Opinion ID: 1767459
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: the existence of natural barriers between the city and the proposed annexation area

Text: The chancellor held that Interstate 59 and the county line separating Forrest and Lamar Counties should be considered as natural barriers. Both parties and this Court agree that there are no true natural barriers between Lamar County and Hattiesburg. Extension of the Boundaries of City of Jackson, 551 So.2d at 865. Hattiesburg has annexed land in Lamar County and across Interstate 59 in previous annexations. Hattiesburg asserts, however, contrary to the court's opinion that neither the county line nor Interstate 59 should be considered as any kind of barrier to annexation. Borsig, the city's director of planning and community development, argued that the interstate would not impede the city's efforts to provide services. The city also emphasized that each day many Lamar County residents travel from their homes to Hattiesburg to work and think nothing of crossing the county line or Interstate 59. Oak Grove and Lamar County contend that Interstate 59 and the county line indeed act as a barrier. The objectors pointed out that the city had never annexed land west of Interstate 59 except upon the invitation of developers and without opposition from the residents of the area. Oak Grove and Lamar County also argued that Interstate 59 would impede Hattiesburg's efforts to provide services to the proposed annexation area. The only accesses from Hattiesburg into Lamar County are West Fourth Street, the Highway 98 overpass, and Highway 11, which is eight miles south of downtown Hattiesburg. The chancellor in considering the presence of Interstate 59 and the county line did not err. He noted that if there were other convincing evidence of the reasonableness of the annexation that the presence of Interstate 59 and the county line would not keep him from confirming the annexation. The chancellor simply observed that there are certain man-made barriers such as the interstate and the county line that should not be ignored. He is not manifestly in error, thus, we must affirm his findings. 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; City of Picayune, 238 Miss. 429, 117 So.2d 718.