Lake Mohawk trustees all wet on storage issue

To the Editor: The Lake Mohawk board of trustees has asked the Byram council to pass an ordinance prohibiting residents of the Lake Mohawk area of their township from storing boats within plain site of the road. This is an antiquated rule in the bylaws of the Lake Mohawk Country Club that I do not think would pass if presented today to the general membership for a vote. I have been coming to Sussex County since 1928. In 1970, I moved permanently from Brooklyn to my present home in the Lake Mohawk area of Sparta. I have become used to seeing boats stored in driveways and alongside of private homes. This is part of living in a lake area. It never entered my mind that this detracted in any way from the “quality of life,” the reason stated for this regulation by Earnest Hoffer, the country club president. The only members of the Lake Mohawk Country Club (all of whom pay the same dues) who can enjoy the full benefits of the lake are those who have lake-front property. Many are affluent enough to own three- or even four-car garage homes in which they can store their boats out of sight. The many not living on the lake, who wish to go boating, have a much greater problem. They live on smaller lots and must launch and remove their boats each time for storage, or try to find a mooring place on the lake to lease at extra expense, which is almost impossible. The most convenient place for them to store their boat is in their driveway, near the road. It would be presumptuous of me to tell the Byram council how to vote on this request. But I hope they will keep the best interest of all the members of the Lake Mohawk Country Club in mind. I only wish that Sparta had done the same when they came under the pressure of the club management. I do not approve of a private club having rules that require a township ordinance to enforce, nor do I think it should be legal unless it is a matter of safety. Leonard R. Peck Sparta