Contiguous --Meaning?

The private residence addition across the street---a "normal" city street...nothing special...is massive. The plans which i acquired, and the actually building, are massively different. There are many Covenant Violations, but one of the very first is this:

Our Covenants state that "Contiguous" homeowners must approve and Sign Off on any proposed "changes" to an existing house. While i surreptitiously acquired a copy of the original plans, i was never consulted by the HOA and never shown the apparently final plans.

As a neighbor directly across the street from the addition, am i considered "Contiguous"? Logic would dictate to me that i am, but there is a street between us so "technically" our properties do not touch.

Does anyone have any experience on how this issue is interpreted?

TIA

Val

If the house is violating architectural restrictions you have the right to file a complaint with the BOD be your lot contiguous or not.

Val, around 2020 a Tennesse Court of appeals court quoted Black's Law dictionary as defining "contiguous" as follows: Black’s Law Dictionary defines “contiguous” as “touching at a point or along a boundary; adjoining.” See https://law.justia.com/cases/tennessee/court-of-appeals/2020/m2018-01529-coa-r3-cv.html

A 1984 Tennessee appeals court similarly relied on Black's law dictionary for a definition of adjacent: "On the issue of standing, defendants argue, relying on Black's Law Dictionary, that "adjacent" does not necessarily mean the properties abut;" See https://law.justia.com/cases/tennessee/court-of-appeals/1984/679-s-w-2d-450-1.html

I echo JohnC46's point that normally, covenants allow any individual owner to make a demand on a neighbor who is violating the covenants and subsequently as needed, take the neighbor to court. Such a demand would take the form of a letter sent certified mail, return receipt requested as follows:

Dear Neighbor Jones,

I believe your lot is in violation of covenants ___, ____, and ____. These violations are due to your __________. I understand covenants are contractual terms. All owners who bought into this HOA have a legal obligation to comply with these contractual terms. The courts do enforce contractual terms. Please contact me to discuss how to remedy this situation.

Sincerely,

The most important purpose of hiring an attorney is to eliminate self-bias.

I agree the "intent" mentioned above counts for nothing, and black letter law counts for everything.

If a "plain reading" of a covenant does not bring clarity, then the courts next examine all of the Declaration of CC&Rs to see if the totality of the words reveals more about what the covenant is supposed to mean. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it does not. Here the meaning of "contiguous" is clear. If the author meant to require an owner to obtain approval of houses across the street for such-and-such architectural change, the author should have expressly said as much.

Best practices is for contracts to be in writing. This is because written contracts force all to be literally on the same page. This goes the same for "intentions." If the intentions are not discernible from the written text itself, then the intentions have no value.

If the project has been stopped, it sounds like you had some success!

Not to be contrary, but “contiguous” is one of those words that many people “just know what it means” - but then they are surprised to discover they were wrong. Offhand, I’d probably say it means “A is contiguous with B if there’s nothing separating A and B”. Which is (more or less) how Photoshop defines it. And I think that in most math and computer stuff, it’s explicitly defined somewhere. I’d never assume ‘contiguous’ means ‘continuous’ in calculus, for example. I’m inclined to think your Bylaws should have defined the term. Whether this was a simple mistake or a deliberate attempt to Weasel Word it - I have no idea. But it’s not completely outrageous that someone interpreted the street as a separation between two properties located across the street from one another. What kind of street is it? How wide? There are streets in Austin that are 100+ feet wide. Oh - does the text actually use the word “house”?

Bill

Love thy neighbor. by reporting them to HOA and making them pay thousands to replace custom made trusses with shorter ones. And then still not being satisfied and complaining that it's 3 feet too tall? I would be sooo embarrassed to even admit to this type of behavior, but others proudly type it all out for every one to read.

I suggest you volunteer for the ARC. with your architectural skills you can spot any issues ahead of time.

I get it: You think the covenants are not a contract.

But they are.