Cranberry Lake Community Club seeks veto of A5043/3661

By Mandy Coriston
In the wake of last week’s passage of Bill A5043/S3661, which will clarify Chapter 106 of the Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act, the Cranberry Lake Community Club (CLCC) is urging its current members to write New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, asking him to veto the bill, which could possibly arrive on the governor’s desk prior to the weekend after Independence Day. Since last July, Cranberry Lake has been pursuing mandatory club membership for all lake residents. The new bill will not allow the club, and others around the state in similar membership battles, to do so.
CLCC president Mary Seage published a letter to members on the club’s website, saying that the bill’s passage would take away the “benefits we gained from Chapter 106” when PREDFDA was last amended in 2017. She also expresses concern because the club will not be allowed to pursue a fair share assessment if or when A5043/S3661 is signed into law. The income from mandatory membership in CLCC would have been approximately $600 for each household new to the club.
The CLCC contends that A5043/S3661 was “railroaded” through the legislature, and is seeking answers as to why no lake community experts were consulted during the bill’s authoring and journey through the legislative process. Newsletters from the past two weeks indicate that the CLCC is also concerned with the possibility of losing its long-held lease with the state for the club’s facilities and the footbridge, which was recently ordered closed for safety purposes. The NJDEP owns the land on which the CLCC clubhouse and beaches are located. There is a separate non-profit group, Save Our Bridge, which is raising funds to save the nearly 90-year-old footbridge. CLCC president Mary Seage also heads that organization.