Court Opinion

ID: 9850996
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:05:34.082003+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:46.780131
License: Public Domain

CRISWELL, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
I remain convinced that a covenant that restricts the use of land to residences and that restricts the type of residences that may be erected to “single-family dwellings” unambiguously restricts the use of structures built on that land, as well as their design. See Evergreen Meadows Homeowners Ass’n v. Double D Manor, Inc., 743 P.2d 39 (Colo.App.1987). Indeed, I do not know how to recognize a “single-family dwelling,” except by reference to a structure’s use, since many structures, although perhaps designed to house only a single family, are, in fact, utilized for apartment houses, boarding houses, fraternity houses, and a variety of other purposes. I cannot agree, as the majority’s *4interpretation of the covenant would suggest, that its framers did not intend to bar the use of this property for these purposes.
On the other hand, I recognize that the use of a structure as a group home may be considered to be a “single family” use either for zoning purposes, compare Hessling v. Broomfield, 193 Colo. 124, 563 P.2d 12 (1977) with Roundup Foundation, Inc. v. Board of Adjustment, 626 P.2d 1154 (Colo.App.1981), or for purposes of a private covenant that restricts the structure’s use. Bellarmine Hills Ass’n v. Residential Systems Co., 84 Mich.App. 554, 269 N.W.2d 673 (1978). Thus, we are not bound to conclude that the defendants’ use of the property here was in violation of the covenant's terms even if we conclude that those terms prevented any use other than a single family use.
The trial court found that defendants use of the property was for “residential” purposes. However, since it concluded that the covenant did not restrict its use to a single family, it did not reach the question, which is primarily a factual one, whether the operation of the group home here can be considered to be a single family use. Therefore, I would reverse the trial court’s judgment, which was based upon its interpretation of the covenant, and I would remand this cause to that court for consideration of this latter issue.