Korowotny v. Outback Property Owners Ass'n
Korowotny v. Outback Property Owners Ass'n
Opinion of the Court
Scott and Jamie Korowotny appeal the trial court’s entry of a contempt order against them for violating their residential subdivision’s restrictive covenants in contravention of the final judgment of the trial court. For reasons that follow, we affirm.
The standard of proof in civil contempt is a preponderance of the evidence.
During the pendency of the case, the trial court entered several interim orders relating to the Korowotnys’ activities on their lots. In its order entered on March 4, 2004, the trial court ordered that
[the Korowotnys] shall not erect, placet,] or construct any structure or building upon their Outback Property. [The Korowotnys] shall not place any mobile or modular structure, add any structure, foundation, addition[,] or modification to the property nor shall they undertake any grading, except for the sole purpose of landscaping the property. No concrete shall be poured, footings or other substructure installed, nor shall any building or improvement to the property be modified or altered. This order does not prohibit routine maintenance of any building, improvement^] or driveway.
The Korowotnys reconfigured their two lots during the pen-dency of the action.
On April 18, 2007, the trial court entered an order enjoining the Korowotnys from any construction on their property pending a hearing on a motion for contempt by the Association. The hearing was held on April 26, 2007, and the trial court entered its findings on the record. In July 2007, the trial court entered a written order setting forth its findings from the April hearing. The Korowotnys appeal from this order, contending that the trial court erred in ruling on issues that were not addressed in the final judgment and thus were outside its purview.
In three related enumerations of error, the Korowotnys argue that three provisions of the July 2007 contempt order are unenforceable because they exceed the scope of the final judgment and therefore give the Association additional relief that it was not awarded in the judgment. The Korowotnys contend that,
[although nothing in the jury verdict or judgment prohibited construction on Lot 94 or 95 [the lots owned by the Korowotnys], the trial court entered an order finding Mr. Korowotny in willful contempt for constructing the alleged roadway, restricting and prohibiting construction on both Lots 94 and 95, and prohibiting access to Lot 94 from Lot 95 for any purpose.
The Korowotnys are correct that the final judgment did not specifically address these certain actions for which they have now been held in contempt. The final judgment does provide, however, that the Korowotnys are to “refrain from further violations of the ‘Covenants’.” And using Lot 95 for ingress and egress to Lot 94, which the Korowotnys admit to doing, is a clear violation of the restrictive covenants. A review of the record shows that access across the two lots was an issue before the trial court during the litigation. There was also evidence presented that the Korowotnys were maintaining a driveway or road between the two lots, which is a violation of the restrictive covenants.
“A triad court has wide discretion in determining whether its orders have been violated.”
Judgment affirmed.
The appellee contends that we lack jurisdiction over this appeal because issues remain pending below. Pretermitting whether such issues remain, a finding of contempt is directly appealable pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (2).
See Huffman v. Armenia, 284 Ga. App. 822, 825 (1) (645 SE2d 23) (2007).
In re Waitz, 255 Ga. App. 841, 842 (567 SE2d 87) (2002).
The Association contends that this was done to move the existing driveway to Lot 95, thus mooting the allegation in the complaint that the Korowotnys were in violation of the restrictive covenants by having a driveway that connected the two lots.
The Korowotnys do not appeal other portions of the contempt order that address violations of specific requirements of the final judgment.
City of Roswell v. Eller Media Co., 275 Ga. 379 (1) (566 SE2d 659) (2002).
See id. at 379-380; Hall v. Monroe County, 271 Ga. App. 895, 897 (1) (611 SE2d 120) (2005).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.