Opinion ID: 2510388
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the view's right to use lot 5 for parking

Text: ¶19 We first consider whether the court of appeals erred in holding that the plat amendment terminated the restrictive parking covenant applicable to lot 5. The court of appeals approached this issue by analyzing whether the lot 5 parking covenant qualified as a covenant running with the land. The View Condo. Owners Ass'n v. MSICO, L.L.C., 2004 UT App 104, ¶¶ 16-29, 90 P.3d 1042. The court concluded that the covenant did not run with the land because the covenanting parties did not intend it to do so. Id. ¶ 18. In reaching this conclusion, the court of appeals began with the proposition that the relevant time for determining intent was that point when Sorenson first conveyed a parcel subject to the Declaration. Id. ¶¶ 16-18. The court of appeals then examined the language of the Declaration in light of the amended plat, found that it was ambiguous, and therefore looked to extrinsic evidence of intent. Id. ¶¶ 20-26. From the extrinsic evidence, the court of appeals concluded that the parties did not intend the parking covenant to run with the land. Id. ¶¶ 25-26. It therefore upheld the district court's summary judgment in favor of MSI. Id. ¶20 The View argues that the court of appeals erred when it considered extrinsic evidence. It asserts that the Declaration unambiguously demonstrates the parties' intent to create a restrictive covenant burdening lot 5 and that it is entitled to enforce the Declaration according to its terms. At the heart of The View's argument is the notion that the amendment to the plat map, which reconfigured the sizes and locations of the Sugarplum lots, did not effectuate an amendment to the corresponding Declaration. We agree. ¶21 A servitude, such as a restrictive covenant, is created . . . if the owner of the property to be burdened . . . conveys a lot or unit in a general-plan development or common-interest community subject to a recorded declaration of servitudes for the development or community. Restatement (Third) of Property: Servitudes § 2.1 (2000). We interpret the provisions of the Declaration as we would a contract. Swenson v. Erickson, 2000 UT 16, ¶ 11, 998 P.2d 807. If the Declaration is not ambiguous, we interpret it according to its plain language. Fairbourn Commercial, Inc. v. Am. Hous. Partners, Inc., 2004 UT 54, ¶ 11, 94 P.3d 292. We may resort to extrinsic evidence as an aid to construction only where there is an ambiguity. See Swenson, 2000 UT 16, ¶¶ 10-11. An ambiguity exists if the Declaration is capable of more than one reasonable interpretation because of uncertain meanings of terms, missing terms, or other facial deficiencies. Fairbourn Commercial, 2004 UT 54, ¶ 10 (internal quotation marks omitted). ¶22 The Declaration's initial recitals plainly state that the covenants, servitudes, and restrictions contained in the Declaration shall constitute covenants to run with the land. Article 12.12 of the Declaration similarly provides that the Declaration shall run with the land, and shall continue in full force and effect for a period of fifty (50) years. Article 3.1 of the Declaration states: Lot 5 shall be reserved for and improved with a parking facility for the owners of Lot 4 and Lots 6-9 and the Units constructed thereon, subject to Declarant's reservation of the air space rights to Lot 5 . . . . Finally, the restrictive covenants of the Declaration expressly apply to lots 1 through 9 as shown on that [plat map] . . . as the same may be amended from time to time. We conclude that this language unambiguously creates a restrictive covenant that came into effect when Sorenson conveyed lot 5 to MSI. [3] ¶23 In urging us to conclude otherwise, MSI relies on the plat amendment. While it concedes that the Declaration and original plat contemplated the use of lot 5 for parking, it argues that the amended plat eliminated the original lot 5, redrew the boundaries of the several lots, and used land from other lots to create a new lot 5 devoid of any use restrictions. Because the Declaration incorporates the amended plat by reference, [4] MSI argues that the plat amendment effected an amendment to the Declaration as well, a result that is consistent with the intent of the parties at the time Sorenson conveyed lot 8. ¶24 While we agree with MSI's core contention that the Declaration must be construed together with the amended plat, see Rowley v. Marrcrest Homeowners' Ass'n, 656 P.2d 414, 417 (Utah 1982), we disagree with the way in which MSI attempts to apply that principle here. First, MSI's argument ignores the language of the Declaration specifying that the restrictive covenants apply by their terms to any amended plats. Second, the argument presumes that the terms of the Declaration are in conflict with the amended plat. But they are not. ¶25 Nothing in the amended plat is inconsistent with use of the lot 5 surface area for parking. The table on the amended plat does not require that any units be constructed on lot 5. It specifies only that a maximum of sixty-five units may be distributed between lots 4 and 5. Moreover, the Declaration reserves the air space above lot 5 to Sorenson. Article 2.1.3 provides: [Sorenson] hereby reserves unto itself, its successors and assigns, the exclusive right to develop, build upon, lease, sell and otherwise use the air space above Lot 5. . . . [Sorenson] and/or transferee of the Air Space shall have the right to construct any improvements therein for commercial, residential, retail, recreational or any other use permitted by applicable state and local law. No owner of Lot 5 or any part thereof shall impair or restrict development of the Air Space, but shall cooperate fully with such development and execute any such further documents or agreements deemed necessary by [Sorenson] for the development of such space. (Emphasis added.) Article 2.1.3 also provides for an easement over lot 5 for ingress and egress by any other owners, lessees, guests, employees, contractors, invitees or customers of [Sorenson] or any subsequent owner(s) of the Air Space or any improvements constructed thereon (emphasis added). In other words, the Declaration did not contemplate that lot 5 would be used exclusively for parking. Rather, it bifurcated lot 5 into two horizontal levels. While the bottom level was to be used for parking, the upper level could be used for any purpose selected by Sorenson or its successors in interest. In short, under the Declaration, parking and development on lot 5 are not mutually exclusive. Because the amended plat is not inconsistent with the restrictive parking covenant contained in the Declaration, we must reject MSI's claim that the plat amendment modified the Declaration, thereby eliminating its designation of lot 5 as a parking area. ¶26 As additional support for its amendment by implication theory, MSI points to provisions in the Declaration allowing the developer to unilaterally amend the Declaration and the plat for the purpose of allocating density to Lots owned by the [developer] or changing the configuration, size or location of [such lots]. Relying on those provisions, MSI argues that the Declaration could be modified simply by amending the plat. We reject this argument as well. The fact that the Declaration vested the developer with the unilateral authority to amend the Declaration and the plat in order to alter the configuration, size, or location of the developer's own lots does not suggest that the developer could unilaterally terminate restrictive covenants through a plat amendment alone. Nor does it suggest that amendments to the plat would constitute de facto amendments to the Declaration itself  particularly where, as here, the amended plat is not inconsistent with the Declaration. While Sorenson may have had the right to unilaterally amend the Declaration prior to the sale of lot 8, the undisputed fact is that it never did so. And under the explicit terms of the Declaration, amending the Declaration subsequent to the sale of the first lot requires the vote or written assent of a majority of the total voting power of the Master Association. ¶27 MSI also argues that the plat amendment demonstrates the intent and understanding of both The View and MSI that lot 5 not be subject to a restrictive parking covenant. Intent, however, is irrelevant because we conclude that the Declaration and the amended plat, when construed together, are subject to only one plausible meaning, namely, that the amended plat's reference to building units refers to development of lot 5's air space rather than to a revocation of the restrictive parking covenant. Well-settled law precludes us from considering extrinsic evidence to vary the terms of an unambiguous written agreement. The policy behind such law is particularly compelling here, where the written agreement, which concerns real property, has been recorded in the public records. Parties should be able to rely on documents of record without fear that their unambiguous provisions may be set aside on the basis of contrary extrinsic evidence of intent. See Fairbourn Commercial, 2004 UT 54, ¶¶ 10-11. We accordingly hold that there are no disputed issues of material fact and that The View, not MSI, is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law with respect to the existence of the lot 5 parking covenant. Utah R. Civ. P. 56(c). ¶28 Notwithstanding the existence of the parking covenant, MSI suggests that we affirm the result reached by the court of appeals on the alternative basis that the parking covenant has been abandoned. Because both the district court and the court of appeals ruled in favor of MSI on the parking claim, neither court reached MSI's alternative abandonment defense, and we decline to consider it in the first instance on certiorari review. MSI may, however, present it on remand.