Chase v. Joslin Management Corp.
| Decision Date | 17 July 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85-376,85-376 |
| Citation | 128 N.H. 336,512 A.2d 434 |
| Parties | H. Hamilton CHASE and Dorothy G. Chase, v. JOSLIN MANAGEMENT CORP. and Keene Church of the Nazarene. |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
Edward J. Burke, Keene, by brief and orally, for plaintiffs.
Lane & Lane, Keene (Howard B. Lane, Jr., on brief and orally), for defendant Joslin Management Corp.
Michael P. Bentley, Keene, by brief and orally, for defendant Keene Church of the Nazarene.
The defendants appeal an order of the Superior Court (O'Neil, J.) granting an injunction to enforce certain restrictions limiting the use of land owned by Keene Church of the Nazarene (the Church). The order required Joslin Management Corp. (Joslin) and the Church to remove a roadway, culvert, and pine tree shield from the Church's property and to restore the ground to its prior condition. We affirm the order for removal of the roadway and culvert and for restoration of the property, and we reverse the order to the extent that it requires removal of the trees.
The Church and the plaintiffs own adjacent parcels of land on Maple Avenue in Keene. Both properties are subject to restrictive covenants, which provide, inter alia, that: (1) no building shall be erected other than one detached single family dwelling, a private garage and a children's playhouse; (2) the lots shall not be subdivided; (3) the land must be landscaped, seeded, and maintained in a well-kept condition; and (4) the purpose of the restrictive covenants is to insure the continuation of the land as first class residential property. The record indicates that these covenants "were waived to some extent" when the Church received its property. Abutting both lots is land owned by defendant Joslin. Joslin constructed apartment buildings on its property, which is not subject to the above covenants.
Although Joslin originally planned access to its apartments from Park Avenue, which runs behind the Church, the defendants agreed in August 1984 that Joslin could construct an access road across the Church's land from Maple Avenue to Joslin's property. Contending that the roadway violated the aforementioned covenants, the plaintiffs obtained ex parte relief against construction of the road. The order was vacated, however, following a hearing on temporary injunctive relief. Joslin built the road on the border of the Church's property that abuts the plaintiffs' land and planted trees alongside as a shield. The record indicates that the Church intends to grant Joslin an easement over its land for the roadway if it is determined that the roadway does not violate the restrictive covenants.
The parties submitted the case for decision upon an agreed statement of facts. The defendants did not dispute the applicability of the covenants to the property in question, nor did they challenge the plaintiffs' right to injunctive relief upon a finding of a violation of one of the covenants. After viewing the property, the trial court ruled that the roadway violates the intent of the original grantor to limit the property to single-family residential use. The court additionally found that a subdivision, "as contemplated by the covenants," had been created. On appeal, the defendants contend that these rulings are erroneous and challenge the scope of the court's order.
"[C]ases involving restrictive covenants present such a wide spectrum of differing circumstances that each case must be decided on its own facts." Joslin v. Pine River Dev. Corp., 116 N.H. 814, 816, 367 A.2d 599, 601 (1976). The trial judge has discretion to determine whether the principles of equity mandate the granting of an injunction in the circumstances of a particular case. Gauthier v. Robinson, 122 N.H. 365, 368, 444 A.2d 564, 566 (1982). We will uphold the findings and decision of the court below unless they are unsupported by the evidence or are erroneous as a matter of law. Id. at 369, 444 A.2d at 566.
The trial court properly considered the restrictive covenants as a whole to determine the intent of the grantor. See J...
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