Twin Creeks Golf Group, L.P. v. Sunset Ridge Owners Ass'n

537 S.W.3d 535
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 25, 2017
DocketNO. 03-16-00653-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 537 S.W.3d 535 (Twin Creeks Golf Group, L.P. v. Sunset Ridge Owners Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Twin Creeks Golf Group, L.P. v. Sunset Ridge Owners Ass'n, 537 S.W.3d 535 (Tex. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION

Melissa Goodwin, Justice

In this case of first impression, we must construe section 82.0675 of the Uniform Condominium Act. See Tex. Prop. Code § 82.0675. Section 82.0675 dictates that a provision of a declaration or recorded contract that requires condominium owners to maintain a membership in a private club is not valid after the tenth anniversary of the date the provision is recorded or renewed unless it is renewed after the ninth anniversary of that date in the manner provided by the. declaration or recorded contract. Id. § 82.0675(a). Sunset Ridge Owners Association, Inc. (Sunset Ridge), sued Twin Creeks Golf Group, L.P., (Twin Creeks) seeking a declaration that an amended restrictive covenant filed by Twin Creeks that required club membership was invalid as to Sunset Ridge condominium owners under section 82.0675(a) due to Twin Creeks’ failure to renew the covenant after the ninth anniversary. See id.; Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 37.004. Sunset Ridge filed a motion for summary judgment, and Twin Creeks appeals from the trial court’s order-granting summary judgment in fa[538]*538vor of Sunset Ridge. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the trial court’s summary judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Twin Creeks Country Club Community (the Community), which includes single family residences, condominiums, and a country club, was established pursuant to a master declaration filed on March 28, 2002, by Twin Creeks Holdings, Ltd. That same day, Twin Creeks Holdings filed a Restrictive Covenant, which included a provision requiring all residential owners to acquire and maintain a “Community Membership” in the country club, which was operated by Twin Creeks Country Club, Inc. Twin Creeks Holdings subsequently assigned all of its rights and obligations under the Restrictive Covenant to Twin Creeks Property, Ltd.

In 2004, a declaration of condominium was filed of record establishing Sunset Ridge Condominiums subject to the Restrictive Covenant. Also in 2004, Twin Creeks Property transferred operation of the country club from Twin Creeks Country Club to Twin Creeks Operating Co., L.P. As part of transferring operations, Twin Creeks Property filed an Amended and Restated Restrictive Covenant (the Amended Restrictive Covenant or the Amendment). The Amendment stated that Twin Creeks Property “desire[d] to confirm that [thej transition w[ould] have no effect on the obligation of any Owner of a Residential Unit to acquire and maintain a Community Membership in the Club.”1 The Amendment also stated that Twin Creeks Property “desire[d] to amend and restate the Original Covenant in its entirety, such that, after the Effective Date of this Restrictive Covenant, the Original Covenant will be superseded and of no further force or effect.” Other than changing the recitals setting out the background and replacing references to Twin Creeks Holdings with references to Twin Creek Property, the Amendment did not substantively change the terms of the original Restrictive Covenant. In 2008, appellant Twin Creeks was assigned all rights and obligations under the Amended Restrictive Covenant.

In 2015, Sunset Ridge filed suit against Twin Creeks Property and Twin Creeks Operating Co. seeking a declaration that the Amended Restrictive-Covenant is invalid as to the condominium owners^ due to the failure to renew the covenant after the ninth anniversary pursuant to section 82.0675(a). Appellant Twin Creeks intervened as the current holder of the rights under the Amended Restrictive Covenant. Sunset Ridge amended its petition, adding Twin Creeks as a defendant and adding a cause of action for “monopbly.” Sunset Ridge then moved for partial summary judgment, seeking summary judgment on its declaratory judgment cause of action but not on its monopoly claim. Following a hearing on Sunset Ridge’s motion for partial summary judgment, but before the trial court signed an order, Sunset Ridge nonsuited Twin Creeks Property and Twin Creeks Operating Co. The trial court then signed an order granting partial summary judgment as to Sunset Ridge’s declaratory judgment claim only and holding that section 82.0675 applies to the Amended Restrictive Covenant, that the Restrictive Covenant was not renewed after the ninth anniversary of the date it was filed, and that any provision of the Restrictive Covenant requiring condominium owners to [539]*539maintain- club membership was invalid. After the order was signed, • Sunset Ridge filed an amended petition omitting its monopoly claim. In response, Twin Creeks filed an amended answer and a plea in abatement asserting that not all necessary parties had been joined.

After the parties were unable to agree on whether the partial summary judgment order was final and appealable, Twin Creeks filed a notice of appeal. See Twin Creeks Golf Group, L.P. v. Sunset Ridge Owners Ass’n, Inc., No. 03-15-00763-CV, 2016 WL 368636, at *1, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 703, at *2 (Tex. App.—Austin Jan. 26, 2016, no pet.) (mem. op.). Twin Creeks then filed a motion to dismiss .the appeal for lack of jurisdiction based on the lack of a final and appealable order. See id. at *1, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 703, at *1. This Court agreed that the order was not final and appealable and dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. See id. at *1, *1-2, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 703, at *1, *4-6. On remand, the trial court. denied Twin Creeks’ plea in abatement and signed an order dismissing Sunset Ridge’s monopoly claim against Twin Creeks and all of its causes of action against Twin Creeks Property and Twin Creeks Operating Co., rendering the order granting partial summary judgment unquestionably final and appeal-able. Twin Creeks now appeals the trial' court’s summary judgment in favor of Sunset Ridge and its denial of Twin Creeks’ plea in abatement.

STANDARD OF REVIEW AND APPLICABLE LAW

Wé review declaratory judgments under the same standard as other judgments or decrees. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 37.010; Hawkins v. El Paso First Health Plans, Inc., 214 S.W.3d 709, 719 (Tex. App.—Austin 2007, pet. denied). Here, because the trial court rendered the declaratory judgment through summary judgment proceedings, “we review the propriety of the trial court’s declarations under the same standards we apply to summary judgment.” See Hawkins, 214 S.W.3d at 719. We review the court’s decision to grant summary judgment de novo. Valence Operating Co. v. Dorsett, 164 S.W.3d 656, 661 (Tex. 2006). We take as true all evidence favorable to the non-moving party, and we indulge every reasonable inference and resolve any doubts in the non-moving party’s favor. Id. To prevail on a traditional summary judgment motion, the movant must demonstrate that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(c); Provident Life & Accident Ins. Co. v. Knott, 128 S.W.3d 211, 215-16 (Tex. 2003). When the movant satisfies this ,initial summary judgment burden, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to produce evidence, raising an issue of fact. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(c); Amedisys, Inc. v.

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537 S.W.3d 535, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/twin-creeks-golf-group-lp-v-sunset-ridge-owners-assn-texapp-2017.