Frey v. City of Jamestown, 950287

• Decision Date: 31 May 1996
• Docket Number: No. 950287,950287
• Citation: 548 N.W.2d 784
• Parties: Charles L. FREY, Mary Ellen Frey, John Ronsberg, Lisa Ronsberg, Robert Seitz, Angela Seitz, Plaintiffs and Appellants, and Robert Frey, Connie Frey, James Madsen, Angela Madsen and Bloom Township, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF JAMESTOWN, Defendant and Appellee, and American Prairie Foods, L.L.C., Intervenor. Civil
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Page 784

548 N.W.2d 784

Charles L. FREY, Mary Ellen Frey, John Ronsberg, Lisa Ronsberg, Robert Seitz, Angela Seitz, Plaintiffs and Appellants and Robert Frey, Connie Frey, James Madsen, Angela Madsen and Bloom Township, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF JAMESTOWN, Defendant and Appellee and American Prairie Foods, L.L.C., Intervenor.

Civil No. 950287.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

May 31, 1996.

Mark R. Hanson (argued), of Nilles, Hansen & Davies, Ltd., Fargo, for plaintiffs and appellants.

Kenneth L. Dalsted (argued), City Attorney, Jamestown, for defendant and appellee.

Joseph F. Larson II (no appearance), Jamestown, for Intervenor.

MESCHKE, Justice.

Charles and Mary Ellen Frey, John and Lisa Ronsberg, and Robert and Angela Seitz (plaintiffs) appealed from a summary judgment dismissing their lawsuit to enjoin the City of Jamestown from annexing a 100-acre tract and from zoning it for industrial use. We hold that the plaintiffs were not entitled to injunctive relief because Jamestown complied with the statutory procedures for annexing and zoning the land. We affirm the judgment.

The plaintiffs own agricultural land adjacent to the 100-acre tract that lies east of Jamestown and north of Interstate 94 in Bloom Township. In April 1994, Robert and Connie Frey, then owners of the 100-acre tract, granted Columbia Foods, the predecessor to American Prairie Foods, an option to purchase the tract. Columbia Foods planned to build a potato processing plant there.

On August 1, 1994, Jamestown adopted a resolution to annex the 100-acre tract. Jamestown published a notice of hearings for September 6, 1994, on the annexation resolution and to simultaneously zone the land for industrial use. ¹ Robert and Connie Frey filed a written protest to the annexation resolution and, along with the plaintiffs, filed a written protest to the proposed zoning amendment. At the September 6 hearing, the Jamestown City Council voted to "postpone" and "delay" consideration of the annexation resolution. This delay also effectively postponed consideration of the related zoning amendment.

Meanwhile, on September 2, 1994, the Jamestown City Council approved a loan to American for purchase of the land from Robert and Connie Frey, and on October 3, 1994, American purchased the land. Jamestown then published a notice of hearing for October 26 on the annexation resolution and the related zoning amendment. Robert and Connie Frey and the plaintiffs again protested the annexation resolution and the related zoning amendment.

On October 24, 1994, the plaintiffs, together with Bloom Township, James and Angela Madsen, and Robert and Connie Frey, sued Jamestown to enjoin the annexation resolution and the related zoning amendment. The plaintiffs alleged Jamestown had failed to comply with the statutory procedures for annexation and zoning. On October 25, the trial court granted a temporary restraining order that prohibited Jamestown from annexing or rezoning the land pending a trial on the merits.

On October 25, 1994, American petitioned to annex the 100-acre tract. At the October 26 meeting, the Jamestown City Council considered the protests to the first annexation resolution and related zoning amendment. The City Council defeated the annexation resolution, took no action on the related zoning amendment, and accepted American's petition to annex the land.

The trial court then dissolved its temporary restraining order, concluding that Jamestown's decisions on the annexation resolution and related zoning amendment were legislative acts under NDCC 32-05-05(7) that could not be enjoined. The court ruled that, under NDCC Ch. 40-51.2, Jamestown's annexation resolution was a separate proceeding from American's annexation petition and that, although Jamestown had made errors in the resolution process, the resolution had been defeated, thereby freeing Jamestown to consider American's annexation petition.

In December 1994 and January 1995, Jamestown published a notice of hearing for January 11, 1995, on American's annexation petition and a related proposal to zone the land for industrial use. The plaintiffs filed protests, and they presented their objections at the January 11 hearing. The Jamestown City Council nevertheless adopted ordinances to annex the 100-acre tract and to zone it for industrial use.

Thereafter, the trial court granted summary judgment dismissing the plaintiffs' lawsuit to enjoin Jamestown's attempted annexation by resolution. The court, however, allowed the plaintiffs to amend their complaint to seek declaratory and injunctive relief from the completed annexation and zoning amendment and, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, to allege a violation of their civil rights.

Bloom Township, James and Angela Madsen, and Robert and Connie Frey settled their claims with Jamestown, and they were dismissed from the lawsuit. The trial court later granted summary judgment dismissing the plaintiffs' lawsuit to enjoin the completed annexation and zoning proceedings.

The trial court held that the plaintiffs' claims about Jamestown's annexation resolution were moot because those proceedings were separate from American's annexation petition, and that Jamestown was entitled to defeat the annexation resolution and proceed with American's annexation petition. The court ruled that Jamestown had complied with the statutory procedures for annexation by petition and for amending the zoning ordinance, and that Jamestown's decision to annex and rezone the land were legislative acts under NDCC 32-05-05(7) that could not be enjoined. The court also dismissed the plaintiffs' civil rights claims. The plaintiffs appealed.

I

The plaintiffs urge that this annexation and zoning proceeding was a single, continuous procedure where Jamestown failed to follow the statutory mandates for annexation and zoning. The plaintiffs argue Jamestown's failures to comply with the statutory requirements were not legislative acts, and the trial court therefore erred in dismissing their action for injunctive and declaratory relief.

Summary judgment is a procedural device for the prompt disposition of a controversy without a trial if either party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, if no dispute exists as to either material facts or inferences to be drawn from undisputed facts, or if resolving disputed facts would not alter the result. Osterman-Levitt v. MedQuest, Inc., 513 N.W.2d 70 (N.D.1994). Even if a factual dispute exists, summary judgment is proper if, under the law, a resolution of the factual dispute will not change the result. Littlefield v. Union State Bank, 500 N.W.2d 881 (N.D.1993). The interpretation of a statute is a question of law that is fully reviewable. Matter of Annexation of Unity Public School Dist., 540 N.W.2d 393 (N.D.1995). We review the plaintiffs' arguments in that context.

"An injunction cannot be granted ... [t]o prevent a legislative act by a municipal corporation." NDCC 32-05-05(7). In Red River Valley Brick Co. v. Grand Forks, 27 N.D. 8, 145 N.W. 725 (1914), this court upheld injunctive relief against a municipality because it failed to comply with the statutory requirements for annexing property. We said that generally a municipality's decision to extend its corporate limits is a legislative act that may not be enjoined, but that injunctive relief is appropriate if the municipality fails to follow the statutory procedures for annexing property. We distinguished between a municipality's illegal exercise of its annexation power and the wisdom of the municipality's decision to annex land. We said the former was a judicial function that could be enjoined, while the latter was a legislative act that could not be enjoined. See Munch v. City of Mott, 311 N.W.2d 17 (N.D.1981) (enactment of zoning ordinance is legislative act, but interpretation of zoning ordinance is quasijudicial act); Fradet v. City of Southwest Fargo, 79 N.D. 799, 59 N.W.2d 871 (1953)(interpretation of statute is judicial function). In a similar context, we have also said that a declaratory judgment action may be an appropriate method to challenge the validity of a zoning ordinance. Pulkrabek v. Morton County, 389 N.W.2d 609 (N.D.1986). See Cowan v. Stroup, 284 N.W.2d 447 (N.D.1979); Eck v. City of Bismarck, 283 N.W.2d 193 (N.D.1979); NDCC 32-23-02 ("Any person ... whose rights ... are affected by a ... municipal ordinance ... may have determined any question of ... validity arising under the ... ordinance ... and may obtain a declaration of rights ... thereunder."). Declaratory and injunctive relief are appropriate if a municipality fails to comply with the statutory procedures for annexation and zoning, but may not be used to test the wisdom of an annexation or zoning decision.

The Municipal Annexation Act of 1969 (the Act), NDCC Ch. 40-51.2, diagrams the statutory procedures for a municipality to annex land. In construing statutes, our duty is to discern the intent of the Legislature. County of Stutsman v. State Historical Society, 371 N.W.2d 321 (N.D.1985). The Legislature's intent initially must be sought from the statutory language. Id. Statutory provisions must be considered as a whole with each provision harmonized, if possible. Id. Additionally, NDCC 40-51.2-02 explicitly directs that the Act shall be liberally construed to encourage the natural and well-ordered development of a municipality; to extend municipal government to areas which form a part of the whole community; to simplify government structure in urban areas; and to recognize the interrelationship and interdependence between a municipal corporation and a contiguous area. We apply those rules of statutory construction to the Act.

Under NDCC 40-51.2-03, contiguous owners may begin an annexation proceeding by presenting a signed annexation petition to a municipality. Under NDCC 40-51.2-05, the municipality may not take final action on the petition until the petitioners have given notice by one publication in the official...