K.M. Waggle and L.A. Waggle and S. Russo as trustee v. Woodland Hills Assoc., Inc. ~ Appeal of: K.M. Waggle and L.A. Waggle

213 A.3d 397
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania·Decided July 10, 2019·No. 64 C.D. 2018·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

OPINION BY PRESIDENT JUDGE LEAVITT

Kevin M. and Linda Ann Waggle (collectively, Waggles) appeal an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Wayne County (trial court) granting Woodland Hills Association, Inc.'s (Association) request for a clarification of the parties' Settlement Agreement and holding the Waggles in contempt of court. The trial court held that the Settlement Agreement required the Waggles to share in the cost for capital improvements to common areas in a planned community and for liability insurance on a shared boat dock. On appeal, the Waggles argue that the trial court erred in its construction of the Settlement Agreement. They further contend that the trial court's interpretation of the Settlement Agreement effected an unauthorized modification of the agreement. For the reasons to follow, we affirm the trial court.

Background

Woodland Hills is a planned community located on Lake Wallenpaupack in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. The Association maintains the Woodland Hills common areas, including the roads and boat docks, and imposes fees upon residents to fund this work.

In 2005, the Waggles purchased a slip at Woodland Hills' boat dock. In 2008, a dispute arose between the Waggles and the Association about whether the Waggles were members of the Association or entitled to own a slip at the boat dock. In 2009, the Waggles filed a declaratory judgment action to establish that they were not members of the Association and did not need to be in order to own a boat slip. 1 In 2013, the parties resolved their dispute with a Settlement Agreement that, inter alia , established that the Waggles, albeit not members of the Association, were entitled to keep their boat slip and to vote on discrete issues. In return, they had to pay a proportionate share of the costs related to common areas, the boat docks, and the community's water system. Reproduced Record at 28a-49a (R.R. __). 2 On October 22, 2013, the trial court entered an order approving the Settlement Agreement.

In May 2015, the Waggles filed a petition for contempt against the Association. The petition alleged that the Association had failed to provide liability insurance on their boat slip in accordance with the Settlement Agreement and had not correctly calculated their 2015 Association and dock fees.

In October 2016, the Association filed a cross-petition for contempt, alleging that the Waggles had not paid their 2015 and 2016 Association fees. In addition, the Association sought a clarification that the Settlement Agreement required the Waggles to share in the expense of maintaining the facilities they used, including the roads and the boat dock. The Association asserted that maintenance of the roads included their resurfacing, when needed.

On January 24, 2017, the trial court ordered the Waggles to pay, within 30 days, $1,470.24, which represented the total of the Association's 2015 and 2016 assessments on the Waggles. Additionally, the trial court scheduled a hearing on the Association's petition for clarification of the Settlement Agreement and directed the parties to submit memoranda of law on what constitutes a maintenance expense as opposed to a capital improvement expense.

On February 21, 2017, the trial court conducted a hearing on the Association's contempt petition. At the hearing, the Waggles acknowledged that they had not paid the $1,470.24. Their counsel explained that he

wouldn't like them, necessarily, to pay it before [they] had a judicial determination on that, 'cause it does include, from what we believe to be, a capital improvement in the form [of] the levelling, the blacktopping, etc.

Notes of Testimony (N.T.), 2/21/2017, at 92; R.R. 238a. Their counsel also stated, "I'm just asking that we give [the Waggles] additional time on that portion, until we conclude the case." Id.

On March 7, 2017, following the hearing, the trial court entered the following order:

(1) As to streets, roads and/or traffic ways of which Non-Members of the [Association] are permitted to use, [the] Waggle[s] shall pay their proportionate share of maintenance expenses.
We hold specifically that streets, roads and/or traffic ways, and transportation capital improvements are deemed to be improvements which have a life expectancy of three years or more, not including costs for maintenance, operation or repair. See In re: Maibach, LLC , 26 A.3d 1213 (Pa. Cmwlth[.] 2011).
(2) In general capital improvements shall constitute building and/or construction of which according to Internal Revenue Service law and/or regulations would be required to be treated for tax purposes as capital improvements.

Order, 3/7/2017, at 1; R.R. 242a.

The Association construed this order to mean that its road leveling 3 project in Woodland Hills constituted a maintenance expense. The Waggles, however, construed the order to mean that the Association's road leveling project was a capital improvement because it would extend the life of the road for more than three years.

On July 27, 2017, the Association filed another contempt petition against the Waggles, alleging that they had not paid the entire $1,470.24, as ordered by the trial court on January 24, 2017. The Waggles still owed approximately $300. 4 Contemporaneous with its petition for contempt, the Association petitioned for a clarification of the trial court's March 7, 2017, order, to resolve the remaining issues between the Association and the Waggles.

On November 15, 2017, the trial court held a hearing on the Association's petition. At the hearing, counsel for the Waggles acknowledged that they had withheld $300 from the $1,470.24 owed to the Association. Counsel explained that

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K.M. Waggle and L.A. Waggle and S. Russo as trustee v. Woodland Hills Assoc., Inc. ~ Appeal of: K.M. Waggle and L.A. Waggle, 213 A.3d 397 (Pa. Ct. App. 2019).

213 A.3d 397 (K.M. Waggle and L.A. Waggle and S. Russo as trustee v. Woodland Hills Assoc., Inc. ~ Appeal of: K.M. Waggle and L.A. Waggle) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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