Rakowski v. Committee to Protect Clear Creek Village Homeowners' Rights, No. 14-05-01143-CV (Tex. App. 12/20/2007)
| Decision Date | 20 December 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 14-05-01143-CV.,14-05-01143-CV. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
| Parties | ROBERT A. RAKOWSKI, Appellant, and CLEAR CREEK CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellants/Cross-Appellee v. COMMITTEE TO PROTECT CLEAR CREEK VILLAGE HOMEOWNERS' RIGHTS AND PRESERVE OUR PARK, Appellee/Cross Appellant. |
On Appeal from the 405th District Court, Galveston County, Texas, Trial Court Cause No. 04CV1407A.
Affirmed.
Panel consists of Justices FOWLER, FROST, and EDELMAN.*
PLURALITY OPINION
In this subdivision property dispute, the parties each appeal a summary judgment entered for the other on the grounds that the trial court erred in ruling that: (1) the Clear Creek Village Subdivision's (the "Subdivision") restrictive covenants attached to the Claiborne Park property (the "Park") and (2) the Clear Creek Village Civic Association (the "Association") was the record title holder to the Park. We affirm.
Background
In 2004, the Committee to Protect Clear Creek Village Homeowners' Rights and Preserve Our Park (the "Committee") filed suit to prevent the Association from selling the Park to Robert Rakowski, who intended to use it for commercial purposes. The parties filed cross motions for summary judgment, and the trial court granted separate summary judgments declaring, respectively, that: (1) the Association is the lawful record title holder of the Park and thereby has the right to convey it; but (2) the Subdivision's Restrictions, Covenants, and Conditions (the "restrictions") apply to the Park, prohibit its use for any commercial purpose, and require the Association to maintain it solely for recreational use.
Standard of Review
When reviewing a summary judgment, we take as true all evidence favorable to the nonmovant, indulging every reasonable inference and resolving any doubts in the nonmovant's favor. Sudan v. Sudan, 199 S.W.3d 291, 292 (Tex. 2006). Where, as here, both sides move for summary judgment and the trial court grants one motion and denies the other, we review both sides' summary judgment evidence, determine all questions presented, and render the judgment the trial court should have rendered. Valence Operating Co. v. Dorsett, 164 S.W.3d 656, 661 (Tex. 2005).
We review a trial court's interpretation of a restrictive covenant de novo. Buckner v. Lakes of Somerset Homeowners Ass'n, Inc., 133 S.W.3d 294, 297 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth 2004, pet. denied). Restrictive covenants are subject to the general rules of contract construction. Pilarcik v. Emmons, 966 S.W.2d 474, 478 (Tex. 1998). Therefore, in construing a restrictive covenant, our primary task is to determine the drafter's intent and to liberally construe the language of the restrictions to give effect to their purposes and intent and to harmonize all of the provisions so that none are rendered meaningless.1
Application of Restrictions
The Association and Rakowski ("appellants") challenge the summary judgment, holding that the restrictions apply to the Park, on the grounds that: (1) the Park is not included within the platted boundaries of the Subdivision; (2) the restrictions are not specifically set forth in the deed that purports to convey the Park from Bill Williams to the Association's predecessor; (3) the restrictions' enabling language states that they apply only to Subdivision lots; and (4) the restrictions allow subsequent owners to take without the restrictions.
The restrictions include a provision titled "Recreational Area" that references a "Recreation Area" labeled on the recorded plat for Section 1 of the Subdivision. The parties do not dispute that this "Recreational Area" in the restrictions, and this "Recreation Area" on the plat, each refer to the Park. The restrictions reserve this area for the use and enjoyment of those owning or occupying residential lots in all current and future sections of Clear Creek Village, of which at least six were added in the ensuing years, with the deed of trust and restrictions, covenants, and conditions for each referencing the Park as a recreational area and requiring dues be spent for its maintenance.
In support of their contention that the Park is not included in the Subdivision boundaries, appellants rely on Sills v. Excel Servs., Inc., 617 S.W.2d 280, 284 (Tex. Civ. App.-Tyler 1981, no writ). There, homeowners in a subdivision sought to enjoin the construction of an apartment complex by enforcing a restrictive covenant that allowed lots to be used only for single family residences. Id. at 281-82. The court held that the restrictive covenants did not apply to the tract in question because: (1) the tract was not within the dark line delineating the subdivision's outer boundaries; (2) inclusion of the tract in the subdivision would have required flood plain data to be submitted, which was not done; and (3) the restrictions referred only to the subdivision lots and failed to show any scheme or plan of development imposing the restrictions on property not encompassed within the subdivision's boundaries. Id. at 283-84.
By contrast, where an appurtenant property is outside the subdivision boundaries, but the restrictions specifically reference it on the recorded map and expressly restrict the use of the property for the benefit and enjoyment of those owning lots in the subdivision as part of a general plan of development, the restrictions do apply to the property. See Anderson v. McRae, 495 S.W.2d 351, 359 (Tex. Civ. App.-Texarkana 1973, no writ). In this case, like Anderson and unlike Sills, our record contains a general plan of development expressly imposing the restrictions on the Park. Therefore, the fact that the Park is outside the platted boundaries of the Subdivision does not preclude the application of the restrictions, and appellants' first contention is overruled.
Appellants' second contention, that the restrictions are not recited in the deed, fails to note that a property may become subject to the restrictions and covenants of a general plan of development under a number of scenarios, including: (1) by grant; (2) by an express reference to the restrictions and covenants in the conveyance documents, which are duly recorded;2 and/or (3) when the parties otherwise have constructive knowledge of the restrictions through the recorded property records.3 As such, even if the Association and Rakowski are correct about the deed, an attack on the deed is insufficient to find that the restrictions and covenants are inapplicable to the Park. Therefore, appellants' second contention is overruled.
Regarding appellants' third contention, the restrictions' enabling language specifies that the uniform plan of development shall govern "the use, development, improvement and sale of lots" and "does hereby place and impose the following restrictions, covenants, and conditions upon and against the lots." The Association argues that this language limits the application of the restrictions only to actual subdivision lots. However, this fails to read the restrictions as a whole and fails to give meaning to every provision, particularly those expressly referring to the Park.4 Therefore, appellant's third contention is overruled.
Contrary to appellants' fourth contention, the restrictions allow future owners of the Park to take it free and clear of the restrictions only if the property is sold at a foreclosure sale in the event of default on a loan used to improve or beautify the Park for the benefit and enjoyment of the persons entitled to use it. Therefore, this clause is not evidence that the restrictions do not apply, as appellants argue, but merely a mechanism to enable the Subdivision to obtain debt to improve the Park by allowing such debt to be secured by a lien. Because appellants' issue does not demonstrate that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment that the restrictions apply to the Park, it is overruled.5
Ownership
The Committee challenges the trial court's ruling, that the Association was the lawful title holder to the Park, because its purported transferor, Bill Williams, possessed no conveyable interest in the Park property, having conveyed it earlier to Bill Williams Construction Company.6 The Association responds that the Committee does not have standing to challenge the ownership of the Park property because the Committee has no claim to ownership in the Park.7
In a subdivision unified by deed restrictions, the individual property owners have standing to challenge a planned action of the neighborhood association by virtue of their ownership of property in that neighborhood.8 Similarly, the deed restrictions in this case allow "any person owning or having an interest in any residential lot in the Clear Creek Village Section I to institute and prosecute any proceeding at law or in equity to abate, prevent, or enjoin any such violation."
However, the Committee can be aggrieved, and thereby have standing to contest matters, concerning the Park only if the Association owns the Park on behalf of the Subdivision in which the Committee members are property owners.9 If the Committee is correct that there is a defect in the Association's title to the Park, such that the Association does not own it, then the Committee thereby has no standing to contest any issues concerning ownership of the Park. Because the Committee's challenge cannot be sustained unless the Committee lacks standing to assert it, we are without jurisdiction to consider it.10 Therefore, the Committee's challenge to the summary judgment that the Association is the rightful owner of the Park is overruled, and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
There is no merit in the appellate challenges asserted by appellants Robert A. Rakowski and Clear Creek Village Civic Association, Inc. (the "Association") against the trial court's summary judgment declaring that the Clear Creek Village S...
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