Opinion ID: 1922966
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the need to expand

Text: ¶ 11. When determining whether a city seeking an extension of its boundaries has a reasonable need for expansion, this Court has considered many factors which may include, but do not have to include: (1) spillover development into the proposed area of annexation; (2) the city's internal growth; (3) the city's population growth; (4) the city's need for development of land; (5) the need for planning in the proposed annexation area; (6) increased traffic counts in the proposed area; (7) the need to maintain as well as expand the city's tax base; (8) limitations due to the geography and any surrounding cities; (9) land remaining vacant within the municipality; (10) environmental influences; (11) the city's need to exercise control over the area proposed to be annexed; and (12) increase in new building permit activity. City of Winona, 879 So.2d at 974 (quoting In the Matter of the Enlargement and Extension of the Boundaries of the City of Macon v. City of Macon, 854 So.2d 1029, 1034-35 (Miss.2003)). ¶ 12. The Objectors mainly argue that the City of Madison has enough vacant land within the city limits to expand development without annexing the proposed area of annexation (PAA). Currently, 67.9% of the City of Madison is totally developed. Only 1,275 acres of land is vacant, unconstrained, developable land. This Court has declined to set an absolute amount of usable vacant land that would prevent annexation. City of Hattiesburg, 840 So.2d at 85. As such, the fact that there may be some other vacant lands already available in the city does not prohibit annexation nor does it require that an indicia be found to be against the community proposing annexation. City of Winona, 879 So.2d at 973. In fact, in the city's 1995 annexation, the city had slightly more than 50% of usable vacant land, and this Court approved the annexation. City of Madison, 650 So.2d at 496. ¶ 13. Alan David Hoops, Director of Community Development and Interim Director of the Building Permits Department and Code Enforcement in the City of Madison, was offered at trial as an expert in the field of community development, planning and zoning. Hoops testified that residential and commercial growth has spilled over into the PAA. As of the date of trial, there were seventy commercial, residential, and recreational development plans within the City of Madison and just outside the city limits in the PAA. Of the seventy development plans, forty-three were within the city and twenty-seven were within the PAA. Developers are forced to build in the PAA because of a lack of vacant, developable land within the city limits. Even the Objectors' planning expert, Joseph A. Lusteck, acknowledged at trial that a large portion of the PAA consisted of spillover development as a result of increased demand for commercial land in the area. Further evidence revealed that the city's physical ability to expand was limited to the south by the City of Ridgeland and to the east by the Ross Barnett Reservoir. ¶ 14. Additionally, Hoops and other city department heads were actively involved in the preliminary plat phase and layout phase of both residential and commercial development projects in the PAA. They had worked extensively with the developers, landscape architects, engineers, and planners for new developments to ensure consistency, quality design, and quality development in the PAA. ¶ 15. The city's population has increased significantly over the past several years. As such, commercial building permits and residential building permits have increased. Since 1996, 214 commercial building permits and 1900 residential building permits have been issued by the city. Additionally, there have been traffic increases both in the city and in the PAA. From 1990 until 2004, traffic on Main Street in the City of Madison increased by 191.3%, and traffic on Highway 463 in the PAA increased by 319.4%. The chancellor found that the city's zoning and other related ordinances were more comprehensive than the county's and that the city was in a superior position to implement and enforce the ordinances. Lastly, the evidence revealed that methods of sewage and trash disposal would be greatly improved with the city's expansion and control. ¶ 16. Since the special chancellor's decision took into account many of the above-enumerated factors, and the decision is supported by the substantial, credible evidence, we find the special chancellor's findings for this indicium were reasonable.