UNPUBLISHED California Appellate Court decision (August 14, 2017).

This case involved a dispute between neighboring homeowners over the maintenance of landscaping that obstructed the view from one of the owner’s property. The disputing parties both lived in a common interest community that was governed by CC&Rs that contained view restrictions. The restrictions in question provided that no landscape materials shall be “allowed to grow upon any of the lots in such a manner as to substantially impair the view from adjacent lots.” The restrictions also required that all landscaping be “maintained in a neat and orderly condition at all times after installation.”

The plaintiff’s in this action purchased their home in the community in 1973, and have resided there ever since. When they first purchased their property, they enjoyed a largely uninterrupted southerly view of Mission Bay and the Point Loma shorelines, but as the landscaping on neighboring properties matured over the years, portions of their southerly view became obscured. By 1990, the plaintiffs started complaining to neighboring owners, including the previous owners of the property that was subsequently purchased by the defendant that their landscaping was in violation of the CC&Rs. The defendant purchased his property in 2003, and shortly thereafter he received requests from the plaintiffs that the trees on his property which obscured the view from the plaintiffs’ property be trimmed. After repeated unsuccessful requests for the tree trimming, the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the defendant alleging violations of the CC&Rs’ landscaping restrictions.