Court Opinion

ID: 9739295
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:11:54.288551+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:11.394619
License: Public Domain

ROBB, Judge,
dissenting with separate opinion.
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion with regard to the restrictive covenant because a less restrictive interpretation should be applied in light of ambiguity within the covenant. Indiana law disfavors restrictive covenants, and any doubt must be resolved in favor of the free use of property and against restrictions. Grandview Lot Owners Ass'n, Inc. v. Harmon, 754 N.E.2d 554, 557 (Ind.Ct.App.2001), trams. denied. The intent of the parties to a restrictive covenant, which is a form of express contract, must be derived from the specific language used, as well as the circumstances of the parties, at the time the covenant was created. Mayer v. BMR Properties, LLC, 830 N.E.2d 971, 979 (Ind.Ct.App.2005). The restrictive covenant must be considered in its entirety, rather than reading specific words and phrases to the exclusion of other provisions. Id.
Presently, the majority isolates the phrase "for not more than three cars" in determining that the intent of the drafters was to limit the number of cars for which garages were built, which the majority extrapolates as resulting in a total of only three spaces available on an entire residential lot. However, closer analysis of the restrictive covenant's inherent ambiguity requires that it be interpreted against the drafters, therefore favoring less restriction of property use.
The restrictive covenant at issue deals with permissible structures on residential lots in Meadowbrook. As the majority notes, the ambiguity in the restrictive covenant stems from language indicating the types and description of structures permitted on each residential lot. Although the limiting phrase "for not more than three cars" is unambiguous, its relation to ambiguous language in the restrictive covenant results in two possible interpretations: the more restrictive, which limits the number of spaces for vehicles on the entire lot to three, and the less restrictive, which limits the number of spaces in a garage structure to three. The majority improperly applies the more restrictive interpretation in light of the ambiguity, rather than construing the covenant against the drafters and in favor of the free use of property.
*777The language of the restrictive covenant disallows any structure on a residential lot "other than one detached single-family dwelling not to exceed two stories in height and a private garage for not more than three (8) cars." Appellants' Appendix at 19. The language does not specify "one dwelling with a garage," or "one dwelling and garage," which would arguably prevent the Johnsons from building a second, detached, garage. Instead, the language, positively stated, permits only two structures on a residential lot: one dwelling and a garage. Here, the John-sons's lot contains one structure, a dwelling. They wish to build a separate garage structure as contemplated by the covenant. Thus, the distinction between types of structures is important where, as here, the landowner's dwelling also incorporates space for vehicles, resulting in ambiguity as to the three-car limitation. The ambiguity must be resolved in favor of the landowner.
Focusing on the two permissible structures does not discount the size limitation contained in the restrictive covenant. Just as the dwelling structure described in the provision is limited in size to two stories, the garage structure is limited in size by the number of cars it may contain. As phrased, the unambiguous clause "for not more than three cars" directly modifies "a private garage," the permissible second structure. It may well be that the drafters of the restrictive covenant meant to restrict total space for cars on an entire residential lot, but the language of the covenant does not state that the total space on each lot shall not exceed that required for three cars. The limitation is reserved for garage structures. Here, the Johnsons's proposed garage will have space for two cars, which is less than the limitation imposed upon garage structures under the covenant's language.
The less restrictive interpretation does not render language of the restrictive covenant ineffective or meaningless. Rather, it emphasizes the permissibility of having two structures on a residential lot, and functions to limit the size of one of these structures, a private garage, to space for no more than three cars. Indeed, three means three as applied to garage structures. Extending this limitation to the entire residential lot, rather than just to a garage structure, is contrary to the presumption against the drafters where there is ambiguity in the language of the covenant. Moreover, the majority's fear that the less restrictive interpretation will result in the potential erection of multiple three-car garages is overstated. In fact, the restrictive covenant does not permit building more than a singular dwelling structure and a singular garage structure on each lot. Thus, because the Johnsons wish to build a garage structure with space for two cars on a lot that currently contains only a dwelling, they are in compliance with the limitation imposed by the restrictive covenant.
Apart from the language of the restrictive covenant at issue, the intent of the parties as evinced by the circumstances at the time the covenant was drafted supports construing it against the drafters. This is evident in paragraphs following the restrictive covenant, to which they relate. The restrictive covenant at issue is the second paragraph in a long list of restrictive covenants, and is the first of three restrictive covenants directly dealing with structures on residential lots in Meadow-brook. It establishes the two structures allowable on these lots, and is followed by paragraphs pertinent to structures on each residential lot by delineating setback requirements and the procedure for erection or placement of structures on lots. Far from being irrelevant to the interpretation of the restrictive covenant at issue, this surrounding context supports the restric*778tive covenant's larger purpose as being to limit the type, number, and specifications of structures upon a residential lot. For this purpose, as a permissible structure, only a-garage is explicitly limited to hold no more than three cars. Projecting this limitation onto dwelling structures or the entirety of a residential lot does not resolve the doubts created by the covenant's language against restriction and in favor of the owner's free use of the property. __
As for the majority's discussion of aequi-escence, I do not disagree that Dawson may now seek to enforce the restrictive covenant, although there has been a marked lack of enforcement in the past. Nevertheless, even this lack of previous enforcement weighs in favor of the John-sons's free use of property and against the drafters of the ambiguous covenant. The issue is not whether Dawson seeks to correct a previously applied interpretation of the restrictive covenant, and therefore pursues enforcement of the more restrictive interpretation rather than an incorrect, less restrictive interpretation. The interpretation of the restrictive covenant has always been ambiguous. In the absence of discussion as to the proper interpretation of the restrictive covenant, and where other three-car garages have been erected in Meadowbrook, a reasonable person would assume that the less restrictive interpretation, limiting only garage structures to space for no more than three cars, is controlling.
Moreover, there is no evidence from past enforcement that suggests the more restrictive interpretation propounded by Dawson, and adopted by the trial court and the majority of this court, was the intent of the drafters. Had prior enforcement indicated that the intent of the drafters was to impose the greater restriction, the current problem arising from the covenant's ambiguity may have been lessened or eliminated. In other words, prior actions may shed light on the meaning of a provision. As this is not presently the case, and because the ambiguity remains, it must be resolved against the drafters and in favor of the Johnsons.
The end result is that the ambiguity in the restrictive covenant requires an interpretation against the drafters, and favoring the Johnsons's free use of their property. A narrow construction of the restriction applied to the present cireum-stances permits the Johnsons to build a separate garage structure limited to space for three cars or less. Although the trial court was correct that the covenant restricts the number of cars for which a garage structure may be built, it incorrectly applied that limitation to the entirety of the residential lot, including the landowner's dwelling, rather than only to the proposed garage structure. This wrongly imposes the greater restriction where ambiguity in the restrictive covenant dictates lesser restriction. Given the presumption against the drafters, as well as the fact that prior conduct seemingly permitted the Johnsons's actions, the less restrictive interpretation should govern the present outcome.