Ridgely Condominium Ass'n v. Smyrnioudis

660 A.2d 942, 105 Md. App. 404, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 121
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedJune 28, 1995
DocketNo. 1338
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 660 A.2d 942 (Ridgely Condominium Ass'n v. Smyrnioudis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ridgely Condominium Ass'n v. Smyrnioudis, 660 A.2d 942, 105 Md. App. 404, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 121 (Md. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

SALMON, Judge.

At issue in this case is a bylaw amendment passed by appellant, the Ridgely Condominium Association, Inc. (the Association), prohibiting clients of the seven first-floor commercial condominiums in the Ridgely Condominium regime (the Condominium) from using the lobby to gain access to' the commercial units. In their amended complaint1 filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, appellees, Nicholas Smyrnioudis, Jr. and Nicholas Smyrnioudis, Sr. (owners of Unit 102); George Wilhelm, Merrill I. Berman, and Joseph B. Francus (owners of Unit 103), and Mary E. Granger (owner of Unit 104), requested an “order granting [appellees] an ex parte injunction restraining and enjoining [appellant] from [406]*406enacting, enforcing, and otherwise putting into effect any rule, by-law or other provision prohibiting or otherwise restricting the clients of [appellees] from entering [appellees’] units and offices through the main central lobby....”

After a two-day hearing, the Circuit Court for Baltimore County (Fader, J.) ordered that the “regulation” and “By-law amendment at issue” were “unreasonable” and “enjoined [appellant] from prohibiting all ingress and egress to commercial units via the main lobby.” This appeal followed, and appellant has presented two questions, which we have rephrased and condensed into one:

Did the trial court apply the appropriate standard of review for evaluating the propriety of a condominium by-law amendment?

For the reasons hereinafter explained, we shall answer ‘Yes” and thus affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

BACKGROUND

When the Condominium was completed in 1975, Article XV of the Association’s bylaws provided that “[a]ll units shall be used solely as a single-family residence, except that up to a maximum of seven (7) units on the first floor may be used as professional offices.” Thus, floors two through twenty-eight house residential condominium units, at approximately 9 units per floor, and the first floor contains the seven commercial units.

There are two ways to gain access to reach each of the seven first-floor units: one through the lobby of the complex and one through an exterior door at the rear of the unit. At the hearing, the exterior door was described as “a steel door with a large glass pane in it.” Although there is a sidewalk leading to the exterior doors, there is no porch or canopy outside of the entrances. The lobby, on the other hand, which was redecorated in 1990, boasts marble floors and dark woodpanelled walls. It was described by one of the commercial owners as “attractive” and “inviting.”

[407]*407In the spring of 1991, some of the residential owners expressed concern regarding the fact that the clients of the first-floor businesses had access to the lobby and therefore could easily reach the residential floors via the elevator. The specific concerns were summarized by the circuit court in its Memorandum Opinion:

Testimony by residents evidenced the basis of concern for their safety and privacy as follows:
1. rise in crime in the Towson area, especially with the coming of a large nearby shopping mall;
2. lack of security in the garage and exterior parking areas;
3. non-residents entering the building such as advertisers, flower deliverers, people with psychiatric problems and drug addictions visiting the office of the psychiatrists, and other commercial unit invitees as well as the fear of con-artists and other predators of the elderly,
4. traffic in front of the building as a result of the increasing number of commercial unit clients
Three letters were introduced into evidence by the Association showing the concern for safety and privacy which existed in the summer of 1991. The correspondence from residents specifically requested the governing body to improve security and to restrict access. These letters were inspired after, and in spite of the Board’s installation of a new card key system to make the garage area safer. In addition to letters, the Board received phone calls regarding security.

In response to these concerns, the Association’s Board of Directors (Board), in the summer of 1991, adopted a “resolution” providing, in pertinent part, that “[effective September 1, 1991, clients of commercial units [sic] owners and tenants shall not utilize the Condominium’s lobbies.” Subsequently, on October 1, 1991, the Association enacted the following bylaw amendment:

[408]*408Article XV, Section 1
All units shall be used as a single family residence, except that up to a maximum of seven (7) units on the first floor may be used as professional offices, provided however, that all clients of, or visitors to, professional office owners or their tenants shall be required to use the exterior entrances of each such professional office for ingress and egress.
No visitor or clients of any owner of a professional office or tenant thereof, shall be permitted in any other area of the building, unless accompanied by the owner of the office unit or the tenant of such office unit. For the purpose of this section, the terms “client” or “visitor” of professional office owner or tenant, shall include the client or visitor and all person(s) who may accompany such client or visitor to such professional office.

Appellees testified regarding the effect of the access restriction on their businesses. Mr. Nicholas Smyrnioudis, Jr. testified that he and his father own Unit 102 and run an accounting business. In describing the basic lay-out of his office, Mr. Smyrnioudis said that the lobby entrance to his office opens into a reception area and that the exterior entrance opens into a conference room. He further explained that all of his clients currently enter his office from the lobby.

Dr. Joseph Francus, a psychiatrist, testified that he and Dr. Berman, also a psychiatrist, own Unit 103. Explaining that his reception area is located nearest the lobby entrance and that the exterior door opens into his office, Dr. Francus said that no patients or clients had ever used the exterior door as an entrance. Dr. Francus further testified that the lobby is very important to him because his clients are often anxious and uncomfortable about coming to the office and the “nice lobby” makes them feel more comfortable.

Ms. Mary Granger is the owner of commercial Unit 104 and runs a mailing list brokerage and management company. She stated that, although her clients have used both the lobby and exterior entrances, the lobby is very important to her business because it “lends to our credibility as a professional business.”

[409]*409In its Memorandum Opinion, the circuit court first considered the appropriate standard of review. After reviewing the relevant Maryland case law and conducting a thorough and detailed examination of the various theories utilized by out-of-state courts in evaluating condominium use restrictions, the court concluded that “reasonableness” was the appropriate standard of review in Maryland.

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Bluebook (online)
660 A.2d 942, 105 Md. App. 404, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 121, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ridgely-condominium-assn-v-smyrnioudis-mdctspecapp-1995.