SPEAK
OUT AT FORUM Members
upset by homeowners' groups |
Article Courtesy of Asbury
Park Press
Published May 22, 2007 By TOM BALDWIN The
national lobby for the homeowners' associations called the complaints
anecdotal and pointed to surveys showing, among other points, that residents
want less regulation by state governments. Residents
speaking out at the conference, organized by the three law schools in New
Jersey, say they're now being choked by regulation — with one detailing a
ban on cooking with woks, because of the identifiable aroma that results. "We
are all aggrieved homeowners," said Ellen Vastola of Any
number of complaints filled the Community
life, said attendees, has evolved from the exclusive, gated communities of the
1960s, sometimes built around a golf course or other leisure pursuit, to one
where condominiums or other shared space has become the choice of one in eight
New Jerseyans and one in five Americans. "The
numbers alone make it of immense public importance," said Public Advocate
Ronald Chen, who may in the end be legislated to oversee the associations. Frank
Rathbun, spokesman for the Community Associations Institute, the lobbying
group for the associations, said from his office outside At
the forum, Seton Hall University Law Professor Paula Franzese said,
"Transparency must be the norm." She quipped that the salutation has
gone from "How are you doing, neighbor?" to "What are you
doing, neighbor?" Jackie
Garfunkel, 72, of a senior community in Howell, said that in 2004 she had
published a note in her development's newsletter that complained about
conditions at the swimming pool. She
said she then received a letter from the association's attorney, who said she
could not print criticism or that she would face removal as the newsletter's
editor. Garfunkel said she resigned in protest and won election to the board. |