Bauman v. Turpen

160 P.3d 1050
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided June 12, 2007·No. 57192-3-I·Published·Cited by 31 cases

Opinion

160 P.3d 1050 (2007)

David and Carole BAUMAN, husband and wife; Respondents/Cross-Appellants,
Robert Boyd and Patricia M. Maroushek, husband and wife; Robert and Susan Evans, husband and wife; Peter and Kaye Hutto, husband and wife; Richard and Liane Seims, husband and wife; Karen Kramer; Joy Finnigan; Calista Whiting; Robert and Mary Beth Spector, husband and wife; Vicki Sessions, Plaintiffs,
v.
Ronald and Lauren TURPEN, husband and wife, and the marital community comprised thereof, Appellants/Cross-Respondents.

No. 57192-3-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

April 23, 2007.
Publication Ordered June 12, 2007.

*1052 Tatayana A. Gidirimski, James A. Oliver, Seattle, David A. Herrman, Bucklin Even Pllc, Mercer Island, Counsel for Appellants.

Peter L. Buck, Kitteridge Oldham, Heather J. Pearce, Molly Anne Lawrence, Buck & Gordon, Seattle, Counsel for Respondents.

AGID, J.

¶ 1 In April 2004, the Baumans filed a complaint against the Turpens to enforce a deed restriction that limited any home built on the Turpens' property to "one story." The Turpens began constructing their home after the lawsuit was filed. The trial court granted the Baumans' motion for partial summary judgment, concluding that the 1949 covenant could not be interpreted by reference to the 1997 Uniform Building Code (UBC) or Seattle Building Code (SBC). After a three-day bench trial, the court found that the covenant was intended to preserve the views from neighboring homes and ordered the Turpens to abate the violation by modifying their roof. The court did not consider the hardship imposed on the Turpens by the abatement order because it found they were not innocent parties. The court later granted the Turpens' motion for reconsideration and modified the terms of the abatement. The Turpens challenge the trial court's orders on numerous grounds. The Baumans cross-appeal the order amending the abatement.

¶ 2 Because the trial court must construe restrictive covenants by discerning the intent of the drafter, it correctly concluded that the 1997 UBC and SBC did not assist in construing the 1949 deed restriction. Extrinsic evidence may be used to determine the intent of *1053 the drafter. Here, the trial court considered the topography of the neighborhood and the language of other restrictive covenants the drafter imposed on neighboring lots and decided that the one-story restriction was intended to preserve the views from neighboring homes. That evidence was relevant and probative and supports its decision that the restrictive covenant was designed to protect views from upland homes. Injunctive relief is a proper remedy for violations of restrictive covenants. Under Washington law, the Turpens were not entitled to ask the court to consider hardships to them because, by constructing their home after the lawsuit was filed, they ceased being innocent defendants. Accordingly, the trial court could not modify its order based on the hardships the Turpens alleged on reconsideration. We affirm the original orders and reverse the order on reconsideration.

FACTS

¶ 3 The Turpens and the Baumans own adjoining lots in West Seattle. Their neighborhood is built on a hill which slopes downward from east to west, providing western and northern views of Puget Sound and the Olympics. The Bauman lot is east of and uphill from the Turpen lot. These lots were part of a parcel formerly owned by George Gilbert, who divided his parcel into twelve lots, five of which were downhill (westerly) lots. He sold the lots one-by-one from the late 1940's to the early 1950's and recorded restrictive covenants on four of the five downhill lots. Gilbert built a 22-foot one-story home on the fifth downhill lot, but he did not sell the lot subject to a restrictive covenant. He placed no restrictions on the uphill lots.

¶ 4 In 1949, Gilbert recorded a covenant on the lot now owned by the Turpens that reads: "only one (1), one (1) story house with garage attached not less than five (5) rooms. House must be completed before occupancy." The deeds on three of the other downhill lots contained restrictive covenants that required owners to build single family residences. They also included restrictions that required either that new homes conform to other homes in the tract or be limited to one story.

¶ 5 In 1997 the Baumans purchased an uphill lot because of its sweeping panoramic views of the entire east-west expanse of Puget Sound. Some of these views were across the Turpen lot. Before they bought the lot, the Baumans studied the restrictive covenants in the Turpen deed and estimated the height of a future one-story home on this lot based on the heights of homes on adjacent lots that were 22 to 23 feet high.

¶ 6 On August 18, 1997, the Turpens purchased their lot and hired architect Mark Nelson to design their home. Nelson consulted the Seattle Department of Construction and Land Use (DCLU) about the definition of "one story." DCLU told him to follow the Uniform Building Code (UBC).[1] On February 27, 1998, the Turpens received a letter from attorney Michael Warren, who represented several of their uphill neighbors, asking for copies of the plans for their home. Over the course of the next five years, the Turpens and their neighbors, including the Baumans, exchanged numerous letters about the plans.

¶ 7 On July 21, 1999, the Turpens applied for a building permit for a one-story house with a daylight basement, but DCLU concluded that the plans were for a two-story house as defined by the UBC. On July 3, 1999, the neighbors filed a complaint against the Turpens. They later dismissed the case because no building permit had been issued. At that time, Warren told the Turpens he would file suit again once the permit was issued. The Turpens redesigned their house and sent Warren a letter from DCLU which confirmed that their proposed home complied with the UBC as a one-story home. On August 31, 2000, Warren notified the Turpens in writing of his position that the current UBC did not apply to the covenant and it should be construed to achieve its purpose of protecting views. On June 19, 2002, DCLU issued a permit to the Turpens for a 2,900 square-foot home based on the redesigned plans. But rather than build that *1054 home, they hired Randall Munsen to redesign the structure. The Munsen design changed the roof line from a gable end to a hip and ridge design and increased the square footage to 5,071. On December 4, 2002, Warren notified the Turpens that in Boyd v. Michaels, a 1989 case brought under the neighborhood covenants, the trial court defined the term "one story" as requiring new homes to conform to other homes in the district and the 1997 UBC.[2]

¶ 8 On March 16, 2004, DCLU issued a permit for a one-story house based on Munson's design. The Baumans learned about this permit on April 9, 2004. On April 15, 2004, before construction began, the Baumans and two other neighbors, Evans and Hutto, filed a complaint against the Turpens seeking injunctive relief. On April 19, 2004, the Turpens hired a surveyor to set points for the soldier pilings. Sometime after May 19, 2004, the Turpens poured a foundation and began construction.

¶ 9 On July 1, 2005, the trial court granted the Turpens' motion for summary judgment against plaintiffs Hutto and Evans but denied it as to the Baumans.

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Bauman v. Turpen, 160 P.3d 1050 (Wash. Ct. App. 2007).

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