Opinion
NO. 2018-CA-000472-MR NO. 2018-CA-000565-MR
06-21-2019
ENGLAND HILL VOLUNTEER FIRE DISTRICT, INC. APPELLANT v. CITY OF CATLETTSBURG, KENTUCKY APPELLEE AND CITY OF CATLETTSBURG, KENTUCKY CROSS-APPELLANT v. ENGLAND HILL VOLUNTEER FIRE DISTRICT, INC. CROSS-APPELLEE
BRIEF FOR APPELLANT/CROSS-APPELLEE: John Thompson Grayson, Kentucky BRIEF FOR APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT: David A. Pike F. Keith Brown Shepherdsville, Kentucky AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF FOR KENTUCKY LEAGUE OF CITIES: Chris R. Johnson Morgain Patterson Lexington, Kentucky
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED APPEAL FROM BOYD CIRCUIT COURT
HONORABLE JOHN F. VINCENT, JUDGE
ACTION NO. 17-CI-00165 CROSS-APPEAL FROM BOYD CIRCUIT COURT
HONORABLE JOHN F. VINCENT, JUDGE
ACTION NO. 17-CI-00165 OPINION
AFFIRMING
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BEFORE: DIXON, JONES, AND LAMBERT, JUDGES. JONES, JUDGE: England Hill Volunteer Fire District, Inc. ("Volunteer Fire District") brought this action challenging annexation by the City of Catlettsburg ("Catlettsburg"). The Boyd Circuit Court concluded that annexation is proper under the City of Lebanon v. Goodin, 436 S.W.3d 505, 514 (Ky. 2014), and granted summary judgment in favor of Catlettsburg. On appeal, the Volunteer Fire District "is asking this [C]ourt to decline to follow the holding in City of Lebanon v. Goodin, as it leads to an illogical and unjust result." The Volunteer Fire District has issued an invitation we have no authority to accept. We are duty bound to follow published opinions rendered by the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Therefore, our only task on appeal is to determine whether the circuit court correctly decided that the City of Lebanon controls the outcome of this case. Having reviewed the record in conjunction with all applicable legal authority, we find no error in the circuit court's analysis that City of Lebanon is both controlling and dispositive. Accordingly, for the reasons more fully explained below, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
The circuit court provided a thorough and succinct summary of the facts, which are largely undisputed. We adopt the circuit court's summary as follows:
On December 12, 2016, the City of Catlettsburg adopted Ordinance No. 10-2016 titled "Annexation of Portion of US Highway 23 and R&J Development Company, LLC, property, an ordinance annexing certain unincorporated territories within Boyd County, Kentucky and contiguous to the present boundary lines of the City of Catlettsburg, Kentucky, and defining by meets and bounds, the territory to be annexed." The ordinance was enacted pursuant to KRS 81A.420, and there has been no assertion raised by the [Volunteer Fire District] as to any deficiencies in the formalities involved in the enactment of the ordinance by [Catlettsburg]. No land owner in or near the annexed area, nor taxpayer of [Catlettsburg] has challenged the annexation.
[Volunteer Fire District], a Kentucky non-profit corporation which provides fire suppression assistance to protect public and private property within its district and which was operated as a special purpose governmental entity with taxing authority, instituted a civil action in this Court on March 7, 2017. [Volunteer Fire District] objects to the annexation by ordinance of [Catlettsburg] arguing that the territory involved constituted a "corridor" annexation which is invalid under Kentucky law. [Volunteer Fire District] also asserted that the property sought to be annexed by the City served no legitimate urban purpose, and was not suitable for immediate urban development as defined by KRS 81A.410.
In addition to the review of the pleadings and hearing arguments, the Court has reviewed the survey completed by [Catlettsburg] as required, and also reviewed the depositions of the surveyors that were taken by the parties, and the depositions of the individuals who offered an opinion related to the economic and urban circumstances of the property to be annexed. In reviewing the survey, it is clear that [Catlettsburg] has proceeded with its annexation from the boundaries of the [Catlettsburg] with US 23 and its right of way, to property owned by R&J Development. The survey reveals that the proposed annexed property runs concurrent with US 23 and the right of way thereto until it reaches the R&J Development property, and includes two tracts owned by that company, separated by a road not included within the proposed annexed property.R. 380-82.
There appears to be no factual dispute concerning the circumstances that the annexed property does include a sanitary lift station, or pump station, within the annexed territory near the R&J Development property. Further there is no dispute but that sewer and/or water lines are located on or under US 23 and its right of way to be annexed by [Catlettsburg]. The presence of these utility lines and the pump station is not disputed by [Volunteer Fire District]. Further, there is no dispute the annexed property on the southern portion of the R&J Development property, contains an office building which has been occupied by an engineering firm and other retail businesses.
Kentucky Revised Statutes.
On February 23, 2018, the circuit court entered an order granting summary judgment in favor of Catlettsburg. In that order, the circuit court first addressed Catlettsburg's contention that the Volunteer Fire District lacked standing to challenge the annexation as it was neither a tax payer of the City of Catlettsburg nor an owner of property within or near the property to be annexed. In concluding that the Volunteer Fire District did have standing, the circuit court relied on this Court's opinion in Southeast Bullitt Fire Protection District v. City of Shepherdsville, No. 2013-CA-001285-MR, 2015 WL 510935 (Ky. App. Feb. 6, 2015), which held that "fire protection districts have standing to challenge the annexation of property from within their districts." Id. at * 3 (citing Pewee Valley Fire Prot. Dist. v. S. Oldham Fire Prot. Dist., 570 S.W.2d 290 (Ky. App. 1978)).
Next, the circuit court addressed the Volunteer Fire District's argument that the proposed annexation amounted to impermissible "corridor annexation." The Volunteer Fire District's argument was based on the irregular shape of the territory being annexed. Looking to City of Lebanon v. Goodin, 436 S.W.3d 505 (Ky. 2014), the circuit court concluded that the shape of the land to be annexed was irrelevant. Rather, under Goodin, the proper inquiry is whether "the strip of land creating the requisite contiguity . . . serves no municipal purpose or is not suitable for development." Id. at 514. In Merritt v. City of Campbellsville, 678 S.W.2d 788 (Ky. App. 1984), which was cited with approval in Goodin, this Court concluded that because the property at issue served "as a corridor for water mains[,]" annexation of the corridor served a legitimate municipal purpose. Based on the holding in Merritt, the circuit court found the water and sewer lines in the Catlettsburg annexation met the requirements of KRS 81A.410. Finally, the circuit court addressed the Volunteer Fire District's argument that the annexed territory served no legitimate urban purpose and was not suitable for urban development. As there was no dispute that the territory included professional offices, retail development, and a pump station, the circuit court concluded that the property clearly satisfied the definition of "urban" as contemplated in Merritt and Goodin.
This appeal and cross-appeal followed.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
"The review of a trial court's grant of summary judgment involves only legal questions, which this Court may resolve free of any mandate to accord the trial court deference. Because these issues are matters of law, the proper standard of review for this Court is de novo." Goodin, 436 S.W.3d at 510.
III. ANALYSIS
As previously noted, the only issue this Court is tasked with deciding on this appeal is whether Goodin is dispositive of the case sub judice. In Goodin, the city of Lebanon ("Lebanon") adopted an ordinance proposing to annex approximately 415 acres of property. Property owners subject to the annexation, including Goodin, filed suit against Lebanon contending that the annexation was unconstitutional and noncompliant with KRS 81A.420. Id. at 509-10. These contentions were primarily based on the proposed territory's irregular shape; the proposed territory had a number of directional changes along its eastern boundary and resulted in five parcels of nonannexed property being located within the parameters of the annexed property. The circuit court ultimately granted summary judgment in Goodin's favor, concluding that Lebanon had intentionally manipulated the annexation boundaries in order to guarantee a successful annexation, which violated Goodin's constitutional rights. Id. at 510. Lebanon appealed the circuit court's ruling, and this Court affirmed. In so doing, this Court relied on prior case law dealing with "shoestring" or "corridor" annexations to hold that "boundaries of the territory to be annexed must be 'natural or regular.'" Id.
The Kentucky Supreme Court reversed and declared the annexation to be valid, concluding that the Court of Appeals had erred by misapplying "corridor" annexation jurisprudence to the case at hand and creating an additional annexation requirement of "natural or regular" boundaries. Id. at 514. The Court first noted that KRS 81A.410 dictated the requirements for a territory to be suitable for annexation:
(1) Except as provided in KRS 67C.111(3), a city legislative body may extend the city's boundaries to include any area:
(a) Which is adjacent or contiguous to the city's boundaries at the time the annexation proceeding is begun; and
(b) Which by reason of population density, commercial, industrial, institutional, or governmental
use of land, or subdivision of land, is urban in character or suitable for development for urban purposes without unreasonable delay.
The Court clarified that "corridor" annexations "are present in the unique situation in which the property to be annexed . . . is contiguous with the municipality only though a 'corridor' or 'finger' or 'strip of highway.'" Id. "Corridor" cases involve situations where the "only way to satisfy the plain statutory requirements of contiguity is via a small strip of land connected to the property that, generally speaking, is the true target of the municipality's annexation power," and where the strip of land creating the contiguity "serves no municipal purposes or is not suitable for development." Id.
The Kentucky Supreme Court concluded that the shape of the proposed territory is irrelevant to whether an annexation is proper. The Court noted that, "[a]t bottom, 'corridor' annexations are invalid because the territory to be annexed does not meet the statutory requirements." Id. at 515. Therefore, so long as the territory proposed to be annexed is adjacent or contiguous to the city's boundaries and "ha[s] a municipal purpose or [is] suitable for development, as required by the current statutory system, the annexation [is] valid, despite its unusual or irregular shape." Id. In Goodin, the proposed territory's northern boundary touched Lebanon's municipal border for nearly nine-tenths of a mile, which satisfied the contiguity requirement of KRS 81A.410(1)(a). Id. at 517. The annexation territory was sought as the proposed location of a Wal-Mart store and included a city-owned industrial park, which satisfied the requirement of KRS 81A.410(1)(b). Id. Accordingly, the Court concluded that the proposed annexation was proper.
As in Goodin, the Volunteer Fire Department in this case argues that the proposed annexation is an improper "corridor annexation" based on the irregular boundary lines. The Volunteer Fire Department does not dispute that the proposed territory includes a sanitary lift station, that water/sewer lines run on or under the proposed territory, or that the proposed territory contains an office building. Additionally, there is no contention that the proposed annexation territory is not adjacent or contiguous to Catlettsburg's boundary. In sum, Goodin is directly on point with the case at hand.
"The Court of Appeals is bound by and shall follow applicable precedents established in the opinions of the Supreme Court and its predecessor court." SCR 1.030(8)(a).
Kentucky Supreme Court Rules. --------
The rule is fundamental and is absolutely necessary in a hierarchical judicial system. If every tier of courts in the judicial hierarchy were free to disregard the decisions of a higher court, the Court of Appeals could freely disregard the decisions of the Supreme Court, the circuit courts could freely ignore the decisions of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court and our District Courts would be bound by no law at all, free to ignore the
decisions of all higher courts. The result of that course is anarchy.Special Fund v. Francis, 708 S.W.2d 641, 642 (Ky. 1986).
We cannot disregard the Kentucky Supreme Court's holding in Goodin simply because the Volunteer Fire Department requests we do so. Under Goodin, summary judgment in favor of Catlettsburg is appropriate. In light of that conclusion, arguments raised in Catlettsburg's cross-appeal are rendered moot.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the Boyd Circuit Court.
ALL CONCUR. BRIEF FOR APPELLANT/
CROSS-APPELLEE: John Thompson
Grayson, Kentucky BRIEF FOR APPELLEE/
CROSS-APPELLANT: David A. Pike
F. Keith Brown
Shepherdsville, Kentucky AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF FOR
KENTUCKY LEAGUE OF CITIES: Chris R. Johnson
Morgain Patterson
Lexington, Kentucky