Mountaindale Condominium Ass'n v. Zappone

757 A.2d 608, 59 Conn. App. 311, 2000 Conn. App. LEXIS 388
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedAugust 15, 2000
DocketAC 18538
StatusPublished
Cited by54 cases

This text of 757 A.2d 608 (Mountaindale Condominium Ass'n v. Zappone) 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
Mountaindale Condominium Ass'n v. Zappone, 757 A.2d 608, 59 Conn. App. 311, 2000 Conn. App. LEXIS 388 (Colo. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

Opinion

LAVERY, J.

The plaintiff, Mountaindale Condominium Association, Inc., appeals from the judgment of the trial court rendered after the granting in part of the defendants’2 motions for summary judgment. On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the court improperly (1) applied the statute of limitations, General Statutes § 52-584,3 where the defendants failed to allege the statute as a [313]*313special defense, (2) applied the doctrine of constructive notice where fraudulent concealment was pleaded, (3) engaged in fact-finding where it found that the plaintiff had constructive notice of building code violations and failed to make reasonable inquiry, (4) ignored factual predicates that, as a matter of law, give rise to genuine issues of material fact concerning the fraudulent concealment by the defendants and (5) concluded that the continuing course of conduct doctrine did not toll the statute of limitations. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

On January 13,1995, according to the deputy sheriffs return of service, the plaintiff instituted causes of action against multiple defendants, alleging, in a thirty-five count complaint, violations of various building and fire codes with respect to the construction of Mountaindale Condominiums (Mountaindale) in Thomaston. The defendant Carmella Lecko’s decedent, Robert Lecko, who died in May, 1992, was the building inspector who had issued the building permits and certificates of occupancy for the condominium units.4 The defendant town of Thomaston (town) employed Lecko as its building inspector and the defendant Robert Norton as its fire marshal.

On April 2, 1997, the plaintiff filed a fifth revised complaint. Counts twenty-two and twenty-three were against Lecko and Norton,5 and counts twenty-four and twenty-five were against the town.6 The plaintiff alleged that the named defendant, Joseph Zappone, who constructed Mountaindale, created the plaintiff by declaration, with subsequent amendments, pursuant to the [314]*314laws of the state of Connecticut on or about November 13,1986. The named defendant controlled Mountaindale until April, 1988, when the plaintiff assumed control. The plaintiff further alleged that the named defendant failed to build the condominium units in accordance with local and state building codes. According to the allegations of the complaint, Lecko was reckless in issuing certificates of occupancy for the condominium units, and his recklessness created a nuisance. Furthermore, the plaintiff alleged that Lecko and Norton7 fraudulently concealed the construction defects. The plaintiff claims that the town, pursuant to General Statutes § 52-557n (b) (7), acted in reckless disregard of the health and safety of the plaintiffs unit owners and their families, was reckless in its employment and supervision of Lecko and Norton, and created a nuisance by recklessly permitting the certificates of occupancy to be issued.

The defendants filed motions for summary judgment on January 15,1998, claiming that the plaintiffs causes of action were time barred and that the plaintiff had failed to state a cause of action in nuisance.8 The plaintiff objected to each motion. All parties submitted affidavits and evidence in support of their various positions. The court granted in part the defendants’ motions for summary judgment because the plaintiffs causes of action were barred by § 52-584 or General Statutes § 52-577. The plaintiff appealed. Additional facts will be discussed as needed.

Our review of the court’s granting of motions for summary judgment involves questions of law and is de [315]*315novo. See Serrano v. Burns, 248 Conn. 419, 425, 727 A.2d 1276 (1999). Practice Book § 17-49, formerly § 384, “requires that judgment ‘shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, affidavits and any other proof submitted show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’ A ‘material fact’ is a fact that will make a difference in the result of the case. See Hammer v. Lumberman’s Mutual Casualty Co., 214 Conn. 573, 578, 573 A.2d 699 (1990). The facts at issue are those alleged in the pleadings. See Plouffe v.New York, N.H. & H.R. Co., 160 Conn. 482, 489, 280 A.2d 359 (1971). The party seeking summary judgment ‘has the burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue as to all the material facts, which, under applicable principles of substantive law, entitle him to a judgment as a matter of law.’ . . . D.H.R. Construction Co. v. Donnelly, 180 Conn. 430, 434, 429 A.2d 908 (1980). The party opposing such a motion must provide an evidentiary foundation to demonstrate the existence of a genuine issue of material fact. See Practice Book §§ [17-45 and 17-46]. ‘In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. . . . The test is whether a party would be entitled to a directed verdict on the same facts.’ . . . Connell v. Colwell, 214 Conn. 242, 246-47, 571 A.2d 116 (1990). A motion for summary judgment ‘is properly granted if it raises at least one legally sufficient defense that would bar the plaintiffs claim and involves no triable issue of fact.’ Perille v. Raybestos-Manhattan-Europe, Inc., 196 Conn. 529, 543, 494 A.2d 555 (1985).” Beebe v. East Haddam, 48 Conn. App. 60, 64, 708 A.2d 231 (1998).

“While the court must view the inferences to be drawn from the facts in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion, Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S. Ct. 1348, [316]*3161356, 89 L. Ed. 2d 538 (1986), a party may not rely on mere speculation or conjecture as to the true nature of the facts to overcome a motion for summary judgment. Knight v. U.S. Fire Ins. Co., 804 F.2d 9, 12 (2d Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 932, 107 S. Ct. 1570, 94 L. Ed. 2d 762 (1987). Gallien v. Connecticut General Life Ins. Co., 49 F.3d 878, 882 (2d Cir. 1995). On appeal, however, the burden is on the opposing party to demonstrate that the trial court’s decision to grant the movant’s summary judgment motion was clearly erroneous. Pandolphe’s Auto Parts, Inc. v. Manchester, 181 Conn. 217, 222, 435 A.2d 24 (1980). 2830 Whitney Avenue Corp. v. Heritage Canal Development Associates, Inc., 33 Conn. App. 563, 567, 636 A.2d 1377 (1994).” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Norse Systems, Inc. v. Tingley Systems, Inc., 49 Conn. App. 582, 591, 715 A.2d 807 (1998).

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Bluebook (online)
757 A.2d 608, 59 Conn. App. 311, 2000 Conn. App. LEXIS 388, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mountaindale-condominium-assn-v-zappone-connappct-2000.