Dear Editor:
The recent settlement of the lawsuit involving the Rainbow Lakes Community Club (RLCC) should not be mistaken for a sweeping victory for either side. While it removed 19 properties from mandatory membership, it did not resolve broader questions for the rest of the neighborhood.
As a past president of the RLCC, I find the use of the term “fair share” in this context both confusing and unfortunate. To many New Jersey residents, that phrase has a public meaning associated with affordable housing and broader civic obligation, not private disputes over assessments for common property. Whatever one’s legal view, it is a phrase that can easily mean very different things to different people.
This settlement also does not, by itself, resolve the broader question of whether Rainbow Lakes should be understood or described as a conventional homeowners association. Residents and prospective buyers deserve accurate, document-based descriptions of any legal obligations tied to a property. Those obligations should be stated carefully and supported by the recorded documents applicable to the property in question.
That was the legal dispute. But for me, there is also a larger human issue.
For almost 100 years, the real common interest in Rainbow Lakes was not only the lakes, access points, clubhouse, or other properties held by the RLCC corporation. It was the community itself.
I have spent much of my life working in and around corporations. One of the blessings of coming home to Rainbow Lakes was the sense that this was more than an organization. It was a neighborhood. A place where people chose to contribute, participate, and belong.
A community is built on trust, contribution, and shared identity. It adapts through dialogue, mutual respect, and voluntary effort. When conflict becomes defined primarily by legal structures and enforcement, something important can be lost.
That is what troubles me most. Beyond the legal fees, beyond the liens, and beyond the years of conflict, there has been a real loss of social capital: trust, goodwill, and neighborly connection.
My hope is that, over time, we can recover that spirit and remember what made Rainbow Lakes meaningful in the first place.
That choice is still in the hands of the people who live here.
John Worthington
