Court Opinion

ID: 9772402
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:16:51.520585+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:44.065759
License: Public Domain

SUPPLEMENTAL OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
AKIN, Justice.
After we withdrew our original opinion and on rehearing substituted a new opinion, both parties have filed second motions for rehearing. They request that we enumerate those ordinances and sections of the City’s Code which are unenforceable against the District as a matter of law. This request is well-taken. The City further requests that we reconsider our ruling that TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 1015 provides no statutory basis for the City’s exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction. Upon reconsideration, we agree that article 1015 provides statutory support for extension of the City’s ordinances and Code into its extraterritorial jurisdiction. The District contends that we erred in failing to hold that only Chapter 6 of the City’s Code could be extended into the City’s extraterritorial jurisdiction pursuant to TEX.REV. CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 970a; in failing to hold that Chapters 3 and 9 of the City’s Code were not enforceable in the City’s extraterritorial jurisdiction; in failing to hold that Chapter 6 was not applicable herein because it is a subdivision control ordinance and because we are bound by the trial court’s finding that the District did not subdivide any of its property; in failing to uphold the trial court’s judgment because the City filed no Bill of Exceptions in the record; in failing to hold that certain sections of the Code were unenforceable because they impermissibly define certain acts as common nuisances; and in failing to hold that certain sections of the code were unenforceable because they are in conflict with state law. We agree only with respect to the Code sections defining *822common nuisances and disagree with respect to the other contentions.
The District derives statutory authority to build and operate the wastewater treatment plant in issue in this suit from the Act of April 20, 1951, ch. 62, 1951 Tex.Gen. Laws 96, as amended by Act of April 30, 1975, ch. 90, section 27,1975 Tex.Gen.Laws 238 (the “District Act”). Section 27 of the Act states that to the extent of any conflict or inconsistency between the section and any other law, the section shall prevail and control; provided, however, that all cities shall have the right to use any other laws not in conflict with the provisions of the Act. Consequently, the Act does not excuse the District of all obligations to comply with the City’s ordinances and Code sections, but does render unenforceable as a matter of law those ordinances and sections which purport to deny or restrict the District’s right to build or operate the plant, rather than to regulate the methods and means of such building and operation.
Certain of the sections of the City’s Code, and the corresponding ordinances, provide for the assessment of criminal penalties and fines for acts in violation of the provisions of the Code. Such sections include 3-8, 3-9, 5-27, 6-41, 7-27, 7-28, 8-21, 9-6, 10-3, 10-7, 10-7.2, 10-10, 10-13, 10-18, 10-21, and 10-29. The assessment of criminal penalties and levying of fines against the District or its officers would conflict with, and be inconsistent with, the District Act. Consequently, these sections are unenforceable against the District as a matter of law.
Similarly, certain sections require that individuals, developers, and companies building certain types of improvements within the City and its extraterritorial jurisdiction post bonds or pay fees with respect to their activities. Section 6-23 requires posting of a maintenance bond with the City of 10% of the total value of any subdivision built in the City or its extraterritorial jurisdiction. Sections 7-24 and 7-29 require posting of a maintenance bond for any water system built within the City. Section 8-14 and 8-15 respectively require payment of a fee equal to 1%, and posting of a bond equal to the entire amount, of the projected cost of any sewer system to be built within the City or its extraterritorial jurisdiction. Section 10-23 requires payment of a fee of $300 per vehicle from any political subdivision which intends to use commercial vehicles on the roads within the City or its extraterritorial jurisdiction. The requirement of fees and bonds from the District would conflict with, and be inconsistent with, the District Act and such requirements are not enforceable against the District.
Our holding that the District Act insulates the District from the City’s ordinances concerning criminal penalties, fines, fees and bonds does not conflict with our prior holding that the District remains subject to reasonable regulation by the City. The provision of the Act that it shall control over conflicting or inconsistent laws, when read together with the balance of the Act, indicates that the provision was intended to prevent any laws which directly inhibit the District’s activities from being enforced against the District. However, nothing in the act convinces us that the Legislature intended such a momentous departure from prior law as would be entailed by creation of a political subdivision that was entirely immune from any law that would even indirectly affect its activities. Accordingly, the Act does not prohibit any indirect or incidental effect upon District activities caused by compliance with such laws as, inter alia, environmental protection laws, laws relating to administrative procedures, meetings and records, and laws enforcing equal rights without regard to race or sex. Criminal penalties, fines, fees, and bonds directly assessed upon the work of the District have a direct effect upon that work and cannot be upheld. Regulations which indirectly affect the work of the District by requiring it to conduct that work in a manner which achieves the District’s goals while protecting the City’s interests may be applied to the District.
Ordinances and Code sections which purport to prohibit the District from building or operating its plant should such activities come within the scope of such *823ordinances and sections, or which purport to grant discretion to City officials to prohibit such activities directly affect the District’s ability to achieve its goals. Consequently, the sections specified in our substituted opinion, 10-9,10-12, and 10-19 are inapplicable to the District. Similarly, section 3-3, confers authority on the City Council to deny a building permit should they conclude it would endanger the citizenry. Section 8-17 allows the City Council to disapprove a proposed sewer system should it conclude that such system would not benefit the City or would endanger its citizenry. Section 9-4(H) prohibits construction of any sewer system or wastewa-ter treatment plant within 2,000 feet of Lake Lavon. Chapter 9, as a whole, sets up a comprehensive zoning plan and prohibits any use of land which does not conform to the uses allowed within its particular zoning category. None of these Code sections may be enforced against the District.
In our original opinion, we held that TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN., art. 1015 granted statutory authority for the City to extend regulations to its extra-territorial jurisdiction which were designed to protect its public water supply. In our substituted opinion, we concluded that this statute was not available to the City inasmuch as the City had no public water supply. The City now points to the trial court’s unchallenged finding of fact that its citizens obtain their drinking water from the City and it buys the water from the District. Where a city enters into a contract with a district to supply water to its citizens, that water constitutes a public water supply. See TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN., art. 1109e. Consequently, the City has a public water supply and those of its ordinances designed to protect its water supply may be extended into its extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The District contends that only Chapter 6 of the City’s Code is authorized by article 970a and that, inasmuch as we have held that it provides the only statutory basis for the City’s authority in its extraterritorial jurisdiction, all other sections of the Code, particularly Chapters 3 and 9, cannot be enforced against the District. Since we have held that a restrictive zoning category may not be applied by the City against the District, this argument with respect to Chapter 9 is moot. With respect to Chapter 3, we do not agree with the District.
Chapter 3 requires a building permit pri- or to construction within the city limits or within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City. It also adopts the Uniform Building Code, Uniform Electrical Code, Uniform Mechanical Code and Uniform Plumbing Code. These codes regulate, inter alia, connections between a main building and garage, permissible types of shingles used to roof a building, fire extinguisher requirements, permissible piping materials, and required safeguards for electrical systems.
Article 970a confers authority upon a city to extend its subdivision ordinances into its extraterritorial jurisdiction. In determining whether jurisdiction under article 970a has attached, a subdivision may be simply a division of a tract of land into smaller parts. City of Weslaco v. Carpenter, 694 S.W.2d 601 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1985, writ ref’d n.r.e.), Black’s Law Dictionary (1979). However, use of the term is not restricted to the division itself but also encompasses the development of the divided tracts. City of Weslaco, 694 S.W.2d at 603. Consequently, ordinances regulating development, such as those specifying design, construction and maintenance standards, may be extended by a city into its extraterritorial jurisdiction. City of Weslaco, 694 S.W.2d at 602-603. See also City of Corpus Christi v. Unitarian Church, 436 S.W.2d 923 (Tex.Civ.App.— Corpus Christi 1968, ref’d n.r.e.).
Moreover, a municipal corporation may exercise both those powers expressly granted by a statute and those necessarily or fairly implied in such grant, Foster v. City of Waco, 113 Tex. 352, 255 S.W. 1104, 1105 (1923). City of Corpus Christi, 436 S.W.2d at 929. Were we to hold that building standards are not contemplated by article 970a, we would be left with a statute that grants authority over the laying out of streets, alleys and lot boundaries, but precludes authority over *824the most important part of a subdivision. Consequently, we conclude that the power over subdivisions conferred by article 970a necessarily or fairly implies a right to issue regulations governing construction of housing, buildings, and the components thereof.
Nevertheless, the District contends that article 970a is not available to the City in this case because the trial court found that the District did not subdivide its property and the City failed to challenge this finding by a point of error in its brief. The District misstates the record in that the City’s Point of Error 11 clearly challenges this finding of the trial court.
The District objects to portions of our substituted opinion which held that there was no evidence to support certain findings of the trial court, contending that we are, in any event, bound by the trial court’s findings due to the failure of the City to propound a Bill of Exceptions complaining of such findings. We do not agree. The City made timely requests of its own proposed findings of fact, objecting to those of the trial court. Moreover, a statement of facts has been filed among the records of this cause. Consequently, we are not necessarily bound by the findings of the trial court. Swanson v. Swanson, 148 Tex. 600, 228 S.W.2d 156 (1950).
The District contends that sections 3-9, 6-13.1, 6-41, 8-22, 10-7, 10-13, and 10-29 are invalid in that they attempt to define certain acts as common nuisances. A municipal ordinance may not declare acts to be common nuisances unless such acts were held to be nuisances at common law or unless they constitute nuisances per se. Otten v. Town of China Grove, 660 S.W.2d 565 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1983, writ dism’d). Further, such sections would clearly conflict or be inconsistent with the District Act were they to be enforced against the District. Consequently, such sections are unenforceable against the District.
Finally, the District argues that Code sections 10-22 through 10-27 are void because they contravene TEX.REV.CIV. STAT.ANN., article 6698. These sections regulate the use of certain motor vehicles in the jurisdiction of the City. They are not in conflict with article 6698 because it only provides state registration and identification requirements for motor vehicles. The statute does not abrogate the City's right to regulate the operation of vehicles within its jurisdiction. Utter v. State, 571 S.W.2d 934 (Tex.Crim.App., 1978, no pet.).
The judgment of the trial court is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion and our prior substituted opinion. Otherwise, the motions for rehearing are overruled.