Sedberry v. Parsons, 530
| Decision Date | 29 November 1950 |
| Docket Number | No. 530,530 |
| Citation | 232 N.C. 707,62 S.E.2d 88 |
| Parties | SEDBERRY et ux. v. PARSONS. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
James L. DeLaney, Charlotte, for plaintiffs, appellees.
Charles T. Myers, Charlotte, for defendant, appellant.
These principles are well settled in this jurisdiction.
1. 'Where the owner of a tract of land subdivides it and sells distinct parcels thereof to separate grantees, imposing restrictions on its use pursuant to a general plan of development or improvement, such restrictions may be enforced by any grantee against any other grantee, either on the theory that there is a mutuality of covenant and consideration, or on the ground that mutual negative equitable easements are created.' 26 C.J.S., Deeds, § 167; Higdon v. Jaffa, 231 N.C. 242, 243, 56 S.E.2d 661; Brenizer v. Stephens, 220 N.C. 395 17 S.E.2d 471; Bailey v. Jackson-Campbell Co., 191 N.C. 61, 131 S.E. 567; Myers Park Homes Co. v. Falls, 184 N.C. 426, 115 S.E. 184.
2. The right to enforce the restrictions in such case is not confined to immediate purchasers from the original grantor. It may be exercised by subsequent owners who acquire lots in the subdivision covered by the general plan through mesne conveyances from such immediate purchasers. Higdon v. Jaffa, supra.
3. The restrictions limiting the use of land in the subdivision embraced by the general plan can be enforced against a subsequent purchaser who takes title to the land with notice of the restrictions. Higdon v. Jaffa, supra; Davis v. Robinson, 189 N.C. 589, 127 S.E. 697.
4. A purchaser of land in a subdivision is chargeable in law with notice of restrictions limiting the use of the land adopted as a part of a general plan for the development or improvement of the subdivision if such restrictions are contained in any recorded deed or other instrument in his line of title, even though they do not appear in his immediate deed. Higdon v. Jaffa, supra; Sheets v. Dillon, 221 N.C. 426, 20 S.E.2d 344; Turner v. Glenn, 220 N.C. 620, 18 S.E.2d 197; Bailey v. Jackson, supra.
This being true, the present appeal presents this solitary question: Was the clause providing that 'no subdivision of any part of the above described property (i. e., lot 2 of Block 40 of Myers Park) by sale, or otherwise, shall be made so as to result in a plot having an area of less than half an acre' inserted in the deed from the Stephens Company to the Thies-Smith Realty Company as a part of a general plan that the lots in Block 40 of Myers Park should not be smaller in size than half an acre?
The primary test of the existence of a general plan for the development or improvement of a tract of land divided into a number of lots is whether substantially common restrictions apply to all lots of like character or similarly situated. Phillips v. Wearn, 226 N.C. 290, 37 S.E.2d 895; Humphrey v. Beall, 215 N.C. 15, 200 S.E. 918; 14 Am.Jur., Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions, section 202; 26 C.J.S., Deeds, § 167.
When proper heed is paid to all pertinent facts shown in the record, it is plain that Block 40 of Myers Park is in...
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...v. FirstCitizens Bank & Trust Co., supra; Phillips v. Wearn, supra; Turner v. Glenn, 220 N. C. 620, 18 S.E.2d 197; Sedberry v. Parsons, 232 N.C. 707, 62 S.E.2d 88; Eason v. Buffaloe, supra. Uniformity of pattern with respect to a development furnishes evidence of the intent of the grantor t......
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...grantees, imposing restrictions on its use pursuant to a general plan of development or improvement....'" Sedberry v. Parsons, 232 N.C. 707, 710, 62 S.E.2d 88, 90 (1950). Id. Restrictions under a general plan of development may be enforced against subsequent purchasers of the land who take ......
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