Membership in the Beckett Association wasn't optional. All homeowners had to join and pay an annual fee. Those who did not comply with its strict rules risked being haled into court or having a lien placed on their property.
Angered by the restrictions, the Maddens began to fight back. They formed a protest group and organized a slate of reform candidates to run in the association's next election.
Today, the Maddens are part of a movement to disband the Beckett Association and turn control of the development over to Logan Township.
The Beckett Association appears to be the first group in the state to attempt dissolution.
"Disbanding is so unusual, there aren't even statutes existing to govern such an action," said E.J. Miranda, spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. "This is certainly the first case of this kind in our memory."
The Community Association Institute, a national group based in Arlington, Va., has proposed a model law on homeowners' associations that has been adopted in several states. It would enable residents to rid themselves of onerous groups, said Dennis Casale, president of the group's New Jersey chapter.
But while such bills linger in legislative committees in Trenton and Harrisburg, the Beckett Association must rely on nonprofit-corporation law for guidelines for dissolution, said Howard Mendelson, the association's lawyer.
That means the path to a breakup will be long and arduous, he said.
The first step is for Beckett to divest itself of the development's 76 acres of common land. In March, the association asked the Township Council to annex the land, but the council still has not decided whether to accept the playgrounds, spacious medians and berms that make up Beckett's open space.
