City of Lucas v. North Texas Mun. Water Dist.

• Decision Date: 17 September 1986
• Docket Number: No. 05-85-00399-CV,05-85-00399-CV
• Citation: 724 S.W.2d 811
• Parties: CITY OF LUCAS, Appellant, v. NORTH TEXAS MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT, City of Plano, Texas, City of Richardson, Texas, City of Allen, Texas, City of McKinney, Texas, Appellees.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 811

724 S.W.2d 811

CITY OF LUCAS, Appellant, v. NORTH TEXAS MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT, City of Plano, Texas City of Richardson, Texas, City of Allen, Texas City of McKinney, Texas, Appellees.

No. 05-85-00399-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas Dallas.

Sept. 17, 1986.

Supplemental Opinion Dec. 19, 1986.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 18, 1987.

Earl F. Hale, Robert R. Ries, Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, Dallas, for appellant.

John R. Stooksberry, Boyd, Veigel, Gay & McCall, Inc., McKinney, for appellees.

Before AKIN, STEWART and HOLLINGSWORTH, JJ.

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

AKIN, Justice.

On motion for rehearing, the court withdraws its former opinion and substitutes this one. Appellees North Texas Municipal Water District (the "District"), City of Plano, City of Richardson, City of Allen, and City of McKinney, sought to construct and operate a wastewater treatment project on a 403-acre tract of land in Collin County. The tract lies partly within the corporate limits of the City of Lucas (the "City") and partly within the City's extraterritorial jurisdiction. ¹ However, the 75 acres on which the main treatment plan is to be built, and with which we are primarily concerned, lie wholly within the City's extraterritorial jurisdiction. The sewage that is to be treated will be brought into the plant through 60-inch pipelines, known as "interceptor lines," which will pass through the City's corporate limits.

The City sued appellees for declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent appellees from constructing and operating the wastewater treatment project without (1) obtaining the consent of the City, where allegedly required, or (2) complying with allegedly applicable City ordinances. The District counterclaimed for a declaratory judgment that the ordinances in question were void and unenforceable as a matter of law or, in the alternative, that the ordinances were not enforceable against the District.

Trial was to the court, who concluded, inter alia, that various City ordinances were void and unenforceable insofar as they regulated activities within the City's extraterritorial jurisdiction, that certain other ordinances were void and unenforceable because they exceeded the power granted to a general-law city ² under state law, and that all of the ordinances at issue were adopted for the sole purpose of selective enforcement against the District. Accordingly, the trial judge enjoined the City from enforcing, within its extraterritorial jurisdiction, the ordinances in question against the District. The judge further enjoined the City from enforcing, within its corporate limits, the ordinances against the District until such time as the City could demonstrate the good faith ability to enforce the ordinances as to the public at large.

On appeal, the City contends that the trial court erred: (1) in concluding that the District need not comply with any of the City's ordinances because of certain provisions of the Act of April 20, 1951, ch. 62, 1951 Tex.Gen.Laws 96, as amended by Act of April 30, 1975, ch. 90, § 1, sec. 27, 1975 Tex.Gen.Laws 238 (the "District Act"); (2) in concluding that certain ordinances were void and unenforceable insofar as they attempted to regulate activities within the City's extraterritorial jurisdiction; (3) in concluding that the City's subdivision-control ordinances were void and unenforceable because they exceeded the power granted to a general-law city under state law; (4) in concluding that the District was not subject to the City's subdivision regulations because the District had not subdivided any of its property located within the City's extraterritorial jurisdiction; (5) in concluding that the ordinances at issue were adopted for the sole purpose of selective enforcement against the District; (6) in permanently enjoining the City from enforcing, within its corporate limits, any of the ordinances in question against the District until such time as the City could demonstrate the good faith ability to enforce the ordinances as to the public at large; (7) in excluding evidence allegedly establishing that certain actions of the District were taken at meetings held in violation of the Open Meetings Act, TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 6252-17 (Vernon Supp.1985); and (8) in awarding to the District from the City attorney's fees in the amount of $21,709.23. We agree with some of the City's contentions. ³

The City first contends that the trial court erred in concluding that the District need not comply with any of the City's ordinances because of certain provisions of the District Act. Section 27(a) of the District Act provides, in pertinent part:

In addition to all other powers, the district is authorized to purchase, construct, acquire, own, operate, maintain, repair, improve, or extend inside and outside its boundaries, at any location whatsoever, in the sole discretion of the district, any and all works, improvements, facilities, plants, equipment, and appliances incident, helpful, or necessary to:

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(2) collect, transport, process, treat, dispose of, and control all municipal, domestic, industrial, or communal waste whether in fluid, solid or composite state, including specifically the control, abatement, or reduction of all types of pollution; and it is hereby found and determined by the legislature that all of the aforesaid purposes are for the conservation and development of the natural resources of the state within the meaning of Article XVI, Section 59 of the Texas Constitution.

Section 27(l) of the District Act provides:

This section shall be wholly sufficient authority within itself for the issuance of the bonds, the execution of contracts, and the performance of the other acts and procedures authorized herein by the district, and all cities, public agencies, and other political subdivisions, without reference to any other law or any restrictions or limitations contained therein, except as herein specifically provided; and in any case to the extent of any conflict or inconsistency between any provisions of this section and any other provisions of law, this section shall prevail and control; provided, however, that the district and all cities, public agencies, and other political subdivisions shall have the right to use the provisions of any other laws, not in conflict with the provisions hereof, to the extent convenient or necessary to carry out any power or authority, express or implied, granted by this section. [emphasis added]

The district argues essentially that the first clause ⁴ of section 27(l) provides that section 27, in and of itself, authorizes the District to issue bonds, execute contracts, and perform various other acts in furtherance of its stated purposes and that no other law shall affect such actions of the District. We cannot agree with this interpretation. In our view, the first clause of section 27(l) provides only that section 27, without reference to any other law, furnishes sufficient authority for the District to issue bonds, execute contracts, and perform various other acts to effectuate its authorized purposes. Accordingly, we conclude that this clause alone does not relieve the District of the obligation to comply with the City's ordinances.

The second clause of section 27(l) provides that in the event of any conflict or inconsistency between the provisions of section 27 and any other provision of law, section 27 is controlling. The District argues that the City ordinances in question were adopted solely to prevent the District from constructing and operating the treatment plant and thus necessarily conflict with, or are inconsistent with, the first clause of section 27(l). The City asserts that reasonable regulations adopted merely in order to protect the health and welfare of the City's residents by insuring that the District's operations are conducted in a safe manner are not inconsistent with the District Act. We agree with the City's position and, accordingly, hold that reasonable regulations designed not to prevent the treatment plant's construction and operation but rather to provide for the health and welfare of the City's residents in connection with the plant's construction and operation, and which are otherwise authorized by law, do not conflict with, and are not inconsistent with, the provisions of the District Act.

The City also contends that its consent is required before the District can construct and operate the treatment plant within the City's corporate limits or within its extraterritorial jurisdiction. We disagree with this contention for two reasons.

First, the plain language of section 27(a) of the District Act provides that the District may, in its "sole discretion," choose to locate or operate its facilities "at any location whatsoever." We have held that the City may, in order to protect the health and welfare of its residents, enact reasonable regulations to insure that the activities which the District chooses to undertake are safely conducted. Such regulations do not conflict with the District Act. On the other hand, requiring the District to obtain the City's consent before it could even undertake its activities would conflict with the District Act, which provides that it is authority within itself for certain specified activities.

Second, City of Plano v. City of Allen, 395 S.W.2d 927 (Tex.Civ.App.--Dallas 1965, writ ref'd n.r.e.), upon which the City heavily relies in support of its contention that its consent is required, does not control this case. In Plano v. Allen, we held that the Legislature did not intend to authorize one city to own and operate a sewage disposal plant within the city limits of another city without that city's consent. No statute similar to section 27(a) of the District Act was before the Plano v. Allen court. Indeed, the court indicated that, had such a statute existed, a different result would have been reached. 395 S.W.2d at 928.

The City maintains that the trial...