Opinion ID: 1767459
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the city's need for expansion

Text: The chancellor concluded that the 22 square miles of territory in Forrest County that he allowed the city to annex would provide the city ample area to meet its needs for growth for many years to come. Hattiesburg insists that the chancellor made a mistake and that the city, in addition to the 22 square miles in Forrest County, also needs approximately 23 square miles in Lamar County in order to meet its needs for growth. Corrine Fox, a city planner with Continental Consultants, Inc., of Jackson, testified that only 2.47% of the territory within Hattiesburg is vacant and without constraints to development. Land with constraints to development includes land within the 100 year flood plain, land with a slope in excess of 10%, or land with serious soil limitations. Fox testified that if Hattiesburg were not allowed to annex more developable land that the city would run out of land in three to four years and commercial developers would go outside the city to find more attractive land. Fox indicated that already the area outside the city, referring to Lamar county, was growing at a faster rate than Hattiesburg. Joseph Lusteck, president of Lusteck and Associates of Jackson, a real estate planning and consulting firm, also testified concerning Hattiesburg's population growth and trends. Lusteck estimated that as of May, 1988, Hattiesburg had a population of 44,757. He arrived at this figure through the use of a housing count method which required a determination of the number of residential units in the city, the number of houses occupied, and the number of persons per occupied unit. Lusteck further testified that Hattiesburg was experiencing growth and that the city's population would be 46,700 by 1993 and 49,000 by the year 2000. Lusteck's population estimate was considerably higher that the U.S. Department of Commerce's estimate of 40,740. On cross, Lusteck admitted that his original research revealed that the city had a much lower population and, in fact, had experienced a decrease in population for the period of 1980 through 1986. Oak Grove and the Lamar County Board of Supervisors asserted that Hattiesburg was not experiencing growth and that the city had no need for expansion. Vernon Kelley, a certified planner and executive director of Three Rivers Planning Development District testified that Lusteck's population estimates and projections were grossly exaggerated, that between 1960 and 1987 that the city had experienced no real growth. Most of Hattiesburg's population growth, Kelly testified, was annexed growth, not real population growth. Kelly's chart shows: POPULATION TRENDS CITY OF HATTIESBURG 1960-1987 Total Change Additions Persons In Total No. of Over Deaths Added By Pop. Real Population Persons By Live Births Births & By Growth Annexed Over Deaths Annex. Census Rate ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1960 34,989 1,276 4,330 5,606 3,288 -2,318 To 1970 38,277 -0- 1,588 1,588 2,552 +964 To 1980 40,829 683 1,614 2,297 -89 -2,386 To 1987 Total 40,740 1,959 7,532 9,491 5,751 (-3,740) Sources: Miss. R & D. Center Ms. Bus. Vol. 47 No. 2 U.S. Census Block Data Miss. State Board of Health, Births & Deaths, Hattiesburg Residents 1960-1986 Kelly added that the city's density trends likewise indicated that Hattiesburg was not experiencing real population growth; that in 1980 the city had a density of 3.27 persons per acre whereas, in 1987, the city only had a density of 2.88 persons per acre. Kelley stated decreasing density trends mean that a city is not growing and a density factor of 2.88 was relatively low in comparison to other Mississippi cities of comparable size. Further, Kelley criticized the methodology used by Continental Consultants and Lusteck in arriving at the conclusion that only 2.47% of the land within the city of Hattiesburg was without constraints to development. Kelley stated that these constraints were unrealistic, pointing out that much of the land already developed in the city has such physical constraints and approximately 50% of the land in the city now had soil constraints. Yet, the city had built on this land. Kelly pointed out that if one developed only land that had less than a 10% slope, there would be no homes in North Mississippi. George Stepko, the planner for the Tatum Development Corporation and a past Director of City Planning for Hattiesburg, testified for Lamar County as to Hattiesburg's need to expand into Forrest County rather than Lamar County. The Tatum Development is an area in Forrest County that is south of the Hattiesburg city boundaries and south of Highway 49 and Highway 11. The area encompasses 4,400 acres or almost seven square miles of land. All of this area is either already in the city or included in the proposed annexation area. Stepko testified of the developers plan to develop a planned community on the property. The community, Stepko said, would include single-family housing, multi-family housing, commercial establishments, medical facilities, golf courses, office buildings, and light industrial facilities. Stepko anticipated that this area would be a high growth area in the future because it was connected to Highways 49 and 11 and was near the industrial park and Camp Shelby. The chancellor's opinion as to the city's need for expansion is supported by substantial and credible evidence. Hattiesburg's population growth in the past has not been explosive. Density trends and population charts demonstrate Hattiesburg's lack of growth. The 1990 census also indicates that Hattiesburg's growth has been meager. Hattiesburg's 1990 census revealed that the city had a population of 41,882. In 1980 Hattiesburg's population was 40,963. Thus, in the past ten years Hattiesburg's population increased by 1,053. When viewing this increase, one must take into account Hattiesburg's earlier annexation in the 1980's which brought approximately 680 people into the city and Hattiesburg's 1989 annexation which brought approximately 4,800 people into the city. The added 22 square miles in Forrest County together with the area in Lamar County along Highway 98 and east of Interstate 59 should provide the city with enough land for expansion. See City of Greenville v. Farmers Inc., 513 So.2d 932, 934-35 (Miss. 1987).