From Attorney Gary Kessler's Condo Court Blog...The Case of the Ocean View Deck Denial

Here's a very recent decision on a deck expansion that would impact a neighbor's view, so the ARC turned down the owners plans for expansion...we just added Attorney Kessler's Blog in today and I went to read some and this was the first article I saw...

FACTS. An Association’s architectural review committee (ARC) denied Mr. and Ms. Fox’s application to expand their deck because it would impair their neighbor’s ocean view. The Foxes sued the associaocean view decktion, arguing that their application should have been approved since the neighbor did not have any right to keep her existing view.

DECISION OF THE COURT. In the July 16, 2008 unpublished opinion of Fox v. Corniche Sur Mer Homeowners Assn., the California Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Association.

REASONING OF THE COURT. The court reasoned that:

“[I]t was well within the discretion of the ARC to consider the impact of the improvement on existing ocean views. California law specifically authorizes common interest developments to grant an architectural review committee broad, subjective discretion to reject proposed improvements on aesthetic, artistic, or similar grounds.”

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