Mannweiler v. LaFlamme

700 A.2d 57, 46 Conn. App. 525, 1997 Conn. App. LEXIS 446
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedSeptember 2, 1997
DocketAC 15265
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 700 A.2d 57 (Mannweiler v. LaFlamme) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mannweiler v. LaFlamme, 700 A.2d 57, 46 Conn. App. 525, 1997 Conn. App. LEXIS 446 (Colo. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

Opinion

IAVERY, J.

The plaintiffs appeal from the judgment rendered for the defendants on the plaintiffs’ complaint seeking a permanent injunction to enforce a restrictive covenant to prevent the defendants from constructing more than one house on a lot. The dispositive issue is whether all of the lots in the subject development, including those of the plaintiffs and the defendants, were subject to restrictive covenants that prevented any owner from subdividing an existing lot and creating additional building lots.

The following facts are necessary for the resolution of this appeal. In 1927, the J. H. Whittemore Company [527]*527(Whittemore) recorded a subdivision map of a tract of land known as the Hop Brook Development (Hop Brook) in the Naugatuck land records. Hop Brook consisted of six sections that were divided into fifty-two lots that were delineated on the subdivision map. The lots were not of equal size. All the parties to this action are owners of property in the development and derive their title from Whittemore, who was the common grantor. In May, 1991, the defendants received approval from the Naugatuck planning and zoning commission to resubdivide their property and to construct two houses, in addition to the house that presently exists, on their lot.

The plaintiffs instituted this action seeking injunctive and declaratory relief to prevent the defendants from constructing the two additional dwellings on their resubdivided parcel. The plaintiffs claim that Whitte-more had created, by restrictive covenant, a uniform plan of development, or common scheme. The plaintiffs contend that this common scheme limits any development within Hop Brook to one residential dwelling per lot, as it is shown on the map to which all subsequent conveyances were subject.

In September, 1927, the first deed conveying a lot from Hop Brook, which was delivered to Howard Bristol, contained the following restrictive covenants: “This conveyance is made subject to the following covenants and restrictions and the said Grantee, his heirs and assigns, by the acceptance of this deed, assents and agrees to take the said premises subject thereto: 1. The aforesaid premises shall be occupied and used by the Grantee, his heirs and assigns, for private residential purposes only and not otherwise, and there shall at no time be erected or maintained thereon anything except one private residence for the use of one family only, which private residence shall cost, exclusive of the land [528]*528not less than $15,000, together with the necessary outbuildings appurtenant thereto. ... 3. Each and all the foregoing covenants and restrictions are for the mutual benefit of all persons who have derived or who shall derive title, directly or indirectly from the Grantor to any lot or lots shown on the Map hereinbe-fore referred to, and shall run with the land in favor of all lots shown on said Map, and any breach or threatened breach of any one or more or all of the covenants and restrictions aforesaid may be enjoined upon application of the Grantor, its successors and assigns, or any person or persons who have derived or shall derive title directly or indirectly from the Grantor to any lot or lots shown on said map. ” (Emphasis added.)1 Whittemore subsequently conveyed thirty of the fifty-two lots to grantees within Hop Brook from 1927 until 1937. All of those deeds contained covenants and restrictions that were virtually identical to those set forth above.

In December, 1934, Whittemore and all prior grantees signed and recorded a written modification of the covenants and restrictions changing the minimum cost of construction of a private residence from $15,000 to $10,000 on twenty-two of the lots in Hop Brook. The modified language states: “1. The aforesaid premises shall be occupied and used by the Grantee, his heirs, and assigns, for private residential purposes only and not otherwise, and there shall at no time be erected or maintained thereon anything except one private residence for the use of one family only, which private residence shall cost, exclusive of land, not less than $10,000.00, together with the necessary outbuilding [529]*529thereto . . . and said lots are hereby released and discharged from any restriction now existing whereby a private residence thereon shall cost more than said sum. Said covenant and restriction shall be for the mutual benefit of all persons who have or shall have title to any lot or lots shown on the Map of said Hop Brook Development, and shall run with the land in favor of all lots shown on said map and any breach or threatened breach thereof may be enjoined upon this application of the Party of the First part, its successors and assigns, or any person or persons who have derived or shall derive title, directly or indirectly, from the Party of the First Part to any lot or lots shown on said Map.”

In September, 1936, the common grantor, Whitte-more, and all prior grantees of Hop Brook, including mortgage holders, agreed to a correction in a deed dated November, 1927, to Helen W. Adams. That deed described the property conveyed to her as one parcel, section D, lots one through seven. The agreement provided that the lots, then owned by Martin L. Martus, consisted of seven separate building lots as set forth in the development map. The pertinent language in the agreement states: “The aforesaid premises shall be occupied and used by the Grantee, his heirs and assigns, for private residential purposes only and not otherwise, and there shall at no time be erected or maintained upon any one lot of the seven lots comprising said aforesaid premises and shown and described on said Map entitled ‘Lot Plan of Hop Brook Development,’ anything except one private residence for the use of one family only, which private residence shall cost, exclusive of the land, not less than $15,000.00, together with the necessary outbuildings appurtenant thereto which said covenant and restriction shall operate to the same purpose and effect as though it had been contained in said deed from J. H. Whittemore Company to Helen W. Adams.” The common grantor, Whittemore, [530]*530did not reserve any right to revoke, to amend, or to alter any of the restrictive covenants in the deeds of the first thirty-two lots it conveyed out of Hop Brook.

In August, 1937, Whittemore conveyed section E of Hop Brook to Lewis A. Dibble.2 Whittemore conveyed that land to Dibble with the covenants and restrictions as set out in the prior conveyances of Hop Brook lots, but with an additional paragraph. That paragraph states: “4. It is particularly agreed and understood that should the Grantee, his heirs or assigns, purchase further lands from the Grantor, or its successors, within Block ‘E,’ as shown on said Map, the foregoing covenants and restrictions may be revoked, in whole or in part, and others substituted therefor, by an agreement entered into by and between the Grantor, or its successors, and the Grantee, or his heirs or assigns, alone, and without the consent of any other person or persons.”

After August, 1937, Whittemore conveyed several lots containing the original covenants and restrictions, but without a unilateral right to modify. Dibble had previously purchased lot two of section E from Whittemore in 1927, as well as a portion of lot three in 1930, which was adjacent to lot two. In the conveyance of the portion of lot three from Whittemore to Dibble, the following pertinent covenants and restrictions were put into the deed.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
700 A.2d 57, 46 Conn. App. 525, 1997 Conn. App. LEXIS 446, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mannweiler-v-laflamme-connappct-1997.