Opinion ID: 1767459
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the need for zoning and overall planning in the proposed annexation area

Text: The chancellor stated that the city did not convincingly present a need for zoning and overall planning in the Lamar County area. The court found that a substantial portion of the Lamar County area sought to be annexed was already developed and that a substantial portion of the undeveloped area, such as the farmland, was subject to physical constraints. At trial Hattiesburg emphasized that the proposed annexation area in Lamar County did not have the necessary level of overall planning and zoning needed for an urban area. James Borsig, Hattiesburg's director of planning and community development, testified that neither the Lamar County nor Forrest County annexation areas had any type of comprehensive plan nor zoning ordinance. He also testified that neither area had adopted a standard building code, a standard plumbing code, standard gas code, standard mechanical code, standard swimming pool code, standard electrical code, national electric code, national fire prevention code, a standard fire prevention code or animal control ordinance. Hattiesburg admitted that Lamar County had subdivision regulations, but asserted that these were inadequate and that the county lacked the necessary enforcement power. Oak Grove and Lamar County asserted that while Lamar County did not have the same type of zoning and planning as Hattiesburg, the zoning and planning it had was adequate, and that Lamar County has a network for planning and guiding growth. Its county planning commission reviews subdivision plats and surveys general growth patterns throughout the county. This commission meets monthly and reports to the board of supervisors. James Lee, president of the Lamar County Board of Supervisors, testified that the commission and the board work closely to insure that Lamar County has the services it needs and development occurs in a orderly fashion. The county also had a full-time planner who had resigned before the trial; the county was in the process of replacing him. Kelley stressed that Lamar County was a rural area, not an urban area, and that the area was not likely to develop much more in the near future. Farmers in the Lamar County annexation area indicated that they had no plans to stop farming on their land. Kelley and Gary Morris, the civil engineer for Lamar County, also testified that the Lamar County Subdivision Regulations were adequate for the development in Lamar County. One can not say that the chancellor's decision as to the need for zoning and overall planning in the area was manifestly wrong. Chancellor Dale had the authority to look at the area for himself and, in his opinion, the area proposed for annexation in Lamar County had no additional need for zoning and overall planning. Bassett, 542 So.2d at 921, citing McElhaney, 501 So.2d at 403; Extension of Boundaries of City of Biloxi, 361 So.2d at 1376.