Eagle Ridge Estates Homeowners v. Anderson, 25220.

• Decision Date: 06 January 2010
• Docket Number: No. 25234.,No. 25220.,25220.,25234.
• Citation: 777 N.W.2d 369,2010 SD 1
• Parties: EAGLE RIDGE ESTATES HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Terry Mitchell ANDERSON a/k/a Terry M. Anderson; Ann Carol Anderson a/k/a Ann C. Anderson; and Trust of Terry Mitchell Anderson and Ann Carol Anderson Dated April 8, 2005, Defendants and Appellants.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

777 N.W.2d 369

2010 SD 1

EAGLE RIDGE ESTATES HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Terry Mitchell ANDERSON a/k/a Terry M. Anderson; Ann Carol Anderson a/k/a Ann C. Anderson; and Trust of Terry Mitchell Anderson and Ann Carol Anderson Dated April 8, 2005, Defendants and Appellants.

No. 25220.

No. 25234.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Considered on Briefs November 16, 2009.

Decided January 6, 2010.

Dylan A. Wilde, Thomas E. Brady of Brady & Pluimer, PC, Spearfish, South Dakota, Attorneys for plaintiff and appellee.

Rodney Schlauger, Gregory J. Erlandson of Bangs, McCullen, Butler, Foye and Simmons, LLP, Rapid City, South Dakota, Attorneys for defendants and appellants.

MEIERHENRY, Justice.

[¶ 1.] This case involves a dispute concerning the amount Terry and Ann Anderson (Andersons) owe to Eagle Ridge Estates Homeowners Association, Inc. (Homeowners Association) pursuant to a private access easement agreement. The circuit court granted summary judgment to Homeowners Association. Andersons appeal. We reverse.

FACTS AND BACKGROUND

[¶ 2.] Andersons own three lots in Lawrence County, South Dakota, in a subdivision known as Eagle Crest.¹ Access to Andersons' property is by way of roads running through an adjacent subdivision known as Eagle Ridge Estates. By written agreement, the prior owners of Eagle Ridge Estates subdivision granted a private access easement to Andersons' predecessor. The private access easement operated as a covenant running with the land and bound and inured to the benefit of "successors in title." In exchange for the access easement, the grantee agreed to pay an annual general road assessment for each lot. The agreement originally established the amount of the annual general road assessment at $200 for a class A lot (built upon and ready for occupancy) or $100 for a class B lot (not built upon or ready for occupancy). The agreement further provided that the amount of the annual general road assessment was subject to change "from time to time [as] determined by the Covenants." The Covenants referred to were the restrictive covenants the grantor prepared and filed for Eagle Ridge Estates. Only those provisions of the covenants pertaining to the general road assessments apply to Andersons. The agreement provided that the grantee would "be subject to and be bound by all provisions of the Covenants providing for general road assessments for lots and enforcement of the same, but the Covenants shall not otherwise apply to Grantee's Property." The agreement also specified the manner of collection for an unpaid assessment. The agreement provided that "the delinquent assessment together with interest and collection costs as provided in the Covenants shall become a continuing lien on Grantee's Property, or on the subdivided lot in default, as the case may be, until paid as provided in the Covenants."

[¶ 3.] Homeowners Association brought suit against Andersons claiming they owed general assessments for 2005, 2006, and 2007. Andersons claim Homeowners Association only has authority to assess "general road assessments" against them under the easement agreement, not "general assessments." Andersons contend that Homeowners Association's general assessments include more than road assessments and are outside of their contractual obligations. Andersons asked Homeowners Association to itemize those portions of the general assessment that were used for roads. Homeowners Association did not provide an itemization. The circuit court granted summary judgment to Homeowners Association and entered a Judgment and Judgment for Foreclosure on Andersons' lots. Andersons argue on appeal that genuine issues of material fact exist as to the amount they owe for general road assessments.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶ 4.] We review the granting of summary judgment by "`restrict[ing] our review to determin[e] whether the record before us discloses any genuine issues of material fact and, if not, whether the ... [circuit] court committed any errors of law.'" Flandreau Pub. Sch. Dist. No. 50-3 v. G.A. Johnson Constr., Inc., 2005 SD 87, ¶ 7, 701 N.W.2d 430, 434 (quoting Switlik v. Hardwicke Co., Inc., 651 F.2d 852, 857-58 (3d Cir.1981)). "There must be no material facts at issue, and there must `be no genuine issue on the inferences to be drawn from those facts.'" Discover Bank v. Stanley, 2008 SD 111, ¶ 16, 757 N.W.2d 756, 762 (quoting A-G-E Corp. v. State, 2006 SD 66, ¶ 17, 719 N.W.2d 780, 786). However, "this Court will affirm the circuit court's ruling granting a motion for summary judgment if any basis exists to support the ruling." Id. ¶ 19 (citing Westfield Ins. Co., Inc. v. Rowe ex rel. Estate of Gallant, 2001 SD 87, ¶ 4, 631 N.W.2d 175, 176) (additional citations omitted).

ANALYSIS

[¶ 5.] Andersons concede they are required to pay general road assessments under the terms of the easement. Terms in an easement agreement that are specific in nature are to be "`decisive of the limits of the easement.'" Canyon Lake Park, L.L.C. v. Loftus Dental, P.C., 2005 SD 82, ¶ 17, 700 N.W.2d 729, 734 (quoting Picardi v. Zimmiond, 2005 SD 24, ¶ 20, 693 N.W.2d 656, 662). We ascertain the meaning of agreement terms "by examin[ing] the [agreement] as a whole and giv[ing] words their `plain and ordinary meaning.'" Id. (quoting Gloe v. Union Ins. Co., 2005 SD 30, ¶ 29, 694 N.W.2d 252, 260). The terms of the easement agreement specifically require Andersons to pay general road assessments. Homeowners Association claims that general road assessments are the same as general assessments imposed by Homeowners Association. To support its argument, Homeowners Association focuses on the language of Eagle Ridge Estates' covenant provisions. It argues that because the covenants only use the terms "general assessments" and "special assessments," no third category of "general road assessments" exists.

[¶ 6.] The covenants incorporated by the easement consist of several pages of provisions giving Homeowners Association authority to do a variety of things beyond maintaining roads, such as protecting the value of the lots ... [,][keeping the Development] attractive, beneficial, free from nuisance and guarding against fires and unnecessary interference with the natural beauty. In order to carry out the purpose of the covenants, Homeowners Association is given...