Harper v. Canyon Hills Cmty. Ass'n
| Decision Date | 19 August 2014 |
| Docket Number | G048445 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | JACKLYN HARPER, as Trustee etc., Plaintiff and Appellant, v. CANYON HILLS COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION et al., Defendants and Respondents. |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
OPINIONAppeal from judgments of the Superior Court of Orange County, Kirk H. Nakamura, Judge. One judgment affirmed. One judgment reversed.
Law Offices of Dean Smart, Dean E. Smart, Ursula McDonnell; Broedlow Lewis, Jeffery Lewis and Kelly B. Dunagan for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Kulik Gottesman & Siegel, Leonard Siegel and Mitchell S. Brachman for Defendant and Respondent Canyon Hills Community Association.
The Coulombe Law Firm, Ronald B. Coulombe; Craig P. Kennedy & Associates and Craig P. Kennedy for Defendants and Respondents David A. Valentine and Patricia A. Valentine.
Plaintiff Jacklyn Harper, as trustee for The Marigold Trust (Harper), appeals from the following two judgments entered in the underlying action: (1) For defendant Canyon Hills Community Association (Canyon Hills) after the trial court granted its motion for summary judgment; and (2) for defendants David A. Valentine and Patricia A. Valentine (the Valentines) after the court granted their motion for judgment on the pleadings and denied Harper's motion for leave to amend her complaint. The appeals have been consolidated for decision. We reverse the judgment for Canyon Hills, but affirm the judgment for the Valentines.
Canyon Hills is a nonprofit corporation operating a common interest development consisting of the residential properties within the association's boundaries. It is governed by a five-member board of directors (the board). All of the lots are subject to a recorded declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs).
Article VII of the CC&Rs provides for the creation of an architectural committee and requires homeowners wanting to make structural changes to their home or modify their lot's landscaping to submit plans for the proposed change and obtain the committee's approval before doing so. Section 1 of Article VII declares, "No building . . . shall be commenced . . ., nor shall any exterior addition to or change or alteration therein . . . be made until the plans and specifications showing the nature, kind, shape, height, materials, and location . . . have been submitted to and approved in writing as to harmony of external design and location in relation to surrounding structures and topography by the . . . committee . . . ."
The board subsequently enacted Architectural and Landscaping Guidelines, Standards and Application (Guidelines) concerning proposed changes. The introduction to the Guidelines states they were "merely guidelines rather than rules in that they setforth the minimum standards," and "[m]ore stringent requirements may be appropriate for particular improvements and modifications being sought by the applicant."
Harper and the Valentines are members of Canyon Hills who own adjoining lots. In 2006, the Valentines applied for permission to tear down their existing two-story home and replace it with another two-story 10,800 square foot residence. The Valentines showed Harper and other neighbors drawings of the proposed home and landscaping. Harper signed forms mandated by the Guidelines (neighbor awareness forms) that stated she had been informed of the residential and landscaping changes. She acknowledged not objecting to this proposal, but her declaration opposing Canyon Hills's summary judgment motion stated that when the Valentines showed her the plans she "was not shown any reference to how the proposed construction related to other neighboring properties including mine," nor was she informed the proposed home's "location was being altered to be much closer to my house . . . ."
The plans were reviewed by Canyon Hills's architect. After receiving the architect's comments, the board reviewed them as well and, with some variances from the standards contained in the Guidelines, approved the construction of the new home. The City of Newport Beach also approved the plans and issued the necessary permits.
The Valentines never proceeded with this project. Rather, in 2009 they withdrew it and filed a new application to build a 5,528 square foot single-story home. Along with the second application, the Valentines submitted neighbor awareness forms purportedly containing the signatures of Harper and their other neighbors. In November, the board approved the revised project and the city issued the necessary permits.
Construction of the new home began in May 2010. Harper claimed she first noticed the construction activity in June or July and attempted to contact the association's property management company. In January 2011, she appeared before the board and complained about the construction of the Valentines's new home. Harperclaimed she had never been informed of the 2009 application, believed the new residence encroached on her property, and that it would reduce the value of her home.
After hearing Harper's objections, the board conducted a review of the Valentines's application. The association's property manager contacted other neighbors and learned they had not been given the opportunity to review the Valentines's 2009 development proposal for the home. A letter was sent to the Valentines directing them to appear before the board and discuss the matter. After David Valentine made an appearance, the board chose to allow construction work to proceed.
Harper filed this action against both Canyon Hills and the Valentines. The complaint stated causes of action for negligence, breach of covenants, nuisance, and declaratory relief against all defendants. In addition, it alleged a cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty against Canyon Hills and causes of action for fraud and elder abuse against the Valentines.
In support of these counts, Harper alleged the Valentines's second proposal had "radically different characteristics that would violate the senses and cognitive and emotional enjoyment of" a person "similarly situated as" her. When they submitted the second application, the Valentines used the neighbor awareness forms signed by her and other neighbors for the original proposal, thereby "circumventing the proper architectural application process [and] leaving [her] without know[ledge] of [their] true intent . . . ." She further alleged Canyon Hills's board "knew or should have known . . . [she] and other [neighbors] . . . had not received notice of" the second proposal, that it "would significantly and negatively affect the [n]eighbors" and, by "approv[ing] the . . . second set of plans without following or complying with all requirements provided in [the association's] governing documents," the board breached its "duty of reasonable care and [a] fiduciary duty . . . to protect the value of the [n]eighbors' homes" "by requiring modifications" of the "colossal size" of the Valentines's second proposal "to militate the negative affect and injury . . . ."
Canyon Hills and the Valentines separately answered the complaint. Initially, both also moved for summary judgment. The Valentines then withdrew their summary judgment motion and filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings.
Harper sought a continuance and moved to file a first amended complaint that proposed to add two board members as named defendants and expand on her theory of liability under the CC&Rs and the Guidelines. The trial court denied the motion to amend to the extent it sought to add additional defendants, but granted it to the remainder of the proposed amendments subject to the condition that the Canyon Hills's summary judgment motion and the Valentines's motion for judgment on the pleadings were both denied.
Two months later however, the court granted both motions. On the summary judgment motion, the court held the board's decision to approve the project was subject to the rule of judicial deference applicable to homeowner's associations, and that Harper had failed to meet her burden to defeat the presumption the board acted in good faith and for the association's best interests. The court further held that, upon learning Harper's complaint about the purportedly forged 2009 neighborhood awareness forms, the board satisfied its duty by "canvass[ing] the [Valentines's] neighbors to determine if they had objections" to the construction of the one-story home.
On the Valentines's motion for judgment on the pleadings, the court agreed with Harper that she was a third party beneficiary of Canyon Hills's Guidelines and that the Valentines were obligated to show her the 2009 plans for the one-story residence. But it took judicial notice of the fact Harper's opposition to Canyon Hills's summary judgment motion "presented no admissible evidence that the Valentines'[s] plans violated any provisions of [Canyon Hills's] . . . ('CC&Rs,')" and held that neither Harper's original complaint nor her proposed first amended complaint "expressly allege that" (1) "if she had known of the . . . plans, she would have filed objections with the . . . [b]oard," and (2) "her objections would have made a difference."
"Any party may move for summary judgment in any action or proceeding if it is contended that the action has no merit or that there is no defense to the action or proceeding." (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (a).) To succeed on a motion for summary judgment, a defendant must establish "that a cause of action has no merit" by showing "one or more elements of the cause...
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