City of Sullivan v. Sites
| Citation | 329 S.W.3d 691 |
| Decision Date | 11 January 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. SC 90866.,SC 90866. |
| Parties | CITY OF SULLIVAN, A Missouri Municipal Corporation in Franklin and Crawford Counties, Respondent, v. Judith Ann SITES, as Trustee of the Judith Ann Sites Trust, Appellant. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Missouri |
CITY OF SULLIVAN, A Missouri Municipal Corporation in Franklin and Crawford Counties, Respondent,
v.
Judith Ann SITES, as Trustee of the Judith Ann Sites Trust, Appellant.
No. SC 90866.
Supreme Court of Missouri,
En Banc.
Dec. 7, 2010.
Rehearing Denied Jan. 11, 2011.
Jonathan Sternberg, Sternberg Law PC, Dennis Owens, Attorney at Law, Kansas City, for Sites.
Kevin M. O'Keefe, Stephanie E. Karr, Curtis, Heinz, Garrett & O'Keefe PC, St. Louis, Matthew A. Schroeder, Hansen, Stierberger, Downard, Melenbrink & Schroeder LLC, Union, for the City.
Howard C. Wright Jr., Attorney at Law, Springfield, for the Missouri Municipal League, which filed a brief as a friend of the Court.
MARY R. RUSSELL, Judge.
At issue in this case is whether the City of Sullivan can charge higher sewer connection fees for properties in areas with new sewer access. A property owner argues that the City's sewer connection fee ordinance is a "special law" in violation of Missouri Constitution article III, section 40(30).
Because the sewer connection fee ordinance is a not an unconstitutional special law under article III, section 40(30), the trial court's judgment upholding the ordinance is affirmed.1
Background
In 1996, the City developed a plan to improve its sewer system and install new sewer lines in areas that previously had no sewer access. Pursuant to Missouri Constitution article VI, section 27, the City proposed a $3.3 million revenue bond to fund the sewer project. Before the election, voters were provided notice by mail about the sewer improvement project, which detailed the new areas that would receive sewer service and the connection fees that would be imposed in those areas. The City's voters passed the proposed bond issue. The bonds issued were special, limited obligations of the City, secured by and payable solely from a pledge of the net revenues gained from the operation of the City's combined sewer system and waterworks.
An ordinance outlining new sewer connection fees was included in the City's efforts to implement the sewer improvement project. The ordinance established higher sewer connection fees for properties located in areas that did not have sewer service prior to the 1996 sewer improvement project. Sewer connection fees for these properties were set at $3,750 or $4,250,2 whereas sewer connection fees in
The Judith Ann Sites Trust, administered by Judith Ann Sites as trustee, owns property located in an area that previously did not have sewer access. The City's new sewer lines were constructed within 100 feet of Sites's property, requiring her to connect her property to the sewer system.4 Sites refused to pay the costs for connecting to the City's sewer system, which included the City's sewer connection fee and the construction costs for a sewer line leading from her home to the City's sewer line. The City sued Sites, seeking an order compelling her to pay the necessary costs for a sewer connection.
Sites answered by arguing that the City's sewer connection fee ordinance is a "special law" that violates Missouri Constitution article III, section 40(30). She asserted that the ordinance wrongly created an improper subclass within the larger class of "all new sewer connections" by treating disparately sewer connections for properties located in newly sewered areas. She argued that it was unjustifiable to charge higher sewer connection fees to these properties because all new sewer connections, regardless of their location in the City, utilize comparable materials and yield the same permission to connect to the City's sewer service.
The City moved that Sites's answer be stricken because the City's sewer connection fee ordinance had withstood a previous challenge in Larson v. City of Sullivan, 92 S.W.3d 128 (Mo.App.2002). Larson, however, did not address a special laws challenge to the sewer connection fee ordinance. Instead, Larson determined that the ordinance did not violate the Hancock Amendment, Missouri Constitution article X, section 22. 92 S.W.3d at 131-33. Larson further concluded that the City had the authority to establish the connection fees and that the connection fees imposed by the City...
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Bennett v. St. Louis Cnty.
...419 S.W.3d 162, 174–75 (Mo. App. W.D. 2013).Standard of Review We review the constitutionality of ordinances de novo. City of Sullivan v. Sites, 329 S.W.3d 691, 693 (Mo. banc 2010) ; St. Louis Ass'n of Realtors v. City of Ferguson, 499 S.W.3d 395, 398 (Mo. App. E.D. 2016). Ordinances are pr......
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Neuner v. City of St. Louis, ED 105125
...S.W.3d 312, 316 (Mo. App. W.D. 2001). The constitutional validity of an ordinance is a question of law reviewed de novo. City of Sullivan v. Sites , 329 S.W.3d 691, 693 (Mo. banc 2010). Ordinances are presumed to be valid and lawful. Coop. Home Care, Inc. v. City of St. Louis , 514 S.W.3d 5......
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