Opinion ID: 2533697
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Whether the Board of Supervisors' adopting the ordinance was arbitrary and capricious or unsupported by substantial evidence.

Text: ¶ 22. As noted above, [t]he decision of the Board will not be disturbed unless its order `was unsupported by substantial evidence; was arbitrary or capricious; was beyond the [Board's] scope or powers; or violated the constitutional or statutory rights of the aggrieved party.' A & F Properties, LLC, 933 So.2d at 299-300 (citing Ladner v. Harrison County Bd. of Supervisors, 793 So.2d 637, 638 (Miss. 2001) (citing Barnes v. Bd. of Supervisors, DeSoto County, 553 So.2d 508, 511 (Miss. 1989))). A decision is arbitrary when it is not done according to reason and judgment, but depending on the will alone. An action is capricious if done without reason, in a whimsical manner, implying either a lack of understanding of or disregard for the surrounding facts and settled controlling principles. Limbert v. Miss. Univ. for Women Alumnae Ass'n, Inc., 998 So.2d 993, 1000 (Miss.2008) (quoting Miss. Dep't of Human Servs. v. McNeel, 869 So.2d 1013, 1018 (Miss.2004); Miss. State Dep't of Health v. Natchez, 743 So.2d 973, 977 (Miss.1999)). ¶ 23. Here, the record reveals that, prior to enacting the ordinance, the Pike County Board of Supervisors had been confronted with a plague of illegal activity and public nuisances on the Bogue Chitto River and Topisaw Creek, including littering, drug possession, public profanity, indecent exposure, disorderly conduct, trespassing, minors in possession of alcohol, and public drunkenness. During a relatively brief number of years, numerous alcohol-related arrests had been made. Peace officers averred that, because of the number of infractions being committed on the two streams, officers were unable to patrol the vicinity in a manner that ensured the safety of those visiting the river and the creek. Other Pike County residents and land owners testified at the board's hearing and at the circuit court hearing that intoxicated river and creek goers commonly had trespassed on their land, and that lewd verbal and sexual conduct frequently had been committed by drunk patrons of the waterways. ¶ 24. Given the evidence with which it was presented, it cannot be said that the board's decision to prohibit the consumption of alcoholic beverages on the Bogue Chitto River and Topisaw Creek was without reason, or that the board lacked an understanding of the surrounding facts. Id. That being the case, the adoption of the disputed ordinance was not arbitrary or capricious, and this issue is without merit.