Opinion ID: 1351844
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: II: Power to enact and validity of challenged ordinance

Text: Developer argues City does not have the power to enact an ordinance that on its face limits expansion of the sewer system unless city council affirmatively votes to approve the expansion. City does not have the discretion to preclude residents of particular areas from obtaining a sewer extension because it has a statutory and constitutional duty to make such service equally available to all residents if it is available to any, Developer argues. We disagree. A municipal ordinance is a legislative enactment and is presumed to be constitutional. Whaley v. Dorchester County Zoning Bd. of Appeals, 337 S.C. 568, 575, 524 S.E.2d 404, 408 (1999). The burden of proving the invalidity of an ordinance is on the party attacking it. Id. Determining whether an ordinance is valid is a two-step process. First, the Court must determine whether a municipality has the power to adopt the ordinance. If no power exists, the ordinance is invalid. Second, the Court must determine whether the ordinance is consistent with the Constitution and general laws of this state. Riverwoods, LLC v. County of Charleston, 349 S.C. 378, 384, 563 S.E.2d 651, 654 (2002); Bugsy's, Inc. v. City of Myrtle Beach, 340 S.C. 87, 93, 530 S.E.2d 890, 893 (2000). The Constitution provides, in pertinent part, that [a]ny incorporated municipality may, upon a majority vote of the electors of such political subdivision who shall vote on the question, acquire by initial construction or purchase and may operate gas, water, sewer, electric, transportation or other public utility systems and plants. S.C. Const. art. VIII, § 16 (emphasis added). Each municipality of the State ... may enact regulations, resolutions, and ordinances, not inconsistent with the Constitution and general law of this State ... respecting any subject which appears to it necessary and proper for the security, general welfare, and convenience of the municipality or for preserving the health, peace, order, and good government in it.... S.C.Code Ann. § 5-7-30 (Supp.2002). See also Hospitality Ass'n of South Carolina, Inc. v. County of Charleston, 320 S.C. 219, 464 S.E.2d 113 (1995) (only limit on broad grant of power to municipalities in § 5-7-30 is the regulation or ordinance be consistent with the Constitution and general laws). More specifically, any city or town may ... [c]onstruct, purchase, operate and maintain waterworks and electric light works within or without, partially within and partially without, their corporate limits for the use and benefit of such city or town and the inhabitants thereof.... S.C.Code Ann. § 5-31-610 (1976) (emphasis added). Upon the written request of any property owner requesting the city or town to extend to him water and sewer service and agreeing to pay the cost thereof the city or town may provide such service.... S.C.Code Ann. § 5-31-1510 (1976) (emphasis added). A municipality may impose charges and assessments on users and specified property owners to fund the cost of constructing, operating, and maintaining a sewer system. S.C.Code Ann. § 5-31-2010 to -2040 (1976). No constitutional or statutory provision imposes a duty on City to provide sewer service to all residents if it provides such service to any. The provisions consistently use the permissive term may. See Waites v. S.C. Windstorm & Hail Underwriting Ass'n, 279 S.C. 362, 365, 307 S.E.2d 223, 224 (1983) (agreeing with lower court's ruling that legislature used the word may in statute as permissive and not mandatory); Graham v. Alliance Ins. Co., 192 S.C. 370, 6 S.E.2d 754, 755 (1940) (statute providing persons interested in controversy may be made defendants is permissive and not mandatory). Moreover, § 5-31-610 specifically states that utility services may be provided partially within corporate limits. The Legislature has recognized that a municipalityfor financial or other legitimate reasonsmay be able to provide sewer service or other utilities for only part of its residents. See, e.g., Riverwoods, 349 S.C. at 384, 563 S.E.2d at 654 (cardinal rule of statutory construction is for the Court to ascertain and effectuate the intent of the Legislature). The circuit court correctly noted any resident must be able to apply for sewer service, as Developer is free to do in this case. However, the decision whether to grant a sewer extension request generally must be left to the sound discretion of municipal leaders, who are charged with considering all the various factors, including financial and economic implications, aesthetic and environmental concerns, feasibility of a particular plan, and the effect of an extension on the municipality's long-range zoning, planning, or organization. See Annot. Right to Compel Municipality to Extend Its Water System, 48 A.L.R.2d 1222 (1956) (citing cases in which courts have concluded, although a city-owned water system should impartially supply all applicants who are similarly situated, it generally has been held a municipality has the discretion to decide whether to extend its system to an entirely new section within its limits; municipality usually cannot be compelled to do so at the instance of a prospective consumer, at least if its basis for refusing is in any way reasonable and does not involve any abuse of discretion or arbitrary or fraudulent action). Developer relies primarily on three cases in support of its argument, asserting they stand for the proposition that a city-owned utility has a duty to make service available to all its residents: Childs v. City of Columbia, 87 S.C. 566, 70 S.E. 296 (1911); Looper v. City of Easley, 172 S.C. 11, 172 S.E. 705 (1934), overruled on other grounds by McCall by Andrews v. Batson, 285 S.C. 243, 329 S.E.2d 741 (1985); and Sloan v. City of Conway, 347 S.C. 324, 555 S.E.2d 684 (2001). In Childs, a non-resident water customer sought an injunction to prevent the city of Columbia from cutting off his water or increasing his rates. In rejecting the customer's contractbased arguments and explaining the different status of residents and non-residents, the Court stated: The statute passed in pursuance of the constitutional provision ... expressed the limitation of duty to residents of the city implied in the Constitution by the provision that the construction and operation of municipal waterworks should be `for the use and benefit of said cities and towns and its citizens.' Childs, 87 S.C. at 570, 70 S.E. at 298. In Looper, the Court rejected a non-resident business owner's attempt to hold the city-owned electrical utility liable in contract or tort for failing to install equipment designed to prevent fires caused by lightning strikes on the power lines. The Court noted that the provision of electricity to either residents or non-residents was a governmental function, but the main difference is that the municipal authorities may be required to furnish the inhabitants of the municipality, while they may not be forced to furnish those living beyond the limits of the municipality. Looper, 172 S.C. at 15, 172 S.E. at 706-707. In Sloan, the Court rejected various challenges to a municipality's decision to charge higher water rates to non-residents than residents. Relying on Childs, the Court again noted the distinction between residents and non-residents in relations with a city-owned utility. Developer's reliance on Childs, Looper, and Sloan is misplaced. None of those cases in any way suggests a municipality has a duty to provide a given utility service to everyone if it provides it to anyone. At most, Childs can be read to say that a municipality owes a duty to its residents to operate a publicly owned utility for the use and benefit of the residents. The word duty is not mentioned in Looper, although the Court noted in passing that a municipality may be required to provide a given service to residents but not non-residents. Sloan simply reiterates that residents and non-residents do not always stand on equal footing when dealing with a city-owned utility. City properly exercised its legislative power to enact the challenged ordinance, and the ordinance is not contrary to the cited statutory or constitutional provisions.
Developer contends an ordinance limiting expansion of City's sewer system unless city council affirmatively votes to approve an expansion violates its constitutional right to equal protection under the law. City has treated residents outside the C-1 and C-2 districts as second-tier inhabitants. The pertinent class includes all of City's inhabitants, and City's failure to treat all of them alike under similar circumstances violates the equal protection clause, Developer argues. We disagree. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws. S.C. Const. art. I, § 3. To satisfy the equal protection clause, a classification must (1) bear a reasonable relation to the legislative purpose sought to be achieved, (2) members of the class must be treated alike under similar circumstances, and (3) the classification must rest on some rational basis. Jenkins v. Meares, 302 S.C. 142, 146-147, 394 S.E.2d 317, 319 (1990). The rational basis standard, not strict scrutiny, is applied in this case because the classification at issue does not affect a fundamental right and does not draw upon inherently suspect distinctions such as race, religion, or alienage. See Fraternal Order of Police v. S.C. Dep't of Revenue, 352 S.C. 420, 433, 574 S.E.2d 717, 723 (2002); Bryant v. Town of Essex, 152 Vt. 29, 564 A.2d 1052, 1056 (1989) (provision of sewer service does not implicate fundamental right). A legislative enactment will be sustained against constitutional attack if there is any reasonable hypothesis to support it. Gary Concrete Products, Inc. v. Riley, 285 S.C. 498, 504, 331 S.E.2d 335, 338-39 (1985) (citing Thomas v. Spartanburg Ry., Gas & Elec. Co., 100 S.C. 478, 85 S.E. 50 (1915)). The Court must give great deference to a legislative body's classification decisions because it presumably debated and weighed the advantages and disadvantages of the legislation at issue. Furthermore, [t]he classification does not need to completely accomplish the legislative purpose with delicate precision in order to survive a constitutional challenge. Foster v. South Carolina Dep't of Highways & Pub. Transp., 306 S.C. 519, 526, 413 S.E.2d 31, 36 (1992). In this case, City has created two classesone consisting of residents inside the C-1 and C-2 districts and one consisting of residents outside those districts. City generally has treated residents within each of those classes alike under similar circumstances, although City admits it previously has extended sewer service to at least one property in a C-3 district. The legislative purposes sought to be achieved by City's classifications are (1) the provision of sewer service to residents primarily located within City's central commercial district and (2) limiting substantial expansion of sewer service because the majority of council members and residents wish to prevent or limit the additional operating and maintenance costs, environmental impact, and development likely to follow. Thus, the classifications bear a reasonable relation to the legislative purposes because they accomplish those purposes. Furthermore, the classifications rest on rational bases providing sewer service to a limited area due to the financial burden of additional operating and maintenance costs for all users, aesthetic and environmental concerns, and the effect on City's long-range zoning, planning, or organization. The challenged ordinance does not violate Developer's right to equal protection under the law.
Developer argues an ordinance limiting expansion of City's sewer system unless city council affirmatively votes to approve an expansion violates its constitutional right to substantive due process under the law. We disagree. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. S.C. Const. art. I, § 3. In order to prove a denial of substantive due process, a party must show that he was arbitrarily and capriciously deprived of a cognizable property interest rooted in state law. Worsley Companies, Inc. v. Town of Mt. Pleasant, 339 S.C. 51, 528 S.E.2d 657 (2000). A property owner does not have a protected property interest in connecting to a sewer line. Id. As explained in Issue 2, the state Constitution and statutes generally grant a municipality the discretion to decide whether to extend sewer service to additional residents within its corporate boundaries. Cf. Scott v. Greenville County, 716 F.2d 1409, 1418 (4th Cir.1983) (finding a property interest was protected by substantive due process where a developer was entitled to issuance of a building permit upon presentation of application and plans showing a use expressly permitted under then-current zoning ordinance). We recently held that the standard for reviewing all substantive due process challenges to state statutes, including economic and social welfare legislation, is whether the statute bears a reasonable relationship to any legitimate interest of government. R.L. Jordan Co. v. Boardman Petroleum, Inc., 338 S.C. 475, 477, 527 S.E.2d 763, 765 (2000). The purpose of the substantive due process clause is to prohibit government from engaging in arbitrary or wrongful acts regardless of the fairness of the procedures used to implement them. In re Treatment and Care of Luckabaugh, 351 S.C. 122, 140, 568 S.E.2d 338, 347 (2002) (internal quotes omitted). We apply this same standard in reviewing challenges to a municipal ordinance. Developer's argument fails for two reasons. First, Developer does not have a cognizable property interest in sewer service that is rooted in state law. Second, the ordinances at issue in this case bear a reasonable relationship to a legitimate interest of government. City has a legitimate interest in controlling the expansion of its sewer system due to the financial burden of additional operating and maintenance costs for all users, aesthetic and environmental concerns, and the effect on City's long-range zoning, planning, or organization. City has not acted arbitrarily or wrongfully in enacting the ordinances. The challenged ordinance does not violate Developer's right to substantive due process under the law.