Opinion ID: 2599123
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Extraterritorial Impact: The Impact of Municipal Regulation on Persons Living Outside the Municipal Limits

Text: The Cities argue that the proper test for whether a municipal law has an extraterritorial effect is whether the law affects non-residents in the communities where they reside-that is whether the law has a ripple effect on communities around the state. The test is not, the Cities contend, whether non-residents will be affected by the Cities' laws when they subject themselves to local jurisdictions by driving through them. We refuse to read this factor in our analysis so narrowly. We have defined extraterritorial impacts as those involving the expectations of state residents. Walgreen v. Charnes, 819 P.2d 1039, 1047 (Colo.1991); accord Fraternal Order of Police, 926 P.2d at 590. Moreover, we have said that municipal laws that impact persons living outside the municipal limits are relevant to the analysis of whether a matter is one of statewide concern, City & County of Denver v. State, 788 P.2d at 768, as are those things which are of significant interest to people living outside the home rule municipality. Id. (citing Howard Klemme, The Powers of Home Rule Cities in Colorado, 36 U. Colo. L.Rev. 321, 342 (1964)). The undisputed facts show that the use of automated enforcement technology by the Cities has a significant impact on Colorado residents living outside the Cities and directly implicates the expectations of Colorado citizens. Although only two of the four cities used AVIS before the General Assembly passed section 42-4-110.5, these cities' statistical data demonstrate the effect on persons living outside the municipalities. In Commerce City, approximately 90% of citations issued pursuant to an automated system were dispensed to non-residents in 1996 and 1997. Fort Collins reported that about 41% of traffic citations issued using automated systems were given to non-residents. The fact that about 90% of tickets in Commerce City were issued to non-residents distinctively demonstrates the effect of its AVIS use on Colorado citizens in general. In fact, Commerce City, Westminster, Colorado Springs, and to a lesser degree, Fort Collins, are all located within busy commuter corridors. Without the unifying state legislation, a driver  simply by commuting to work on a typical day  could be subjected to a patchwork of rules and procedures by individual cities. Thus, the regulation of automated vehicle identification systems affects the residents of Colorado as a whole, as opposed to simply affecting local residents.