Lake Arrowhead Property Owners Ass'n. Inc. v. Dalton

Lake Arrowhead is a private, gated community located in Cherokee County, Georgia, which was developed by Purcell Co., Inc. Property within the development is subject to an extensive “Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions for Lake Arrowhead.” Included among these covenants is a provision stating that “no signs, billboards or advertising structures of any kind shall be allowed on any lot,” without the written permission of Purcell. Purcell, however, expressly reserved the right to use its own signs, billboards or advertising as “reasonably necessary” to provide for the sale of the property.

Clay H. Dalton is a real estate agent and property owner at Lake Arrowhead. Dalton conducts his real estate business primarily within the Lake Arrowhead development, and he admitted that as part of his business he placed real estate signs on lots within Lake Arrowhead that had been listed with him for sale. It is undisputed that Dalton did not place any signs upon his own Lake Arrowhead lot, but only upon lots belonging to other property owners.