2026-09-10 · Arizona · Courts

Arizona homeowners who lose a view because their association approved a change next door have no nuisance claim over it. Division One of the Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of such a claim on August 28, 2026 in Pavlak v. Funk Family Enterprises LLC — the most recent published Arizona appellate decision touching community associations.¹

The facts

In 2014 the Pavlaks bought Lot 11 in Mountain Ranch, a Mesa community. They said they bought it relying on the building envelope originally platted for the neighbouring lot.

A building envelope is a familiar device in Arizona hillside and view-lot subdivisions. Mesa's city code defines it as the specified area on a lot within which all disturbance must occur — structures, driveways, walkways, patios, pools, walls, construction access, grading, slopes and riprap. It is, in effect, a promise about where a future house can go.

That envelope was later moved, with approval from both the association and the City of Mesa. The Pavlaks sued the neighbouring owner in common-law nuisance. The superior court dismissed for failure to state a claim, and the Court of Appeals affirmed: “Because the Pavlaks have shown no error, the judgment is affirmed.”

Why the claim failed

Arizona does not recognise a right to an unobstructed view. That rule is long-standing and it is the foundation of the decision. A neighbour who builds within what the law and the covenants allow does not commit a nuisance by blocking a vista, however much the vista was worth.

The court also declined, on these facts, to let the claim proceed on a privacy theory — the argument that a relocated envelope put a neighbouring structure close enough to intrude on the plaintiffs' seclusion rather than merely on their outlook.

1. Pavlak v. Funk Family Enterprises LLC, 1 CA-CV 25-0891 (Ariz. App. Div. One, Aug. 28, 2026) — published opinion ↩
2. HB 4011, Chapter 125, Laws 2026 — the duty to act reasonably, effective September 12, 2026 ↩