Eith

*4 In Lamden v. La Jolla Shores Clubdominium Homeowners Assn. (1999) 21 Cal.4th 249 , 87 Cal.Rptr.2d 237 , 980 P.2d 940 ( Lamden ), our Supreme Court cautioned courts to give judicial deference to certain discretionary decisions of duly constituted homeowners association boards. The judicial deference rule does not encompass legal questions that may involve the interpretation of the covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) of a homeowners association. Courts decide legal questions.

Here, homeowners cultivated a vineyard for the purpose of making wine to be sold to the public. The CC&Rs did not prohibit *569 the cultivation of a vineyard for this purpose, but they did prohibit "any business or commercial activity." The operation of the vineyard may have constituted "business or commercial activity" in the literal sense of that term. But a literal interpretation in the present case would elevate form over substance and lead to absurd results. (See SDC/Pullman Partners v. Tolo Inc. (1997) 60 Cal.App.4th 37 , 46, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 62 ["literal language of a contract does not control if it leads to absurdity"].) Because the wine was made, bottled, and sold commercially offsite,…

I know unfairness when I see it. The judgment should be reversed because plaintiffs are entitled to a ruling from the trial court that the Ketelhuts were conducting a business in violation of the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions running with the land. (CC&Rs.) It does not matter whether the Ketelhuts could win an award for having the most beautiful vineyard in the world. It does not matter whether the wine from the grapes rivals the finest wines of the Napa Viticulture. As I shall explain, the facts unerringly point to the conclusion that the Ketelhuts were conducting a vineyard business on their property (the Property).

There will, of course, be situations in which the conducting of a business at a residence in violation of the CC&Rs will be so trivial to the neighborhood that it will be deemed not to be in violation of the CC&Rs. There is no reason to list them and one is only limited by imagination. As Colonel Stonehill said, "I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world, as it is, is vexing enough." (True Grit (2010 film).) So here, we need only decide whether the maintenance of the vineyard as a business is in violation of the CC&Rs.

*21 Judicial Deference Rule

The…