Mountainview Landowners Co-Op. v. Cool

• Decision Date: 03 May 2006
• Docket Number: No. 31185.,31185.
• Parties: MOUNTAINVIEW LANDOWNERS CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION, INC., a non-profit corporation, Plaintiff-Counterdefendant-Respondent, and Donald N. Nepean and Haleen Nepean, husband and wife, Plaintiffs, v. Dr. James COOL, D.D.S., and Synthia Cool, husband and wife, Defendants-Counterclaimants-Appellants.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

136 P.3d 332

142 Idaho 861

MOUNTAINVIEW LANDOWNERS CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION, INC., a non-profit corporation, Plaintiff-Counterdefendant-Respondent, and Donald N. Nepean and Haleen Nepean, husband and wife, Plaintiffs, v. Dr. James COOL, D.D.S., and Synthia Cool, husband and wife, Defendants-Counterclaimants-Appellants.

No. 31185.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Coeur d'Alene, April 2006 Term.

May 3, 2006.

Preston, Gates & Ellis, Coeur d'Alene, for appellants. Todd Reuter argued.

William F. Boyd, Coeur d'Alene, for respondents. William F. Boyd argued.

BURDICK, Justice.

Dr. James and Synthia Cool (the Cools) appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court from a district court judgment setting out how members of the Mountain View Landowners Cooperative Association, Inc. (the Association) may use a beach (the beach) on land owned by the Cools.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The properties held by the Cools and the members of the Association were once part of a single tract of land on the shore of Priest Lake called the "Mountain View Addition." The land, containing a store, rental cabins, a boat launch and beach access, was operated as a private resort until it was subdivided in 1958 and sold off in pieces to serve as recreational home sites. The owners of those subdivided properties now form the Association an Idaho non-profit corporation. Except for the property now owned by the Cools, the lots subdivided from the original tract do not contain beachfront property. Instead, those buyers were granted easements to use the beach now owned by the Cools. The easements are described in the Association members' property deeds as follows: "[a] perpetual easement is granted to the grantees, their heirs and assigns, for the use of the beach adjoining said Mountain View Addition, such use is to be common with the other owners in said Mountain View Addition, and for boating and bathing purposes only ...." (emphasis added).

Many years later, a dispute arose between the Cools' predecessors in interest, Jack and Pauline Powers (the Powers), and the Association regarding the Association's members' use of the beach. That dispute was resolved in 1988 when the Powers and the Association entered into and recorded a "Private Property Use Agreement" (the Use Agreement) setting out the Association members' easement rights and settling several ancillary issues such as parking, boat launch fees, and boat moorage. The Use Agreement describes the Association members' easement in language similar to that used in the members' deeds; it provides that "[l]andowners shall have use of the beach area located north of the existing boat moorage facility for swimming and boating only without any fee or assessment." (Emphasis added).

The Cools purchased the beachfront property in 1998, and they too quarreled with the Association regarding the easement. Eventually the Cools attempted to restrict the Association's members' use of the beach, leading the Association to bring suit in district court. The district court examined the term "swimming" as it was employed in the Use Agreement and concluded that in that context the term was ambiguous. A bench trial was conducted to take evidence regarding the intent of the parties to the Use Agreement, following which the district court ruled the word "swimming" in that document was intended to include a range of swimming related activities including picnics, sunbathing, and gatherings for relaxation and social interaction. The Cools appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court, which ruled in Mountainview Landowners Coop. Ass'n, Inc., v. Cool, 139 Idaho 770, 774, 86 P.3d 484, 488 (2004), (Mountainview I) that the district court's interpretation of what the parties to the Use Agreement meant in using the word "swimming" was overly broad. The Supreme Court remanded for redefinition of the term in accordance with that opinion. Id. On remand the district court amended its earlier judgment so that it no longer permitted picnics, relaxation or social gatherings as swimming related activities preserved by the Use Agreement. However, relying on language from this Court's Mountainview I decision the district court in its amended judgment¹ retained "sunbathing" as a permitted activity under the Use Agreement and added "lifeguarding."

The case returns to this Court on the Cools' appeal from the district court's amended judgment.

II. ANALYSIS

In this second appeal the Cools contend the district court erred in its determination that the Use Agreement permits Association members to act as lifeguards and to sunbathe on the Cools' beach. The Cools urge this Court to prevent Association members from using the beach for any activities except those done in the water or for ingress and egress to and from the water. Additionally, the Cools argue the district court erred in granting members of the Association the right to determine whether to pay boat launch fees on a daily basis or on an annual basis. The Cools assert that whether daily or annual fees are assessed is their choice, not that of members of the Association. In considering these questions we first turn to the scope of the term "swimming" as employed in the Use Agreement.

A. The Scope Of The Word "Swimming" As Employed In The Use Agreement

The scope of the Association members' easement over the Cools' beach is governed by the terms of the 1988 Use Agreement between the Association and the Powers, the Cools' predecessors in interest. That agreement grants the Association's members an easement over the beach "for swimming and boating...." At issue here is the scope of the word "swimming" as understood by the original parties to the Use Agreement.²

In its initial decision the district court determined that the term "swimming" as it appears in the Use Agreement was ambiguous, and this Court upheld that determination on appeal. Id. (stating "[w]e hold that swimming is an ambiguous term as used in this context"). As stated, the district court held "that use of the beach for swimming and boating does contemplate picnics, sunbathing, and gatherings on the beach for relaxation and social interaction."

Reviewing the district court's decision, this Court in Mountainview I determined the district court's interpretation of what the drafters of the Use Agreement intended by the word "swimming" was overly broad. 139 Idaho at 774, 86 P.3d at 488. "Picnics and gatherings for relaxation and social interaction," ruled the Court, "would not under any stretch be swimming." Id. This Court then remanded the case back to the district court, instructing the lower court to "define the term `swimming' in accordance with this [Court's] opinion." Id.

On remand, the district court defined the Association member's swimming easement in a more limited fashion. The district court ruled they are entitled to use the beach area for "swimming, which is propelling themselves through the water, playing in the water, and diving; life-guarding of those who are participating in swimming; and sunbathing while wearing attire suitable for swimming."

In the present appeal the Cools argue the district court ignored this Court's instructions to exclude from its definition of swimming any activities that are not done in the water, excepting only crossing the beach when entering or exiting the water. Specifically, the Cools object that the district court's amended judgment permits members of the Association to sunbathe or act as lifeguards to their children while remaining on the beach. Doing so, assert the Cools, is in contradiction of this Court's prior decision and could result in Association members using the resulting loopholes to remain for hours on the Cools' beach engaging in prohibited activities such as relaxing and socializing. The Cools maintain that if members of the Association wish to sunbathe or act as lifeguards they can do so from the adjacent public beach. Additionally, the Cools assert the district court improperly adopted language suggested by the Association in the court's amended judgment. Finally, the Cools argue the district court erred in failing to engage in additional fact finding on remand.

The Cools' arguments are unpersuasive because in this instance the district court closely and accurately followed its instructions on remand. Although the Cools fault the district court for declining to engage in additional fact finding, this Court did not direct the district court to do so. Indeed, this Court in Mountainview I expressly stated that the record already contained the necessary evidence to define the meaning of "swimming" under the Use Agreement. 139 Idaho at 774, 86 P.3d at 488 ("[t]he record contains substantial and competent evidence to define the term `swimming'"). Rather than requiring additional fact finding, this Court simply instructed the district court to "define the term `swimming' in accordance with this opinion." Id. (emphasis added).

Following those instructions, each of the activities the district court named in the amended judgment as coming within the definition of "swimming" was endorsed in this Court's decision in Mountainview I. With respect to sunbathing, this Court wrote that "[s]unbathing, at least while wearing swimming attire, may be considered swimming." Id. The district court incorporated that reasoning into its amended judgment, permitting "sunbathing while wearing attire suitable for swimming." The Cools seize on this Court's use of the word "may" in the phrase "may be considered swimming" to argue that this Court meant only to suggest the district court explore the issue of sunbathing rather than commanding the lower court to reach any specific conclusion. Indeed, read in context it does not appear this Court was mandating the district court permit sunbathing. See id. However, it is equally apparent this Court considered sunbathing to be an activity the district court could sensibly include as a swimming-related activity preserved to Association members by the...