Pinebrook Properties v. Brookhaven Lake

• Decision Date: 24 May 2002
• Docket Number: No. 06-01-00093-CV.,06-01-00093-CV.
• Parties: PINEBROOK PROPERTIES, LTD., Appellant, v. BROOKHAVEN LAKE PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

77 S.W.3d 487

PINEBROOK PROPERTIES, LTD., Appellant, v. BROOKHAVEN LAKE PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, Appellee.

No. 06-01-00093-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Texarkana.

Submitted April 25, 2002.

Decided May 24, 2002.

Rehearing Overruled June 18, 2002.

Michael E. Starr, Hommel & Starr, PC, Tyler, for appellant.

David B. Griffith, Griffith Law Firm, PC, Gilmer, Angela Rene Smoak, Assistant District Attorney, Longview, for appellee.

Before CORNELIUS, C.J., GRANT and ROSS, JJ.

OPINION

Opinion by Justice ROSS.

Pinebrook Properties, Ltd., Pinebrook Properties Management, L.L.C., and A.C. Musgrave, Jr. (Pinebrook) appeal the trial court's judgment providing various relief for the different parties. The conflict embodied in this litigation is the culmination of a long and complicated history, including two prior suits resulting in appeals to this Court. The case currently before us (Musgrave III) is the result of the consolidation by the trial court of a suit filed in the year 2000 by Pinebrook Properties against Brookhaven Lake Property Owners Association and counterclaims by the Association and various lot owners (Owners) remaining after they were severed from a 1997 lawsuit. The other claims from the 1997 lawsuit were the subject of a recent appeal to this Court, which were decided in Musgrave v. Owen, 67 S.W.3d 513 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2002, no pet.) (Musgrave II).

Pinebrook brings eight issues in this appeal: 1) whether the trial court erred by denying, on grounds of res judicata and collateral estoppel, claims for injunctive relief sought by Pinebrook Properties against the Association; 2) whether the trial court erred in finding Pinebrook Properties and Pinebrook Management are the alter egos of Musgrave; 3) whether the trial court erred by rendering judgment for the Association in the capacity in which it sued; 4) whether the trial court erred by concluding that Pinebrook has no authority to regulate property which it owns and that the Association has authority to regulate that same property; 5) whether the trial court erred by finding an implied dedication of a roadway constructed on property owned by Musgrave or Brookhaven Retreat, Inc.; 6) whether the Association should have been awarded damages for work it chose to perform on the lake and roadways in the Brookhaven in the Pines Addition; 7) whether the trial court erred by granting any injunctive relief to the Owners against Pinebrook; and 8) whether the trial court erred by awarding attorney's fees and expenses to the Association under the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act¹ when the Association did not plead for attorney's fees under the Act. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 37.009 (Vernon 1997).

On May 9, 2000, Pinebrook Properties, the owner of the common areas in a subdivision in Wood County known as the Brookhaven in the Pines Addition, filed this suit against the Association in Cause Number 2000-249. Pinebrook Properties sought injunctive relief, declaratory judgment, monetary damages for trespass, and attorney's fees. On February 8, 2001, the trial court severed a partial summary judgment in Cause Number 98-420, on which we ruled in Musgrave II, 67 S.W.3d 513. The trial court consolidated all counterclaims from Cause Number 98-420 with Cause Number 2000-249, which is now before this Court in Musgrave III.

Musgrave succeeded three other owners as the owner of certain real property in the Brookhaven in the Pines Addition. He purchased the lake, the roadways serving the lots, and some forested recreational property in the addition. The lot owners enjoy exclusive rights to hunt, fish, and recreate on the recreational property and the lake, and to use the roadways for ingress and egress. Anderson v. McRae, 495 S.W.2d 351, 355 (Tex.Civ.App.-Texarkana 1973, no writ).

In December 1998, Pinebrook Properties, a Texas limited partnership, succeeded Musgrave's interest in the lake, roadways, and recreational property. Pinebrook Management, a Texas limited liability company, is the general partner of Pinebrook Properties. In this case (Musgrave III), Pinebrook Properties filed suit seeking injunctive relief from the trial court to stop the Association from working on the roadways and lake, and then billing Pinebrook. The Owners, the appellees in Musgrave III, include a number of people who were not parties to the first suit involving the Brookhaven in the Pines Addition, which we decided in Musgrave v. Brookhaven Lake Prop. Owners Ass'n, 990 S.W.2d 386 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 1999, pet. denied) (Musgrave I). As counterplaintiffs in Musgrave III, the Owners sought injunctive relief, declaratory judgment, and monetary relief against Pinebrook Properties, Pinebrook Management, and Musgrave. They contend Pinebrook Properties and Pinebrook Management are merely alter egos of Musgrave, who transferred his interest in the property to Pinebrook Properties in December 1998.

To better understand the issues in this appeal (Musgrave III), a more detailed review of the events and actions occurring in Musgrave I and Musgrave II is helpful. In Musgrave I, Brookhaven Lake Property Owners Association and six individual lot owners (Musgrave I plaintiffs) filed suit against Musgrave and others claiming a restrictive covenant obligated Musgrave to perform maintenance on the roadways and lake for the benefit of all the lot owners in the subdivision and requesting 1) permanent injunctions enjoining defendants from closing a roadway, promoting and allowing recreational use of the property by paying customers, and timbering in the recreational areas without following reasonable restrictions to be established by the court, as well as 2) damages to reimburse Musgrave I plaintiffs for funds expended on the maintenance of the roadways and lake. The Musgrave I plaintiffs asserted that the issue of obligation was established in a previous suit, Anderson, 495 S.W.2d 351, and that Musgrave was barred from denying the obligation by collateral estoppel.

Musgrave presented several counterclaims in Musgrave I seeking: 1) a declaratory judgment that he had no affirmative duty to maintain the roadways and lake in the subdivision, claiming the duty did not run with the land; 2) a declaratory judgment that guests of Musgrave's retreat may use the lake and recreational property, asking the court to determine the requirements that had to be met in order for a guest to be considered "accompanied" by a lot owner, including the maximum number of guests who may use the land at the same time; 3) a declaratory judgment that implementation of the Forest Resource Management Plan was a reasonable use of the recreational areas covered by that plan; and 4) a declaratory judgment that Robert Owen's actions in maintaining a water line on Musgrave's property was a violation of Musgrave's property rights.

The Musgrave I plaintiffs asserted special exceptions to Musgrave's counterclaims, arguing that not all necessary parties were present in the suit. There was nothing in the record to indicate that the court ruled on these special exceptions or that the counterclaims were abandoned. We therefore assumed the counterclaims were live at the time of judgment.

The trial court granted judgment for the Musgrave I plaintiffs, permanently enjoining Musgrave 1) from closing the proposed roadway; 2) from permitting guests of the retreat who were not lot owners to use certain areas; 3) from interfering with the exclusive rights of the lot owners to use the lake, roadways, and hunting and recreational areas in the addition; 4) from timbering for commercial purposes; and 5) from implementing the Forest Resource Management Plan, or any similar plan, for the commercial harvesting of trees. The judgment also awarded the plaintiffs damages to compensate them for funds expended on maintenance that the court found Musgrave had a duty to perform. The judgment stated that all relief not expressly granted was denied. Therefore, we assume the counterclaims, although not explicitly mentioned in the judgment, were denied.

This Court affirmed the judgment, in part, in Musgrave I. We affirmed the trial court's determination that Musgrave was required by the covenants running with the land to maintain the roadways, lake, and recreational property, but reversed injunction 5) above because it referred to a document not made part of the order. We reversed the portion of the award for damages that were barred by the statute of limitations and reformed the award of attorney's fees as excessive.

In the second suit, Musgrave II, Musgrave appealed the granting of summary judgment in favor of the Owners and some of the lot owners, dismissing his claim for declaratory relief regarding certain rights and responsibilities under a restrictive covenant. Musgrave v. Owen, 67 S.W.3d 513. In Musgrave II, Musgrave sought 1) a declaration that the defendants may not operate a dump facility on the recreational property owned by the plaintiff because the property is subject only to the rights of recreational use by the lot owners; 2) a declaration that Musgrave, as owner of the recreational property, is the sole person authorized to create rules and regulations regarding the use of the recreational property; 3) a declaration that neither the Association nor any lot owner other than Musgrave is authorized to take any action regarding the maintenance, repairs, improvements, modifications, or alterations of the recreational property, including but not limited to the roadways, lake, and dam, without first obtaining Musgrave's consent; 4) a declaration that Musgrave is authorized to install speed control devices across the roadways within the subdivision property for safety purposes; 5) a declaration specifying the nature and extent of Musgrave's obligation, if any, to maintain the roadways and lake within the recreational property; 6) a declaration that defendants are not authorized to utilize water in the lake for any purpose other than...