Niedfeldt v. Grand Oaks Communities, LLC

987 So. 2d 1043, 2008 WL 1947098
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 6, 2008
Docket2006-CA-02040-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 987 So. 2d 1043 (Niedfeldt v. Grand Oaks Communities, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Niedfeldt v. Grand Oaks Communities, LLC, 987 So. 2d 1043, 2008 WL 1947098 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

987 So.2d 1043 (2008)

Phyllis W. NIEDFELDT, Trustee for the Phyllis W. Niedfeldt Living Trust, Appellant,
v.
GRAND OAKS COMMUNITIES, LLC, Appellee.

No. 2006-CA-02040-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

May 6, 2008.
Rehearing Denied July 29, 2008.

*1044 Thomas Henry Freeland, Joyce Marie Freeland, Oxford, attorneys for appellant.

S. Duke Goza, Oxford, Joshua J. Wiener, Jackson, Dion Jeffery Shanley, Oxford, attorneys for appellee.

Before MYERS, P.J., GRIFFIS and ROBERTS, JJ.

GRIFFIS, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. This is an appeal of the denial of a petition for a preliminary injunction by the Chancery Court of Lafayette County. Phyllis W. Niedfeldt sought to prohibit Grand Oaks Communities, LLC (GOC) from constructing a connector road in-between two lots situated within the cul-de-sac in which she lived. In its defense, GOC claimed that the Grand Oaks plat was properly amended in 1996 to include the new road. Following a hearing, the chancery court denied Niedfeldt's petition. Niedfeldt's motion for a new trial was also denied, and this appeal followed. In her *1045 appeal, Niedfeldt raises the following issues:

I. WHETHER THE SUBDIVISION PLAT RECORDED IN 1994 FOR PHASE V OF GRAND OAKS HAS EVER BEEN AMENDED UNDER MISSISSIPPI CODE ANNOTATED SECTION 19-27-31 TO ADD A ROAD ON OR BETWEEN LOTS 142 AND 143 OF THE SUBDIVISION;
II. WHETHER A PETITIONER FOR A PLAT AMENDMENT IS BOUND BY THE TERMS AND FINDINGS OF THE DECREE ON HIS PETITION AND IS BOUND BY THE STATED PURPOSES AND REPRESENTATIONS IN THE PETITION AND IN THE REQUIRED PUBLIC ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE PLAT AMENDMENT;
III. WHETHER THE SCOPE OF THE PLAT AMENDMENT DECREE IS JURISDICTIONALLY LIMITED TO THE PLAT AMENDMENTS PRAYED FOR IN THE PETITION AND THE PURPOSES DESCRIBED IN THE REQUIRED PUBLIC ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE AMENDMENT;
IV. WHETHER A PARTY WHO SIGNS A WAIVER OF PROCESS AND CONSENT TO A PLAT AMENDMENT PETITION: (A) IS ENTITLED TO RELY ON THE STATED PURPOSES AND REPRESENTATION IN THE PETITION AS LIMITING WHAT IS TO BE SOUGHT IN THE PROCEEDING AND (B) HAS WAIVED THE JURISDICTIONAL LIMITS ON THE COURT'S POWER;
V. WHETHER USE OF A 45-FOOT STRIP OF AN ORIGINAL PLATTED LOT OF PHASE V OF THE GRAND OAKS SUBDIVISION AS A ROAD WOULD VIOLATE THE GRAND OAKS PROTECTIVE COVENANTS; AND
VI. WHETHER USE OF A 45-FOOT STRIP AS A ROAD WOULD VIOLATE THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE CITY OF OXFORD LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE.

¶ 2. Finding that the chancery court erred in holding the amended plat included the new road, we reverse and render.

FACTS

¶ 3. In April 1995, Niedfeldt purchased lot 94 and built a home on Majestic Oaks Drive in the Grand Oaks subdivision located in Oxford, Mississippi.[1] The original developer of Grand Oaks was Grand Oaks, Inc. Originally, Grand Oaks was situated on approximately 400 acres and divided into 147 lots. However, in July 1995, Grand Oaks, Inc., purchased an additional 5.6 acres to the south of the subdivision from Dr. George Furr. Dr. James Rayner, an original shareholder in Grand Oaks, Inc., testified that the reason they purchased the additional acreage was to expand a few existing lots and add additional lots.

¶ 4. Following the purchase, Grand Oaks, Inc., employed a surveyor to re-plat the entire area to account for three new lots, as well as the expansion of four lots. Additionally, Dr. Rayner testified that the new plat contained a right-of-way or connector road between lots 142 and 143. The reason for the connector road, according to Dr. Rayner, stemmed from the possible future purchase of an additional 400 *1046 acres of Dr. Furr's land similarly situated south of the Grand Oaks subdivision. In November 1995, Grand Oaks, Inc., filed a "petition to alter and amend [the] original map and plat of Grand Oaks subdivision by enlarging and renumbering certain lots" in the Chancery Court of Lafayette County in accordance with Mississippi Code Annotated section 19-27-31 (1972) in an effort to have the subdivision legally re-platted.

¶ 5. Pursuant to section 19-27-31, Grand Oaks, Inc., named all persons directly interested and published a summons in the Oxford Eagle. Additionally, Grand Oaks, Inc., obtained "waivers of process and entries of appearance" from all affected parties, including Niedfeldt. Subsequently, the chancery court granted the petition in February 1996. Attached to the court's order was a copy of a portion of the lots affected; however, the copy cut off the portion of the plat containing the right-of-way or connector road at issue. Additionally, no amended plat was filed with the Lafayette County land records until a January 17, 2000, plat was filed in 2000, which depicted the right-of-way or connector road.

¶ 6. In May 2004, the shareholders of Grand Oaks, Inc., sold their interest to a new group of investors, namely GOC. Soon after, GOC purchased the additional acreage to the south of Grand Oaks. Subsequent to their purchase, GOC developed additional phases of Grand Oaks and appeared before the City of Oxford Planning Commission several times seeking approval for the amendments and additions to the subdivision. Niedfeldt spoke at many of the hearings, expressing her concern over the "proposed access road becom[ing] a thoroughfare." In early fall of 2005, Niedfeldt saw that some excavation work had begun on the piece of land between lots 142 and 143, and she photographed the road bed.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 7. On January 26, 2006, Niedfeldt filed her complaint and a motion for preliminary injunction with the Chancery Court of Lafayette County.[2] In her complaint Niedfeldt requested the court enjoin any construction of a road in-between lots 142 and 143 because such a road violated the protective covenants of Grand Oaks, the statutory procedures for amendment of recorded plats, and the zoning laws and regulations of the City of Oxford. Following the separate answers of both GOC and Grand Oaks, Inc., GOC filed a motion to dismiss. The basis for GOC's motion was that the City of Oxford had "approved amended subdivision plats which depict [the right-of-way or connector road]," and the only way to seek review of the City's zoning decision was through a Bill of Exceptions before the circuit court.

¶ 8. A hearing was conducted in the Chancery Court of Lafayette County in August 2006. Following the testimony of Niedfeldt; Dr. Rayner; and Bernard Johnson, GOC's chief manager who had been involved in the subdivision since 2001, the chancery court issued a ruling in favor of GOC and Grand Oaks, Inc. In its ruling, the chancery court held that the plat amended by the 1996 order included the tract of land between lots 142 and 143. An order soon followed reflecting the chancery court's judgment. Niedfeldt filed a motion for a new trial, which was subsequently denied. This appeal followed.

ANALYSIS

¶ 9. As previously listed, Niedfeldt raises six issues on appeal. The first three issues are consolidated as Issue I.

*1047 I. WHETHER A DEVELOPER'S STATEMENT OF PURPOSE, AS REQUIRED BY MISSISSIPPI CODE ANNOTATED SECTION 19-27-31, JURISDICTIONALLY LIMITS THAT WHICH THE CHANCERY COURT MAY APPROVE FROM A PLAT AMENDMENT REQUEST.

¶ 10. Although the plat filed with the 1996 order was cut off and did not show the portion of the plat now at issue, the chancery court held that the plat approved by the chancery court in 1996 included the 45-foot wide strip between lots 142 and 143.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
987 So. 2d 1043, 2008 WL 1947098, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/niedfeldt-v-grand-oaks-communities-llc-missctapp-2008.