Ocean County Man Fined By Condo Association Over Swimming With Wife: Report

LAKEWOOD, NJ — An Ocean County man is protesting a fine he received from his condominium association over violating its rules by swimming with his wife in the association's pool, according to a report.

The Asbury Park Press report says Steve Lusardi, 69, was fined $50 by A Country Place in Lakewood, where he and his wife, Diane, 70, live, because they swam in the pool together outside of its set hours for mixed-gender swimming.

The majority of the homeowners at the 376-unit condominium complex are Orthodox Jewish residents, according to the report. Because Orthodox Jewish customs forbid men and women from bathing or swimming together, the community’s elected board of directors has curtailed the times when men and women can use the pool together, the report said.

The pool is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily during the summer, but mixed gender swimming is only permitted from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday through Friday. There is open swimming on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, according to the report.

But the Press report said that it isn't only the non-Jewish residents of the condominium complex who believe the hours are too restrictive.

Jerry Fried, who is Orthodox Jewish, said the dispute is between residents and the board, not between Jewish and non-Jewish neighbors. He told the Press he asked the board to expand the hours for mixed-gender swimming but that request was refused.

Another resident who also has been fined by the community told the Press that a lawyer told her the division was legal as long as there was some provision for the mixed-gender swimming.

Read more here.

Swimming pool photo, by Morgan, via Flickr, under Creative Commons license