owned, CUT would later try to impose a special assessment on all North Glastonbury landowners for the construction costs of the new road. Like the 1st parcel addition, no landowner vote was required.

Click here to download a Searchable PDF copy of the 2nd Addition to the 1982 Covenants.

6) On June 4, 1988, CUT added the third addition of property to the 1982 covenants. Lots 1 to 49 located on North Glastonbury parcels 3 and 4 were added and would now be required to pay annual assessments. The 49 lots belonged to the Golden Age Village(GAV) mobile home park, which was in turn owned by CUT. Sirius Drive, the paved portion, did not yet exist, so it could not be added to the platted road network like the new North Entrance was. Sirius paved was created in 1997 and remains outside of the platted road network. A landowner vote was not required for this addition to the covenants.

Click here to download a Searchable PDF copy of the 3rd addition to the 1982 Covenants.

7) On August 11, 1988, CUT CUT added the 4th addition of property to the 1982 covenants. The owners of parcel 8 in North Glastonbury requested that their property be included. It was, and no landowner vote was required.

Click here to download a Searchable PDF copy of the 4th addition to the 1982 Covenants.

8) On June 21, 1989, CUT CUT added the 5th addition of property to the 1982 covenants. Nine parcels in High South and four in North Glastonbury were added. No landowner vote was required.

Click here to download a Searchable PDF copy of the 5th addition to the 1982 Covenants.

9) On August 2, 1989, and at the request of the property owners, CUT added parcel 20 in South Glastonbury to the 1982 Covenants. Sections 1.04 and 1.05 of the covenants allowed the grantor to add or remove parcels from the legal jurisdiction of the covenants. No landowner vote was required. Only grantor approval was needed because the covenants were NOT being changed. Just the appendix changed.

Click here to download a Searchable PDF copy of the 6th addition to the 1982 Covenants.

10) On December 31, 1992, CUT amended the 1982 covenants section 11.04 Special Assessments. This was required so CUT could charge only North Glastonbury landowners for the construction costs of the new north entrance required by Park County, so CUT could build Golden Age Village mobile home park. Landowner approval was required. Many leasees signed the document even though they only "owned" a percentage of a parcel.

Click here to download a Searchable PDF copy of the 2nd Amendment to the 1982 Covenants.

11) On June 17, 1997, CUT officially assigned the 1982 Covenants to the Glastonbury Landowners Association. Because the covenants were not being changed, no landowner vote was required. The 1982 covenants would be rewritten and voted on by GLA landowners in the fall of 1997.

Click here to download a Searchable PDF copy of the 2nd assignment of the 1982 Covenants.

The 1982 covenants prohibited private ownership of land and violated multiple US Constitutional clauses. It was only a matter of time before they were nullified by the courts. The hard-fought path chosen by CUT and eventually a majority of residents was to keep the 1982 covenants and then rewrite them to allow for private property ownership and pass legal muster. The siege mindset and fear of "outsiders" created new confusion and planted more seeds of injustice. A fining system was not added. The only way the GLA could enforce non-compliance was to initiate expensive legal action. Golden Age Village mobile home park was required to pay 49 assessments, yet was denied membership rights. They could not vote or run for GLA elected office. Legal language was often vague and confusing. Sometimes it contradicted other governing documents. CUT approval was required for all proposed covenant changes.
CUT previously removed about 20% of the parcels and hundreds of acres in North and South Glastonbury from the legal jurisdiction of the covenants. They called it "reserved land" and it allowed them to evade annual assessments and develop the parcels without oversight in perpetuity. On Septemeber 15, 1997 the GLA President Patrick Wolberd said "that Edward Francis [Vice President of CUT] had told him that when we pass a Land Use Master Plan(LUMP), the developer, [CUT] could then endorse Reserved Land being brought under the Covenants. The restating of existing covenants and removal of prime property resulted in a weak, disorganized, and ineffective GLA board whose legal jurisdiction was a patchwork of remaining parcels. The new GLA had little money and inherited a rudimentary dirt and gravel platted road system that was unfinished, unsafe, and poorly maintained. GLA President Wolberd speaking for the GLA wrote on July 17, 1997 in a letter to CUT "We believe that in addition to having fallen short in its objective as an Ascended Master Community, Glastonbury is also a failed real estate development".

Click here to download a searchable PDF copy of the Park County recorded and thus official GLA 1997 Restated Covenants.
For your conveniance this will open in a separate tab.

CUT previously removed about 20% of the parcels and hundreds of acres in North and South Glastonbury from the legal jurisdiction of the 1982 covenants. They called it "Reserved Land," and it allowed them to evade annual assessments and develop the parcels without oversight in perpetuity. On September 15, 1997, the first GLA President, Patrick Wolberd, said "that Edward Francis [Vice President of CUT] had told him that when we pass a Land Use Master Plan(LUMP), the developer, [CUT] could then endorse Reserved Land being brought under the Covenants.
Around 1995, CUT helped to develop a plan to build town centers in North and South Glastonbury. They would contain stores, condominiums, churches, a community center, and much more. CUT justified the 20% of parcels they never included in the covenants as being the eventual home for two town centers. Making Glastonbury whole by restoring the CUT-removed parcels to the jurisdiction of the GLA, and in time creating town centers, were the compelling reasons for the creation of the Master Plan. The work was started in 1997. It was completed in 2006 and passed by voters in 2007.
CUT sold their 20% of "reserved land" in South Glastonbury in 2018 to Mountain Sky Ranch. They have not returned their vast acreage in the center of North Glastonbury to GLA jurisdiction. As of 2026, they still own it, do not pay assessments, and are free to develop it without fear of GLA rules, assessments, or oversight.
The Master Plan is part of the current GLA Restated Covenants. It further defines building standards, allowed dwellings, and rules for property development and improvement on land that is under the jurisdiction of the GLA. Like the covenants, the Master Plan is tied to the land, and all parcel owners are REQUIRED to know and abide by the rules it sets forth.

Click here to download a PDF copy of the GLA Master Plan. For your conveniance this will open in a separate tab.

Bylaws need frequent updating to meet the changing needs of community governance. Thus, they are much easier to amend than Articles of Incorporation or covenants. GLA Bylaws have been changed multiple times since 2014. You may download the current and historical bylaws below.

Click here to download a searchable PDF copy of 2025 GLA Bylaws. For your conveniance this will open in a separate tab. Click here to download a searchable PDF copy of 2023 GLA Bylaws. Click here to download a searchable PDF copy of 2020 GLA Bylaws. Click here to download a searchable PDF copy of 2014 GLA Bylaws.