The Cove at Little Valley Homeowners Association v. Traverse Ridge Special Services District of Draper

Salt Lake City, Utah civil litigation lawyer represented Plaintiff, who sued Defendant claiming that it failed to maintain public road.





¶1 Members of The Cove at Little Valley Homeowners Association (at times "the Cove" or "the Homeowners Association") pay an assessment to the Traverse Ridge Special Service District (the Service District). The Service District exists to provide certain services to the residents of the district. The Service District, for example, removes snow from some streets in the district. But the Service District does not plow the roads in front of the homes in the Cove because they are private roads. And the Service District takes the position that it is not required to clear snow from private roads. The Cove filed suit claiming that the Service District needed to either stop charging members of the Cove for services it has never provided or start plowing roads (among other things). The Cove also sought a refund of amounts that its members had paid to fund the Service District.

¶57 The Cove at Little Valley failed to preserve the issues it wanted to raise to argue that the district court erred in dismissing its first cause of action. We therefore have no basis to overturn the district court's conclusion. We agree, however, with the Cove that the district court erred when it relied on Mawhinney to find that the Service District was funded by a tax. Mawhinney does not answer that question and the court's grant of the motion to dismiss was in error. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's dismissal of the Cove's first cause of action but reverse its dismissal of the second. We remand the case for further proceedings.