Kobrine v. Metzger

• Decision Date: 08 April 2004
• Docket Number: No. 59,59
• Citation: 380 Md. 620,846 A.2d 403
• Parties: KOBRINE, L.L.C., et al. v. Bruce METZGER, et al.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

846 A.2d 403

380 Md. 620

KOBRINE, L.L.C., et al. v. Bruce METZGER, et al.

No. 59, Sept. Term, 2003.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

April 8, 2004.

S. Scott Morrison (Nicole Lynn Kobrine, Katten, Muchin, Zavis, Rosenman, on brief), Washington, for petitioners.

John L. Erly, Nancy J. Gordillo (Laurence W.B. Cumberland, Cumberland & Erly, LLC, on brief), Prince Frederick, for respondents.

Argued before BELL, C.J., RAKER, WILNER, CATHELL, HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, JOHN C. ELDRIDGE, (Retired, Specially Assigned), JJ.

WILNER, J.

The issue before us is whether the Circuit Court for Calvert County erred in concluding that each of the 56 lot owners in the Harbor Light Beach (HLB) subdivision (1) owned, in common, a one-fifty-sixth undivided fee simple interest in a reserved lot in Section 2 of that subdivision that had been deeded to petitioner Kobrine, L.L.C., which we shall henceforth refer to as the KLLC lot, and (2) also had an express and an implied recreational use easement in that lot.¹ With one minor exception, the Court of Special Appeals affirmed the Circuit Court's judgment. Kobrine, L.L.C. v. Metzger, 151 Md.App. 260, 824 A.2d 1031 (2003). Because we disagree with most, though not all, of the lower court judgments, we shall vacate them and direct a remand for the entry of a more limited judgment.

BACKGROUND

Although it started out differently, this case, as it ultimately was presented for decision, was a battle between two lot owners in Section Two of the HLB subdivision. Dr. and Ms. Kobrine own Lot 3 in Block E—a lot that directly borders the Patuxent River. Bruce Metzger owns Lot 8 in Block A—a non-riparian lot that at one time had access via an interior road to the KLLC lot, which was immediately to the west of the Kobrine lot and also bordered the Patuxent River. Because, on the recorded plat of Section Two, the KLLC lot was marked "Area Reserved For the Use of Lot Owners," some of the lot owners in the subdivision used that parcel not just for access to the river but also for picnics, parties, and other recreational uses. In 1999, the Kobrines, through a limited liability company they created, Kobrine L.L.C. (KLLC), purchased the abutting KLLC lot and precluded Metzger and other subdivision lot owners from continuing to use it. Access to the river remained available through a nearby thirty-foot road. On behalf of himself and a homeowners association that he created, HLB Home Owners Association, Inc. (HOA), Metzger sued to have KLLC's title declared invalid. HOA owns no property in the subdivision and has no contractual or other legally cognizable interest in any of the roads in the subdivision or in the KLLC lot. No other lot owner in the subdivision seeks to upset or impair KLLC's title.

The land comprising the HLB subdivision was once owned by J. Earl Brown and his wife, Ruth. In 1955, the Browns recorded a plat entitled "`Harbor Light Beach' Subdivision Section No. 1," a copy of which is attached to this Opinion as Appendix A. The plat laid out 22 residential lots, all but five of which bordered Mill Creek, a tributary of the Patuxent River. Abutting some of the lots on the south was a 30-foot road that turned north and ran to Mill Creek, thus providing access from the five non-riparian lots to the water. The Browns signed the plat, attesting that certain statutory requirements had been met. The plat showed one unnumbered, elongated parcel, shown as shaded on Appendix A, that divided Lots 8 and 9 and Lots 7 and 10 and led from the 30-foot road to Mill Creek, but the plat made no reference to any "reserved" lot.

In 1958, the Browns recorded a second plat, entitled "`Harbor Light Beach Subdivision' Section Two," a copy of which, with identifying legends added by us, is attached as Appendix B. That plat laid out 39 numbered residential lots and two unnumbered parcels. Three of the numbered lots and the two unnumbered parcels bordered the Patuxent River. The unnumbered lot shown on Appendix B as shaded is the KLLC lot. That is the lot most relevant to this case. The other unnumbered lot is shown as hash marked. The plat showed four interior roads, one of which, Port Drive, led to the KLLC lot and thus, together with the other interior roads, provided access from the non-riparian lots to the river.

This plat was not signed by the Browns—indeed, their names did not appear on it at all—but, as noted, it contained a legend on the KLLC lot, "Area Reserved For The Use Of Lot Owners." Neither the legend nor anything else on the plat indicated which lot owners were intended to be benefitted—only those owning lots in Section Two or those owning lots in Section One as well.

At various times prior to September, 1960, the Browns sold five lots from Section One (Lots 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18) and one lot from Section Two (Block E, Lot 3). In September, 1960, or at some point thereafter, they conveyed all but one of the remaining numbered lots in Section One and all of the remaining lots in Section Two to Beltway Industries, Inc.² Included in the deed as well were (1) two described parcels, of 3.268 acres and 2.566 acres, respectively, that bordered but were not part of the HLB subdivision, (2) the unnumbered parcel separating Lots 8 and 9 and 7 and 10 on the plat of Section One, which the deed referred to as a "Reserved Area on Plat of Section No. One," and (3) the two unnumbered parcels in Section Two. The "reserved" parcel in Section Two—the KLLC lot—was not separately identified in the deed but was included within the conveyance of all "roads, streets, drives, paths, parks, shore and reserved areas as shown and designated" on the plats of Sections One and Two, "subject, however, to any rights of way of record and to right of way in common to lot owners in said subdivision over the nearest street and road to public highway and to the waters of Mill Creek and the Patuxent River in said reserved areas as shown on the aforesaid plats." The deed thus appeared to convey 54 numbered lots, four identified parcels, and, along with the roads and paths, the KLLC lot in Section Two shown as reserved.

In October, 1972, Beltway recorded a Declaration of Covenants, Restrictions and Conditions covering the 54 numbered lots and the two extraneous parcels that Beltway had acquired from the Browns but which were not part of the subdivision as shown on the two plats. Beltway apparently lumped those two parcels with the 54 lots and referred to them as 56 lots, as though they were all part of the subdivision. The Declaration did not mention or include the lots previously sold by the Browns, the unidentified parcel shown on the plat of Section 1, or the two unnumbered parcels in Section Two.

The Declaration stated that the covenants were designed to make Harbor Light Beach a desirable community and to assure that every effort would be made to protect the investment of each lot owner. The covenants were said to be supplemental "to the covenants, restrictions and conditions originally placed upon the subdivision known as Harbor Light Beach if any were, in fact, so recorded." All references to "lot owner" were declared to mean "the purchaser, the party of the second part, his heirs or assigns."

Most of the covenants and restrictions contained in the Declaration concerned the use of the lots and what could be built on them. Several more general provisions are of particular relevance to this dispute. All right, title, and interest to the streets and drives laid out on the recorded plats were expressly reserved to Beltway, subject to the ability of the lot owners to use them to access the nearby public road. Those streets and drives were declared to be private roads, and each lot owner was required to pay an annual assessment to Beltway for road maintenance. Paragraph 5 of the General Provisions—the provision most applicable here—stated:

"DEVELOPER, present owner of the remaining 56 lots of Harbor Light Beach, desires to set up a sound basis for maintenance of the roadways and reserved areas of Harbor Light Beach. To this end, LOT OWNERS, their heirs and assigns of the said remaining 56 lots, will pay a 1/56th share per lot of said maintenance cost until such time as all 56 remaining lots are sold, at which time the said LOT OWNERS, their heirs and assigns, will accept a 1/56th fee simple interest per lot in said roadways and reserved areas, thereby relieving DEVELOPER of all liabilities relative to said roadways and beach areas.

Until such time, LOT OWNERS agree to pay to DEVELOPER, if and when billed, a sum of not more than $20.00 per lot, per year, for use in road and reserved area maintenance."

(Emphasis added).

In ¶ 7 of the General Provisions, Beltway reserved to itself and its successors and assigns the right to enter any premises to abate the violation of a condition or the breach of a covenant, and, in ¶ 9, Beltway reserved the right to enjoin any breach or threatened breach. The final part of the Declaration provided:

"After a majority of the lots in Section 1 and Blocks C, D, and E of Section 2 have been conveyed by DEVELOPER to LOT OWNERS, or at such other time as DEVELOPER, in its sole discretion may determine, DEVELOPER, or its agent, as agent for said LOT OWNERS, is authorized to cause a community protective corporation or association to be organized for the purpose of assuring the perpetuation of Harbor Light Beach as a desirable community and the safeguarding the investment of all LOT OWNERS. The management of said organization shall be governed by its members."

(Emphasis added).

The Declaration continued that, upon the organization of such an association, all of the then lot owners agreed to become members, that one of the purposes of the association would be the promotion and enforcement of the covenants in the Declaration, and that, to that end, the lot owners, on behalf of the association, agreed to accept from the Developer an assignment of its rights, privileges, and responsibilities and "the...