Ferrini v. City of San Luis Obispo

• Decision Date: 28 December 1983
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: Felton A. FERRINI and Marlene A. Frazier, Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, et al., Defendants and Appellants; Public Interest Action Center of San Luis Obispo, Intervenor and Appellant. Civ. 68053.

Page 694

197 Cal.Rptr. 694

150 Cal.App.3d 239

Felton A. FERRINI and Marlene A. Frazier, Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, et al., Defendants and Appellants;

Public Interest Action Center of San Luis Obispo, Intervenor and Appellant.

Civ. 68053.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 6, California.

Dec. 28, 1983.

[150 Cal.App.3d 242] George C. Thacher, City Atty. of San Luis Obispo, for defendant and appellant City of San Luis Obispo.

Ogle, Gallo & Merzon and Charles E. Ogle, Morro Bay, for plaintiffs and respondents Ferrini and Frazier.

Stuart & Shaw, and A.J. Shaw, Jr., San Luis Obispo, for intervenor and appellant Public Interest Action Center of San Luis Obispo.

GILBERT, Associate Justice.

Here we conclude that the Municipal Organization Act of 1977, Government Code section 35000 to 35500 (MORGA) ¹ embodies the exclusive procedure for annexation of territory to a city, and precludes an

election by the city voters in uninhabited annexations.

FACTS

Felton Ferrini and Marlene Frazier (hereinafter together Ferrini) owned 199 acres of uninhabited land contiguous to the city of San Luis Obispo (City). In early 1978 Ferrini filed a petition with the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), County of San Luis Obispo, for the annexation of this land to the City. The Ferrini annexation complied with the provisions of MORGA which became effective January 1, 1978.

On April 20, 1978, LAFCO by resolution approved the Ferrini Annexation, subject to certain terms and conditions. Among other things LAFCO required a boundary revision, a revised map, an open space easement, and prezoning of the territory and authorized the City to complete the annexation without further notice, hearing or election.

The City complied with the terms and conditions of the resolution. The City Council approved amendment to the City's General Plan designating 51 acres of the Ferrini Annexation as low density residential and 148 acres as agriculture/conservation open space. It also adopted an ordinance amending the official zone map to prezone the territory and on July 5, 1978, by resolution, it approved the Ferrini Annexation. Ferrini recorded a deed granting the City a perpetual open space easement on 148 acres. Finally, on July 24, 1978, the executive officer of LAFCO prepared the Certificate of Completion which was recorded on July 26, 1978.

Meanwhile, on February 8, 1978, the electorate filed an initiative petition to obtain an election on proposed Charter Amendment 727. ² On June 6, 1978, the City electorate approved Charter Amendment 727 which became effective June 30, 1978. As a result, the City Council scheduled a special election for November 7, 1978, to vote on the Ferrini Annexation. At that election the voters rejected the Ferrini Annexation.

Ferrini subsequently instituted this action for declaratory relief against the City, challenging the validity of Charter Amendment 727. ³ The Public Interest Center of San Luis Obispo County (Center) intervened ⁴ in support of the amendment's validity. The trial court held that Charter Amendment 727 was unconstitutional and that the annexation was valid and effective as of July 26, 1978. The City and the Center have appealed.

We affirm.

DISCUSSION

MORGA was enacted following a long period of turbulence and controversy over territorial annexations of unincorporated areas by cities. Prior to 1963, "annexation controversies took on the appearance of 'a kind of warfare in which the unincorporated suburbs of the state have been both the prize and battleground, the annexation process a tactic, the location of annexation boundaries a significant weapon, and their calculated manipulation a commonplace event.' " (Citizens Against Forced Annexation v. Local Agency Formation Com. (1982) 32 Cal.3d 816, 828, 187 Cal.Rptr. 423, 654 P.2d 193, quoting Tillie Lewis Foods, Inc. v. City of Pittsburgh (1975) 52 Cal.App.3d 983, 995, 124 Cal.Rptr. 698.)

The Legislature in 1963 acknowledged the need for a supra-local agency to resolve annexation issues affecting local governments by establishing a LAFCO in each county for this purpose. The Knox-Nisbet Act of 1965 broadened the authority of the LAFCOs to approve, modify, or disapprove annexation proposals in accord with specified standards. (§§ 54774, 54790, 54796; see Citizens Against Forced Annexation v. Local Agency Formation Com., supra, 32 Cal.3d 816, 187 Cal.Rptr. 423, 654 P.2d 193; Bozung v. Local Agency Formation Com. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 263, 274, 118 Cal.Rptr. 249, 529 P.2d 1017.) LAFCO is a creature of the Legislature exercising, in this instance, authority delegated by MORGA. (See, e.g., Friends of Mount Diablo v. County of Contra Costa (1977) 72 Cal.App.3d 1006, 1011, 139 Cal.Rptr. 469; Bookout v. Local Agency Formation Com. (1975) 49 Cal.App.3d 383, 388, 122 Cal.Rptr. 668.)

"The preface to the 1977 law [MORGA] which led to its enactment reiterates the state's interest in encouraging orderly growth and development and in favor of logical determination of city boundaries ... (§ 35000). It then explicitly finds that 'urban population densities ... necessitate a broad spectrum and high level of community services and controls,' which can be best provided by a 'single governmental agency, rather than several limited purpose agencies.' (Id.) The Act thus states a legislative goal of providing a full range of municipal services to developing areas beyond present city boundaries and, by implication, the belief of the Legislature that such services can be provided more efficiently by municipal government, through annexation, than by the special districts and agencies which more commonly serve unincorporated lands.

"The 1977 Act ... comprehensively revises the statutory procedures governing incorporation, civic reorganization, annexation, and detachment of territory. It confirms the authority of the commissions to control annexation (see § 35150), and the right of residents of inhabited territories to self-determination (see § 35228), but eliminates the power of city governments to reject an annexation. Thus, under the 1977 Act, if the residents of an affected area desire to join a neighboring city, and that proposal accords with the pattern of orderly community development as envisioned by the commission, the city and its voters no longer have the power to defeat annexation.

"The foregoing history indicates that the Legislature had determined that the goals of promoting orderly and logical community development, and of providing municipal services to newly urbanized regions, cannot adequately be met if city governments and their voters have a veto power over annexations approved by local agency formation commissions." (Citizens Against Forced Annexation v. Local Agency Formation Com., supra, 32 Cal.3d 816, 828-829, 187 Cal.Rptr. 423, 654 P.2d 193.)

MORGA provides "the sole and exclusive authority and procedure for the initiation, conduct, and completion of city incorporations, municipal reorganizations, or changes of organization." (§ 35002) " 'Change of organization' " specifically includes annexation. (§ 35027) MORGA repeals and replaces earlier statutes regulating annexation and insures that LAFCOS will not be inhibited in exercising their authority by limiting the veto power of the city electorate. It provides for elections only in exceptional circumstances when inhabited territory is annexed (see §§ 35228, 35150, 35231, subds. (a) and (b)) and makes no provision for an election when uninhabited territory is annexed. (§ 35229.)

Appellants contend that Charter Amendment 727 embodies the constitutionally reserved referendum powers of the City electorate and is to be liberally construed. "Declaring it 'the duty of the courts to jealously guard this right of the people' [citation], the courts have described the initiative and referendum as articulating 'one of the most precious rights of our democratic process.' [Citation.] '[I]t has long been our judicial policy to apply a liberal construction to this power wherever it is challenged in order that the right be not improperly annulled. If doubts can reasonably be resolved in favor of the use of this reserve power, courts will preserve it.' [Citation. Fns. omitted.]" (Associated Home Builders Etc., Inc. v. City of Livermore (1976) 18 Cal.3d 582, 591, 135 Cal.Rptr. 41, 557 P.2d 473.)

In order to justify an infringement on established voting rights, the state must satisfy strict equal protection standards and show that the distinctions drawn are necessary to further its purpose and that the restraints on the franchise are justified by a compelling state interest. (Curtis v. Board of Supervisors (1972) 7 Cal.3d 942, 952, 104 Cal.Rptr. 297, 501 P.2d 537; Williams v. Rhodes (1968) 393 U.S. 23, 31, 89 S.Ct. 5, 10, 21 L.Ed.2d 24.)

The state Constitution provides: "The Legislature shall prescribe uniform procedure for city formation and provide for city powers." (Cal. Const., art. XI, § 2, subd. (a).) The city electorate does not have an absolute right to vote on annexations since "it is well established that the state may create, expand, diminish, or totally abolish municipal corporations with or without the consent of its citizens, or even against their protest." (Scuri v. Board of Supervisors (1982) 134 Cal.App.3d 400, 404-405, 185 Cal.Rptr. 18.) The Legislature need make no provision for elections in annexation proceedings and equal protection standards are satisfied by legislation avoiding election where the territory to be annexed is of small size (Scuri v. Board of Supervisors, supra, at p. 409, 185 Cal.Rptr. 18) or "uninhabited" (Weber v. City Council (1973) 9 Cal.3d 950, 109 Cal.Rptr. 553, 513 P.2d 601.)

In addition, the California Supreme Court has recently upheld MORGA's provisions limiting election in inhabited annexations to residents of the territory to be annexed against challenge on state and federal equal protection grounds. (Citizens Against Forced...