Barclay Square Condominium Owners' Ass'n v. Grenier

899 A.2d 991, 153 N.H. 514, 2006 N.H. LEXIS 68
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedMay 18, 2006
DocketNo. 2004-871
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 899 A.2d 991 (Barclay Square Condominium Owners' Ass'n v. Grenier) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barclay Square Condominium Owners' Ass'n v. Grenier, 899 A.2d 991, 153 N.H. 514, 2006 N.H. LEXIS 68 (N.H. 2006).

Opinion

Duggan, J.

This appeal involves further proceedings in the dispute between the plaintiff, Barclay Square Condominium Owners’ Association (Association), and one of its members, defendant Mark Grenier. See Grenier v. Barclay Square Commercial Condo. Owners’ Assoc., 150 N.H. 111 (2003). Grenier owns two units at the Barclay Square Condominium complex (Barclay Square), which house his automotive repair business. The central issue in the dispute is Grenier’s use of the common area to the rear of his units to park vehicles overnight. The Superior Court (Earner, J.) ruled that a regulation adopted by the Association governing overnight parking discriminated against Grenier and awarded him equitable relief. We reverse and remand.

Barclay Square contains twenty-four units and is a registered condominium association governed by a board of directors (the board). Barclay Square consists of two rectangular buildings running parallel to each other and perpendicular to the road. Paved parking areas lie between and in front of the two buildings, and an additional common area (the gravel lot) sits behind them. Barclay Square’s property also includes a 300-foot by 100-foot undeveloped area (the rear common area) located behind the gravel lot. Until 2003, Grenier used the portion of the gravel lot that adjoins his units to store vehicles overnight. His automotive repair business requires overnight storage space for approximately twenty to twenty-five vehicles.

The parking arrangements at Barclay Square have a complicated history. Initially, the condominium rules only restricted parking during the winter months. In September 1998, however, the Association adopted a temporary rule restricting overnight parking in the rear of the condominium. In early 1999, Grenier received a reprieve from the temporary rule. In August 1999, the Association’s management company notified Grenier that his reprieve would expire on September 30, 1999. That fall, the board adopted a new rule (the 1999 amendment), which required owners to request permission to park in the gravel lot overnight and stipulated that “[u]nder no circumstances shall the board grant an individual business owner permission to park more than four ... vehicles overnight at one time.” Grenier refused to comply with the 1999 [516]*516amendment and, in April 2001, the Association towed his vehicles from the gravel lot.

Shortly thereafter, Grenier sued the Association for the resulting $4,350 in towing and storage charges. Grenier, 150 N.H. at 114. The superior court ruled that the board lacked the authority to: (1) amend its rules to limit overnight parking in the gravel lot to four vehicles per business; owner; and (2) tow vehicles that were parked in violation of that amendment. Id. at 114-15. On appeal, the Association conceded that the board lacked the authority to limit the number of spaces available to each owner, but argued that the language of the 1999 amendment enabled it to tow Grenier’s vehicles. Id. at 115. We held that, even if the Association did have the authority to enforce the 1999 amendment, the towing penalty violated an express provision in the condominium bylaws prohibiting the board from levying fines in excess of ten dollars. Id.

In 2002, while the appeal was pending, the Association enacted a new rule (the 2002 amendment) which allocated two gravel lot parking spaces to each owner and provided owners with the option of renting unassigned spaces for twenty dollars a month. Grenier did not comply with the 2002 amendment because he believed that it discriminated against him.

In response, the Association brought this declaratory judgment action in superior court. The Association also sought to enjoin Grenier from further violation of the condominium rules. Grenier counterclaimed that: (1) the 2002 amendment violated the Barclay Square condominium declaration (declaration) because it discriminated against him; and (2) the Association had engaged in discriminatory enforcement of its rules.

Following a bench trial and a view, the trial court ruled that Grenier could not “sustain a cause of action for discriminatory enforcement of the Barclay Square bylaws,” but found that the Association had discriminated against him. Specifically, the trial court found that “the actions of the Association were directed at Grenier, who was using the [gravel lot] for a purpose consistent with and in furtherance of his legitimate business.” The' trial court also found that the Association failed to show a “reasonable relationship between the monthly charge assessed for renting additional parking spaces in the gravel [lot] and the actual maintenance expenses for that area.” Invoking its equity powers, the trial court ordered the Association to permit Grenier to “make reasonable use of the [rear] common area consistent with the purposes for which it is designated, which is parking and snow removal.” See RSA 498:1 (1997). The trial court limited Grenier’s use of the rear common area to overnight storage of “cars awaiting service, cars awaiting parts, repaired cars awaiting pickup by their owners, and the loaner cars for the shop.”

[517]*517On appeal, the Association argues, inter alia, that the trial court erred by ruling that the 2002 amendment discriminated against Grenier. Grenier cross-appeals the trial court’s refusal to award him attorney’s fees.

The Association argues that the 2002 amendment did not discriminate against Grenier because it “applied equally to all owners” and provided each owner with “the opportunity to acquire additional parking for a reasonable fee.” The Association further contends that the implication of the trial court’s order — that each condominium owner has the right to use a common area according to his individual needs “regardless of the collective will of the other owners” — frustrates the intent of the condominium statute. Grenier responds that the trial court correctly ruled that the 2002 amendment discriminated against him in violation of the declaration because he is the only owner at Barclay Square who is affected by the amendment. Grenier further contends that the evidence presented at trial supports the court’s conclusion that his use of the gravel lot “was the driving motivation behind the [2002] amendment.”

A condominium’s legal documents are “a contract that governs the legal rights between the association and property owners.” Schaefer v. Eastman Community Assoc., 150 N.H. 187, 190 (2003) (quotation and brackets omitted). The interpretation of a contract is a question of law, which we review de novo. Sherman v. Graciano, 152 N.H. 119, 121 (2005). We are also mindful that a condominium declaration “should not be so narrowly construed so as to eviscerate the association’s intended role as the governing body of the community.” Schaefer, 150 N.H. at 191. “[T]he important role [associations] play in maintaining property values and providing municipal-like services” justifies a broad view of the powers delegated to them. Id. Accordingly, a condominium association may promulgate rules to address day-to-day concerns as long as such rules: (1) do not conflict with the express language of the condominium documents; and (2) are reasonable and not arbitrary or capricious. See id. at 194; Grenier, 150 N.H. at 115.

We turn first to the express language of the condominium documents.

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Bluebook (online)
899 A.2d 991, 153 N.H. 514, 2006 N.H. LEXIS 68, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barclay-square-condominium-owners-assn-v-grenier-nh-2006.