Starling v. Lake Meade Property Owners Ass'n

162 A.3d 327, 2017 WL 2291756, 2017 Pa. LEXIS 1209
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 25, 2017
DocketStarling, W. v. Lake Meade Prop., Aplt. - No. 30 MAP 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 162 A.3d 327 (Starling v. Lake Meade Property Owners Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Starling v. Lake Meade Property Owners Ass'n, 162 A.3d 327, 2017 WL 2291756, 2017 Pa. LEXIS 1209 (Pa. 2017).

Opinions

[330]*330OPINION

JUSTICE WECHT

In Pennsylvania, planned communities are sufficiently common that twenty years ago our General Assembly adopted a uniform act regulating aspects of their inception, organization, and management.1 This case involves a dispute in one such community between property owners and their governing homeowners association. At issue is the ownership and use of certain undesignated property and the road that runs the length of a peninsula jutting into Lake Meade, the man-made lake at the heart of the community. We granted review in order to consider ownership and permissible uses of the road and the adjacent strip of undesignated, undeveloped property.

I. Background

Because this case reaches us following the Superior Court’s reversal of the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of the Lake Meade Property Owners Association, Inc. (“the Association”), the following account of the facts is as alleged by homeowners W. Lowell and Nancy Starling (“the Starlings”), the non-moving parties relative to that determination, with all inferences drawn in their favor.2 Thus, we begin with the facts as alleged in the Starlings’ operative Second Amended Complaint (“the Complaint”) and their answer and brief in opposition to the Association’s motion for partial summary judgment.

The Lake Meade Subdivision (“the Subdivision”), originally purchased, subdivided, and developed by Lake Meade Incorporated (“LMI”), is a gated community comprised of more than 1,000 residential units surrounding Lake Meade in Adams County. The Association was incorporated on June 25,1966. LMI recorded the Subdivision Plan (“the Plan”) in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds of Adams County on January 20,1967.3 The Dedication describing the Plan provided that the “[pjrimary purpose of this plan is for the enjoyment of out of door recreation and will so provide for the owners of lots purchased a healthful atmosphere for themselves, their children and friends.” See Association’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, Exh. E (“Dedication”).

By deed dated May 16,1967, LMI transferred title in separate deeds to Lots 725 and 726 (collectively, “the Starling Tract”) to W.F.O, Rosenmiller, III, and Elinor T. Rosenmiller.4 The Starling Tract lies at the end of the aforesaid peninsula, which is accessed via Custer Drive, a dead-end road that terminates in a cul-de-sac at the northern end of the peninsula, which is bordered to the east by the Starling Tract, to the north by a narrow strip of contested land that descends to rip-rap5 along the [331]*331lakeshore, and to the west by a narrow strip of contested land along the western shore of the peninsula (we refer to the contested property along both the northern and western shores of the peninsula, collectively, as “the Disputed Property”). On the Plan, the Disputed Property is neither identified nor enumerated as one or more discrete lots, is not clearly bounded by any lines resembling the boundary lines used to denote individual properties in the Plan, and is not designated as a “recreational area” or for “lake access.” However, since at least 2002, the Association has maintained a community bulletin board and garbage cans on the Disputed Property, encouraging the impression that the Disputed Property is intended for communal use, and during that span it has been used as such.

On September 25,1968, after it had sold most of the lots in the Plan, LMI deeded to the Association “ALL those roads, the dam, lake and basin, and [thirty-six specifically enumerated lots,] all more particularly shown on the plans of lots titled Lake Meade Subdivision, duly recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of Adams County.” Complaint, Exh. D (Indenture, 9/25/1968, at 1) (“the 1968 Deed”). Notably, this conveyance made no direct reference to the Disputed Property.

The Rosenmillers sold the Starling Tract to Louise I. Cookson in 1974; Cook-son conveyed the Starling Tract to A. Bailey and Doris A. Wood in 1977. The Starlings purchased the Starling Tract from the Woods on August 12, 2002.6 A few years later, the. Starlings built a house and, in 2006, they moved into their new home. Beginning more or less immediately, the Starlings “regularly encountered problems with unidentified individuals and groups fishing, picnicking, sunbathing, lounging, socializing, parking and loitering on and around ... Custer Drive and the [Disputed Property].” Complaint at 9 ¶ 51. These same individuals parked their cars on Custer Drive and the Disputed Property, littered the cul-de-sac, and damaged the Starlings’ lawn.

The Starlings began to complain to the Association in 2006. At first, the Association took steps to address the Starlings’ concerns—for example, placing boulders and no trespassing signs around the cul-de-sac. However, the Association did not enforce the prohibition against trespassing and eventually removed the signs. Furthermore, it did not place such boulders along the western edge of Custer Drive.

In 2007, following a meeting between the Starlings and officers of the Association, the Association’s attorney sent the Starlings a letter in which he contended that the Association held a fee simple interest in the Disputed Property that was conveyed by LMI in the 1968 Deed. See id. Exh. M (Letter of John W. Phillips, Esq., to the Starlings, 2/15/2007, at 1). The Starlings’ attorney responded that the Starlings had “a genuine claim to extend the eastern[7] property line of [their] Lot 725 completely across the right[-]of[-]way of Custer Drive to the water line of Lake Meade and that [their] lot essentially surrounds and encompasses the full end of the cul-de-sac of Custer Drive.” Id., Exh. N [332]*332(Letter of Jeffrey Ernico, Esq., to John Phillips, Esq., 4/26/2007, at l).8

A few months later, the Association hosted an Independence Day celebration on the Disputed Property. Numerous vehicles, including fire trucks, parked along Custer Drive, and the party stretched late into the evening. On August 8, 2007, Attorney Phillips sent a letter to the Starlings on behalf of the Association reporting on the board’s “consensus ... that the measures taken to date, which have included placing boulders in the right[-]of[-]way to discourage parking on the Starling[s’] property, moving the bulletin board further down the cul-de-sac, increasing monitoring of the area, and increasing safety patrols have had the desired effect” of ensuring that all activities on Custer Drive and the Disputed Property were “consistent with the uses allowed on other common areas.” Id., Exh. Q (Letter of John Phillips, Esq., to Jeffrey Enrico, Esq., 8/8/2007, at 1). Acknowledging the ongoing disagreement, Attorney Phillips suggested that the Starlings initiate a quiet title action to settle the ownership question.

The Starlings declined to file suit at that time, and discussions continued. The Association went on to host Independence Day parties on the Disputed Property in 2008 and 2009. In a 2009 Association newsletter, the Association promoted “[f]ishing [a]long Custer Drive,” explaining that “the narrow strip of land facing toward the Marina is owned by [the Association]. Everything on the other side of the street is private property. Please respect the owners.” Id., Exh. U (Lake Meader, vol. 34 no. 4 (July 2009), at 2).

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

Related

Campanella, D. v. Mertz, P.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2026
Waldman, H. v. Luketich, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2026
West, S. v. Abington Memorial Hospital
2025 Pa. Super. 188 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025)
Miller, R. v. Bunting, R.
2025 Pa. Super. 80 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025)
Roman, J. v. 4020 Mechanicsville Road, LLC
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Sensenig, J. v. Greenleaf, K.
2024 Pa. Super. 196 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024)
Moyer, K. v. Walters, W.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Wolnikowski v. Perko & Balsavage
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Estate of: Renninger, M. Appeal of: Holup, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Rachel Carson Trails v. Eichner, R.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
A. Gardiner v. City of Philadelphia
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
The PA State University v. Alpha Upsilon
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Ioanilli, D. v. Carnovale, N.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
School Express, Inc. v. Upper Adams S.D.
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Schade, B.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022
Gourmet's Delight Mushrooms, LP v. Keating, P.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022
Gasbarre Products v. Smith, S.
2022 Pa. Super. 21 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022)
M6 Realty LLC, a New Jersey Ltd. Liability Co. v. Com. of PA
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2021

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
162 A.3d 327, 2017 WL 2291756, 2017 Pa. LEXIS 1209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/starling-v-lake-meade-property-owners-assn-pa-2017.