Parrish v. City of Russellville
| Decision Date | 12 February 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. 5--6164,5--6164 |
| Citation | 253 Ark. 1000,490 S.W.2d 126 |
| Parties | Jim PARRISH et al., Appellants, v. CITY OF RUSSELLVILLE, Appellee. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
U. A. Gentry, Little Rock, W. H. Schulze, Russellville, for appellants.
John Harris, Russellville, for appellee.
For reversal of an order annexing 6,398 acres to the City of Russellville, appellants Jim Parrish, et al, chicken farmers, hog farmers and fish farmers, contend among other things that the published description required by Ark.Stat.Ann. § 19--101 (Repl.1968), is insufficient and that their lands are not adaptable nor presently needed for town purposes.
The record shows a description in two parts. The first part commences at the SE-Corner of Sec. 9, T 7 N, R 20 W and then describes a line that terminates at the point in SW 1/4 NW 1/4 Sec. 31, T 8 N, R 20 W where the Missouri Pacific Railroad right of way line intersects the present city limits. The second description commences at the SW-Corner of N 1/2 SE 1/4 Sec. 32, T 8 N, R 20 W, and with some admitted errors, terminates at the point where the first description commences.
To support its position that the description is sufficient, the City of Russellville relies upon the cases of Tex State v. Fort Worth, 339 S.W.2d 707 (Tex.1960), and Dixon v. Bremerton, 25 Wash.2d 508, 171 P.2d 243 (1946). Those cases recognize that a description must be sufficient to render possible the ascertainment of the boundaries involved and the territory intended to be included. The description approved in the Texas case commenced at a point on the present city boundary and described the periphery of the area to be annexed by circling back to the point of beginning. The description approved in the Washington case described all that portion of two particular geographical sections lying South and East of the existing city limits. Here the description does not encircle any geographical area nor describe a geographical area to be annexed. In fact the descriptions here only describe a line. This of course does not comport with the requirements of Ark.Stat.Ann. § 19--101 (Repl.1968), that the petition describe 'the territory to be embraced.' Consequently, the petition for annexation should have been dismissed.
On the issue that the lands sought to be annexed are not presently adaptable to town purposes, the proof shows that of the 6,398 acres, sought to be annexed, 3,939 were farm land, 1,674 were wooded land, and 785 acres were auto salvage yards, coal mines, cemeteries and residences.
Mr. Bill Onopa, employed by the West Central Arkansas Planning and Development District testified that based upon population estimates, that the City of Russellville would grow from a 1971 population of 11,250 to a 1990 population of 25,000, the City of Russellville needed to annex the 6,250 acres for planning purposes. On cross-examination Mr. Onopa fixed a reasonable planning period at any where from twenty to twenty-five years. In response to the question as to whether the 6,250 acres were adaptable for City use today, Mr. Onopa stated:
On re-direct he stated that the 6,250 acres would probably be consumed within the next 25 to 30 years.
Robert Darr, a real estate broker, in speaking of the adaptability of the Parrish property for town purposes stated:
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Holmes v. City of Little Rock, 84-266
...K is held for urban development. The cases cited by appellant as barring annexation are inappropriate. In Parrish v. City of Russellville, 253 Ark. 1000, 490 S.W.2d 126 (1973), the land was more remote from the City and its services, and only 785 acres of the 6,398 annexed were anything oth......
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Saunders v. City of Little Rock, 77-103
...200 Ark. 1094, 143 S.W.2d 35 (1940), Town of Ouita v. Heidgen, 247 Ark. 943, 448 S.W.2d 631 (1970) and Parrish v. City of Russellville, 253 Ark. 1000, 490 S.W.2d 126 (1973). In the last mentioned case, we stated: "Furthermore, as recently as Town of Ouita v. Heidgen, 247 Ark. 943, 448 S.W.2......
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Lee v. City of Pine Bluff, 85-312
...description, he could, with the aid of the map referred to in the ordinance, plat the new city limits. In Parrish v. City of Russellville, 253 Ark. 1000, 490 S.W.2d 126 (1973), we held that a legal description, which described merely a line, did not comply with statutory requirements. That ......
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Chastain v. Davis, 87-167
...a line that does not connect to the starting point." In invalidating the annexation, the court relied on Parrish v. City of Russellville, 253 Ark. 1000, 490 S.W.2d 126 (1973), which voided another annexation because the legal description did not The petitioners realized the defect in the pe......