A lawsuit filed by leaseholders at a Dennis Township campground claiming it is violating a court ruling and the terms of their leases is making its way through the legal system.
According to court filings by a group of 90-year leaseholders, the Down the Shore Campground and its owner, Andrew Gordon, have enacted impermissible fees and restrictions aimed at the leaseholders. They also allege interference with lease transfers except in cases where the campground itself is engaged in a buyout of a leaseholder.
The lawsuit says the campground has also interfered with leaseholders by alleging code violations, refusing permits for improvements to their property and threatening evictions for noncompliance.
The suit was filed in April by 26 of the 90-year leaseholders at the campground, who formed the DTS Leaseholder Association to bring suit. The association told the court that all disputed fees have been placed in escrow pending the outcome of the litigation.
The concern on the part of some leaseholders, speaking anonymously for fear of retribution, is that the campground wants to reduce or eliminate 90-year leaseholders in favor of more space for seasonal bookings.
The campground has made a motion to dismiss the case and was denied; it then asked the court to reconsider the decision. That, too, was denied. The court did dismiss Andrew Gordon “as an individual” in the matter.
The campground argued to the court that each leaseholder has a different relationship to the new rules, the alleged impermissible actions by the campground and the specific alleged violations of their leases. It claimed that individual leaseholders should be required to bring their actions separately. The court ruled against this argument and has allowed the association’s case to move forward.
The case was sent in August to the Law Division of Superior Court. Part of the reason for that assignment is that a 1994 order in dispute in the case was issued by the Law Division.
The contention between the leaseholders and the campground comes at a point when New Jersey is seeing some of its busiest camping seasons in years.
Following the onset of the Covid pandemic, campgrounds saw a surge in business. One 90-year leaseholder who asked to remain anonymous said much of the difficulty for leaseholders started in 2022, which was a banner year at county campgrounds.
The pandemic gave a new push to what was already a growing interest in the camping experience. A 2022 report from Campgrounds of America Inc. showed a significant increase in active camper households, which the report said grew from 71 million in 2014 to 94 million in 2021. The RV Industry Association reported a similar hike in RV ownership.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
