Lapray v. Smith

804 S.W.2d 87, 1990 Tenn. App. LEXIS 802
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedNovember 9, 1990
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 804 S.W.2d 87 (Lapray v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lapray v. Smith, 804 S.W.2d 87, 1990 Tenn. App. LEXIS 802 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

GODDARD, Judge.

In this restrictive covenant case, both the Plaintiffs and the Defendant appeal portions of the Trial Court’s judgment. The Chancellor, upon trial of the case below, issued a permanent injunction against the Defendant’s using restricted property as a means of access to other adjoining unrestricted property. The Defendant appeals issuance of the permanent injunction.

The Plaintiffs filed a post-trial motion seeking to modify the permanent injunction so as to further enjoin the Defendant from continuing utility hook-ups in the restricted residential subdivision, and running the utility lines across his restricted-use property within the subdivision to service the adjoining unrestricted property. The Plaintiffs’ motion was denied, and the Plaintiffs appeal the Court’s denial.

The issues on appeal are:

1. Whether the Chancery Court’s injunction against the Defendant’s use of his restricted property as a means of ingress to and egress from adjoining unrestricted property is a proper enforcement of the covenants which restrict White Oak Subdivision.
2. If injunctive relief is proper, whether the injunction order issued by the Chancellor is too broad, thereby imposing an undue burden upon the Defendant.
3. Whether the Chancellor abused his discretion in refusing to grant the Plaintiffs’ motion, made pursuant to Rule 15.-02 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, to amend the Court’s judgment so as to include an injunction against utility service.

All the Plaintiffs and the Defendant are landowners in White Oak Subdivision in Sevier County. As of July 18, 1989, the Defendant became the owner of Lot 26, a vacant lot in the subdivision. The Defendant also has a revocable beneficial interest in certain unrestricted property outside White Oak Subdivision, part of which property adjoins Lot 26. The adjoining unrestricted property is owned by the Defendant’s parents.

White Oak Subdivision property is bound by restrictive covenants, pertinent portions of which read as follows:

2. LAND USE: All lots and tracts shall be designated and used for (single) one family homes, no duplexes.
3. All residential dwellings shall have not less than the following square feet of living area or floor space on the first or main floor:
(a) One story dwelling-1250 square feet.
(b) Two story dwelling-1000 square feet on main floor.
No structure shall be moved onto any lot or tract. No exposed concrete block shall be left visible on any bed. No metal roofs shall be permit[ted.]
4. No mobile homes, trailers or modular type units sh[a]ll be placed or main[89]*89tained on any part of said land either temporarily or permanently.
5. DWELLING LOCATION: No dwelling shall be located nearer than thirty (30) feet to any front or ten (10) feet to any side property lines.
6. No fiberglass houses unless approved by developers.
7. No house is to be lived in unless completed.

Shortly after the Defendant obtained ownership of Lot 26, he received permission from his father to place a mobile home on approximately 100' x 100' of the above-mentioned unrestricted land immediately adjacent to Lot 26. The Defendant then placed the trailer on the adjoining property.

Thereafter, the Defendant knocked a driveway space hole in the street curbing that fronts Lot 26 in White Oak Subdivision, and began driving across Lot 26 from the restricted subdivision in order to reach his house trailer on the adjacent unrestricted property. The house trailer has been used as a single family residence, and no commercial activities have been conducted on the property. The driveway does not connect to any road or any other drive, nor does it permit any other entrance into or exit from the subdivision.

The Defendant argues that he has not violated the residential-use-only restriction since he has simply utilized Lot 26 as a front yard and driveway to a single family residence, and for no other purpose.

The Plaintiffs argue that the Defendant’s use of Lot 26 as merely a driveway and front yard to the adjoining unrestricted property allows him to effectively incorporate unrestricted property into the White Oak Subdivision, thereby subverting the benefits to all of the subdivision property owners that were intended by the restrictive covenants.

The Chancery Court’s order permanently enjoins the Defendant from “constructing, maintaining, and/or using Lot # 26 in the White Oak Subdivision of Seymour, Tennessee as a roadway, driveway, accessway, on and across the same, for the purpose of providing access, being ingress or egress, to the adjoining property.”

Restrictive covenants on real property are to be recognized and enforced according to their terms. Land Developers, Inc. v. Maxwell, 537 S.W.2d 904 (Tenn.1976). Because such covenants hinder the otherwise free use and enjoyment of property, they are to be strictly construed, with all doubts resolved in favor of the free use of one’s property. Parks v. Richardson, 567 S.W.2d 465 (Tenn.App.1977); Land Developers, supra. Nonetheless, the words of a restrictive covenant should be given a fair and reasonable meaning in order to effectuate the covenant’s purpose. McDonald v. Chaffin, 529 S.W.2d 54 (Tenn.App.1975); see also Benton v. Bush, 644 S.W.2d 690 (Tenn.App.1982).

The Defendant correctly cites Laughlin v. Wagner, 146 Tenn. (19 Thomp.) 647, 244 S.W. 475 (1922), in support of his proposition that it is not necessary to build a house on Lot 26 in order for him to make residential use of the property. But Laughlin does not support the Defendant’s implied argument that residential use of unrestricted property is the only important concern in determining whether such unrestricted property may be used in conjunction with adjoining restricted property. In Laugh-lin, the defendant intended to use property restricted to residential use as a passageway — albeit decoratively landscaped with flower beds and grassplots — to commercial enterprises on adjoining unrestricted property. The Laughlin Court decided

to prohibit [the restricted property’s] use as a means of ingress and egress, and for all other purposes incident to the business that may be conducted upon the drug store lot ... but ... to allow its use by the owner for purposes reasonably incident to residential purposes. This [did] not mean that the defendants [could] not use it for flower beds or for walkways, but it [did] mean that no portion of the Belvedere [restricted] side [could] be used as a means of service to the business being conducted upon the adjacent lots....

[90]*90146 Tenn. (19 Thomp.) at 659, 244 S.W. at 478.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cynthia Barnett v. Barbara Behringer
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2003
New Covenant Baptist Church v. Panther Sark
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2001
Isbell v. Travis Electric Co.
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2000
Robert Stewart v. Lynda Stewart
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2000
Maples Homeowners Ass'n v. T & R Nashville Ltd. Partnership
993 S.W.2d 36 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1998)
Maples Homeowners Assoc., Inc. v. T & R Nashville LP
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1998
Hobbs v. Hobbs
987 S.W.2d 844 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1998)
Burnett v. Hamby
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1997
Childs v. Roane County Board of Education
929 S.W.2d 364 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1996)
Pelosi v. Wailea Ranch Estates
876 P.2d 1320 (Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
804 S.W.2d 87, 1990 Tenn. App. LEXIS 802, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lapray-v-smith-tennctapp-1990.