Opinion ID: 2590389
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: The City Hall Petition intrudes into areas of government requiring specialized training and expertise. Under the third guideline, this petition is administrative in character.

Text: Appellants argue the proposed ordinance does not intrude into areas requiring specialized training and experience because it only places limitations on where city hall facilities may be located but does not actually select the site. This, they claim, allows the City to use its expertise when examining eligible locations outside the prohibited areas to select the final site, which preserves the ordinance's legislative character. The City argues the opposite. It claims the decision to locate city hall requires particularized knowledge as to the City's operations, associated space requirements, public safety, regulatory issues, as well as an intimate appreciation of the City's fiscal affairs. The City also says its electors are not equipped to determine the city hall's location because they lack this particularized understanding. We agree that the City Hall Petition is administrative under this guideline because of the sweeping geographic scope of the proposal's prohibitions. It is true, as Appellants argue, that a decision to eliminate certain locations within a city as sites for the new city hall is far different from selecting the actual site where the facility would be built. But in this case, the proposed ordinance effectively eliminates more than 90 percent of the area within the City's boundaries as acceptable sites. Of the remaining 10 percent, the record reflects the City would have few practical options from which to choose. Such an extensive restriction has the practical effect of directing the City's choice and belies the Appellants' argument that their proposed ordinance is simply eliminating a few possible sites from the City's consideration. The undisputed facts underscore what is required to select a location. The City sought extensive advice about various technical aspects applicable to its decisions regarding municipal facilities. As noted by the district court: [I]n evaluating sites for the location of its new city hall, the City utilized the specialized knowledge of architects, engineers, financial consultants, police officers, and city officials regarding the operational needs and demands of the City. The City further retained consultants to review the City's operations, associated space, safety and regulatory issues. We believe decisions about where municipal facilities should be located necessarily require specialized knowledge and expertise. This is especially true where, as here, decisions are further complicated from an operational standpoint by the possibility of housing public safety components within the facilities. The decision where to locate the new city hall facilities is analogous to Kansas Taxpayers Network, in which the initiative referendum that sought to block the establishment of a storm water utility system was deemed administrative. In that instance, this court observed: [T]he operation, management, and financing of a city-wide storm water management system reasonably fits within the context of decisions that require specialized knowledge and experience with respect to city management. The physical structure of the system, maintenance, and fee assessment and collection all fit within the purview of the City's expertise. 255 Kan. at 541, 874 P.2d 667. Based on the facts in this case, we find the wide scale extent of the requested restriction in this proposed ordinance converts it from one that simply eliminates a few locations from the City's consideration to one that effectively makes the location decision for the City. To impose such a restrictive choice upon the City makes the character of this proposed ordinance administrative under our third guideline.