VERNON TOWNSHIP VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT., INC. v. Connor
| Decision Date | 19 August 2004 |
| Parties | VERNON TOWNSHIP VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT, INC., a Non-Profit Pennsylvania Corporation, Appellee v. William E CONNOR and Barbara J. Sanders, Carmin E. Grasso, Carmin E. Grasso Executor of the Estate of Barbara L. Grasso, Deceased, Donald J. Dunbaugh and Vivian J. Dunbaugh, William B. Barr and Patricia D. Barr, Appellants. Vernon Township Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., a Non-Profit Pennsylvania Corporation, Appellee v. Vicki R. Kurt, Russell E. Briggs, Rita H. Briggs, Robert W. Grasinger, Jennifer L. Rose, Linda Sue Harris, Michael W. Yocina and Scott E. Yocina, Appellants. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
Keith Adam Button, Conneaut Lake, for William E. Connor, Philadelphia, et al.
Debra Higgins Posego, Harry Faber White, Meadville, for Vernon Township Volunteer Fire Department, Inc.
Before CAPPY, C.J., CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN, SAYLOR, EAKIN, BEAR, JJ.
In these consolidated cases, Carmin E. Grasso, individually and as executor of the estate of Barbara L. Grasso, deceased, William E. Connor, Barbara J. Sanders, Donald J. Dunbaugh, Vivian J. Dunbaugh, William B. Barr, Patricia D. Barr, and Vicki R. Kurt1 (collectively, Appellants), landowners within the Culbertson Subdivision, a tract of land in Vernon Township, Crawford County, appeal from an Order of the Superior Court reversing an Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Crawford County (trial court). The trial court had granted Judgment in favor of Appellants and against the Vernon Township Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. (Fire Department), a non-profit Pennsylvania Corporation, in an action to quiet title and for declaratory relief. For the reasons discussed herein, we reverse the Order of the Superior Court and remand the case so that the Superior Court can consider the Fire Department's remaining unaddressed issue concerning the applicability of the principles of estoppel, laches, and waiver to the instant matter.
In a document dated May 15, 1946 entitled "Restrictions" (Agreement), all of the property owners of the Culbertson Subdivision signed a restrictive covenant2 prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages on their land.3 The Agreement provides in relevant part that:
(Reproduced Record (R.R.) at 365a) (emphasis added). The intent of the original signatories, as set forth in the Agreement, is "to protect each for himself and for the common advantage of all, our health, peace, safety and welfare and that of our successors in title...." Id. The Agreement was duly recorded in Crawford County Agreement Book 26, page 9, on June 10, 1946.
On July 3, 1997, the Fire Department purchased a 3.25-acre parcel of land within the Culbertson Subdivision for the purpose of building a new truck room and social hall that would sell alcohol to its patrons.4 This newly acquired parcel is located approximately 2,000 feet from the Fire Department's existing truck room and social hall in Vernon Township. At the time of purchase, the Fire Department did not have actual notice of the restrictive covenant banning the sale of alcoholic beverages on the land. However, the Fire Department did have constructive notice of the restrictive covenant from a title search that its attorney conducted.5 Nevertheless, the alcohol restriction was not brought to the attention of the Fire Department until November of 1999, well after it had already commenced building the new social hall.6
At the time that the Agreement was executed, the Culbertson Subdivision was bounded on the north by the Viscose Corporation, which operated a large manufacturing plant. The Viscose Corporation operated twenty-four hours a day and employed more than 2,500 people. Currently, the former site of the Viscose Corporation is now the Crawford County Industrial Park, which houses a variety of small commercial businesses and offices.7 The remainder of the restricted tract is bounded by wooded land to the northwest, the Cussewago Creek to the south and west, and the City of Meadville to the east.
Presently, there are no establishments within the Culbertson Subdivision that possess liquor licenses. The closest alcohol-serving establishment is the Fire Department's current social hall, which is located in Vernon Township, approximately one-half mile from the restricted lots. In addition, there are two bars located within two miles of the restricted tract. One bar is situated approximately one and one-half miles away in Vernon Township, and the other is approximately two miles away in the City of Meadville.
Upon learning of the restrictive covenant, the Fire Department stopped construction of the new social hall and sought to have all of the property owners within the restricted tract sign a Limited Release of Restrictions.8 The owners of sixty-eight of the seventy-seven parcels within the Culbertson Subdivision signed the Limited Release of Restrictions and agreed to waive enforcement of the restrictive covenant as to the 3.25-acre parcel purchased by the Fire Department. The owners of three parcels neither signed the release nor sought to enforce the restrictive covenant.9 The remaining six parcel owners, now Appellants in this matter, refused to sign the Limited Release of Restrictions. As a result, the Fire Department brought the instant action at law seeking to quiet title to its parcel. In particular, the Fire Department sought to have the restrictive covenant prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages invalidated because changed conditions in the immediate neighborhood effectively rendered the restriction obsolete.
On August 29, 2001, following a bench trial, which included a tour of the Culbertson Subdivision and surrounding neighborhood, the trial court granted Judgment in favor of Appellants. The trial court determined that the restrictive covenant prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages was valid and enforceable. Specifically, the court concluded that "[b]ecause [Appellants] will realize substantial benefit from the enforcement of this restriction, and because the restriction has not been rendered obsolete by change in the neighborhood, [the Fire Department] is not entitled to the relief sought." Trial Court Opinion, August 29, 2001, at 8. The Fire Department also argued that the principles of estoppel, waiver, and laches rendered the restrictive covenant invalid and/or unenforceable. However, the trial court concluded that these doctrines were not applicable in an action to quiet title or for declaratory relief, and refused to reach the merits of these arguments.10 The Fire Department filed a Motion for Post-Trial Relief, which the court denied on January 9, 2002. Thereafter, the Fire Department filed a timely appeal.
On direct appeal, the Fire Department raised the following three issues before the Superior Court: (1) whether the trial court erred in determining that the location of three bars, all within two miles of the Culbertson Subdivision, were not within the "immediate neighborhood" of the restricted tract; (2) whether the trial court erred when it found that conditions in the neighborhood had not changed to the extent that the original purpose of the restrictive covenant had been materially altered or abandoned; and (3) whether the trial court erred when it concluded that the principles of estoppel, laches, and waiver are inapplicable in an action to quite title or declaratory judgment.
After considering the first two issues raised by the Fire Department, the Superior Court reversed the Judgment of the trial court in a Memorandum Opinion dated December 23, 2002. First, the Superior Court concluded that the trial court erred in limiting its consideration of Appellants' "immediate neighborhood" to those parcels subject to the restrictive covenant. The court explained that the presence of three liquor-serving establishments within two miles of the restricted tract did not support Appellants' contention "that they experience none of the effects of the sale of alcohol." Superior Court Memorandum Opinion, December 23, 2002, at 8. Next, the court found that conditions in the neighborhood had changed, such that the restrictive covenant no longer had significant value to Appellants. In reaching this conclusion, the Superior Court relied upon the existence of other alcohol-serving establishments within the immediate neighborhood. Moreover, the court noted that sixty-eight of the seventy-seven owners within the Culbertson Subdivision signed the Limited Release of Restrictions. The Superior Court also explained that all of the property owners who testified stated that they did not rely upon the alcohol restriction when purchasing the property. As for the Fire Department's third issue, which concerned the applicability of the doctrines of estoppel, waiver, and laches to the present matter, the Superior Court declined to address the merits of this issue because it reversed the Judgment of the trial...
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