Title: Matter of Extension of Boundaries of City of Ridgeland

State: mississippi

Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court

Document:

388 So. 2d 152 (1980) In the Matter of the EXTENSION OF the BOUNDARIES OF the CITY OF RIDGELAND, Ms. CITY OF JACKSON, Ms. and Town of Madison, Ms. v. CITY OF RIDGELAND. No. 52241. Supreme Court of Mississippi. September 24, 1980. *153 William F. Goodman, Jr., Richard F. Scruggs, Watkins & Eager, Howard C. Ross, Jr., Jackson, for appellant. C.R. Montgomery, S.F. Stater, III, Montgomery, Smith-Vaniz & Stater, Canton, for appellee. Before ROBERTSON, P.J., and LEE and BOWLING, JJ. ROBERTSON, Presiding Justice, for the Court: This is an annexation suit tried by the Chancery Court of Madison County. The City of Ridgeland, Mississippi, a municipal corporation, petitioned the court for approval, ratification, and confirmation of its ordinance enlarging and extending its municipal boundaries to include four areas, designated Tracts I, II, III and IV. Because the required statutory notices were not posted in Tracts I and II, the court removed these tracts from further consideration for annexation. After a full hearing, the chancellor overruled all objections of the sole objector, City of Jackson, Mississippi, and after disallowing the annexation of Tract IV, decreed the annexation of Tract III with these exceptions: (1) All lands lying north of the center line of Rice Road; (2) All lands owned by Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, which lands were described by metes and bounds in the rebuttal testimony of Tom Barth; and (3) All lands lying east of the aforesaid lands owned by the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District and south of the center line of Rice Road. The chancellor found that such enlargement and extension was: The criteria to be applied in annexation cases was recently restated by this Court in Extension of Boundaries of Horn Lake v. Renfro, 365 So. 2d 623 (Miss. 1978), in this way: The burden of proving reasonableness as measured by these criteria was upon the petitioner, the City of Ridgeland. Dodd v. City of Jackson, 238 Miss. 372, 118 So. 2d 319 (1960). In his opinion, the chancellor summarized and tabulated the City of Jackson's objections: *154 (1) These tracts are not within Ridgeland's path of growth but are in Jackson's path of growth. (2) The portion of tract III which adjoins Ridgeland's eastern boundary has shown no substantial growth or development in the past and the growth and development in tract III has been on the east side thereof. (3) Ridgeland has sufficient undeveloped land within its present corporate limits to accommodate its future growth. (4) Ridgeland has not provided reasonable services to certain areas annexed by it in 1975. (5) Jackson would be adversely affected by permitting Ridgeland this annexation. Chancellor E.G. Cortright answered Jackson's objections in this way: We are of the opinion, after a careful study of the voluminous record (13 bound volumes containing 2030 pages, plus numerous exhibits too big to be bound into the record), that the proof adduced amply supports the findings and conclusions of the chancellor that the City of Ridgeland should be allowed to extend its municipal boundaries as outlined in the court's decree. The Final Decree Approving, Ratifying and Confirming the Enlargement and Extension of the Municipal Boundaries of the City of Ridgeland, Madison County, Mississippi, is, therefore, affirmed. AFFIRMED. *157 SMITH, P.J., and SUGG, WALKER, BROOM, LEE, BOWLING and COFER, JJ., concur. PATTERSON, C.J., took no part.