Coppotelli v. Dawson

BROWN (Gerald), P. J. The Coppotellis, husband and wife, sued their downhill neighbor, the Dawsons, for breach of a deed restriction in building their home on the side of a steep [732]hill in Laguna Beach. The court found in plaintiffs’ favor on liability issues and the jury assessed $3,000 damages. Defendants appeal, contending the trial court erred: 1) in interpreting the deed restriction; 2) in finding defendants had breached the deed restriction, plaintiffs were damaged and in submitting the damage issue to the jury; 3) and in finding laches, estoppel and unclean hands did not bar plaintiffs’ suit.

Plaintiffs built their home on Lot No. 26 in 1959 and 1960. A steep street separated them from Lot No. 4 below. The lowest part of plaintiffs’ lot was higher than the highest part of defendants’ lot. A deed restriction limited any building to a “single family dwelling not to exceed one story in height.’’

Because of the steep hill and the feeling by the developers that two story homes, subject to limitation, would enhance values, the deed restriction was amended in 1960 and approved by all owners including plaintiffs to provide: “ (1) All said land shall be used for residence purposes only and that no structures shall be erected, altered, placed or permitted on any building site except as follows: (a) As to Lots 1 through 15 inclusive, other than one detached, single family dwelling which may exceed one story in height, provided, however, that the top or higher story shall be on street level or lower and a private garage for no more than two cars. ’ ’

The lawsuit hinges upon the interpretation of this amended restriction.

In soliciting Mr. Coppotelli’s approval of the amendment the developers wrote him calling his attention, by way of introduction, to the original one story height limitation, and said:

“As the property developed, it became apparent that it was unfair to limit the owners of Lots 1-15 to one story in height because they would be building on the ‘down’ side of a hillside.

“In order to permit the owners of Lots 1-15 to make the maximum utilization of their land and at the same time preserve the character of the neighborhood . . . [t]his Amendment will permit the owners of Lots 1-15 to build downhill for more than one story, provided, however, the top story of any such building shall be at street level or lower. ’ ’