Stennis v. City of Santa Fe

• Decision Date: 22 January 2008
• Docket Number: No. 29,997.,29,997.
• Citation: Stennis v. City of Santa Fe, 176 P.3d 309, 2008 NMSC 8, 143 N.M. 320 (N.M. 2008)
• Parties: Maria T. STENNIS, Plaintiff-Petitioner, v. The CITY OF SANTA FE, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

176 P.3d 309

2008 NMSC 008

Maria T. STENNIS, Plaintiff-Petitioner, v. The CITY OF SANTA FE, Defendant-Respondent.

No. 29,997.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

January 22, 2008.

Simons & Slattery, L.L.P., Thomas A. Simons, IV, Faith Lesley Kalman Reyes, Santa Fe, NM, for Petitioner.

Frank D. Katz, City Attorney, Santa Fe, NM, Sutin, Thayer & Browne, P.C., Germaine R. Chappelle, Santa Fe, NM, for Respondent.

D.L. Sanders, Arianne Singer, Santa Fe, NM, for Amicus Curiae Office of the State Engineer.

OPINION

SERNA, Justice.

{1} On motions for rehearing, the opinion filed October 25, 2007, is withdrawn and the following opinion is substituted in its place. The City of Santa Fe's motion for rehearing is otherwise denied. Maria Stennis's motion for rehearing is likewise denied. The Court, after considering the parties' supplemental briefing, decides, as a matter of law, that the Section 3-53-1.1(E) requirement of obtaining a "permit" from the municipality was duly satisfied by the municipality's 1999 Ordinance, which provided an application process through which the applicant must obtain authorization from the city before drilling a well. Section 3-53-1.1 does not require a municipal ordinance to track its language.

{2} Maria Stennis (Stennis) submitted a domestic well application to the State Engineer (SE)¹ in 2003. The SE approved Stennis's application, which showed that her proposed well might be located within two hundred feet of a City of Santa Fe (the City) water distribution line. Under a local ordinance, the City prohibited all wells within two hundred feet of a water distribution line. Stennis filed a complaint in district court seeking a declaratory judgment that the City did not have the authority to regulate domestic wells by municipal ordinance. On cross-petitions for summary judgment, the district court granted the City's motion and denied Stennis's motion, concluding that Stennis must obtain a City permit before using her domestic well. Stennis appealed to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed in a split decision. Stennis v. City of Santa Fe, 2006-NMCA-125, ¶¶ 5, 30, 140 N.M. 517, 143 P.3d 756. We granted certiorari to determine whether the City had the authority to enact a local ordinance governing domestic wells. 2006-NMCERT-009, 140 N.M. 543, 144 P.3d 102.

{3} The facts in this case are very similar to the facts in Smith v. City of Santa Fe, 2007-NMSC-055, 142 N.M. 786, 171 P.3d 300. In that case, we determined that the plaintiff could challenge the same ordinance at issue here through a declaratory judgment action, "provided that the declaratory judgment action is not used to circumvent established procedures for seeking judicial review of a municipality's administrative decisions." Id. ¶ 1. We also held that the City lawfully enacted this ordinance under its home rule authority. Id. ¶ 28 (citing Smith v. City of Santa Fe, 2006-NMCA-048, ¶¶ 6-25, 139 N.M. 410, 133 P.3d 866). The instant case differs because, prior to Stennis's application for an SE permit, the Legislature explicitly gave municipalities the authority to regulate domestic wells, provided that municipalities adhere to certain procedures. See NMSA 1978, § 3-53-1.1 (2001). One such procedural requirement is that a municipality must file its ordinance with the SE. Section 3-53-1.1(D). We conclude that Section 3-53-1.1(D)'s filing requirement is determinative of Stennis's case. We further conclude that a question of material fact exists in this case that must be decided by the district court: whether the City had its ordinance on file with the SE before Stennis applied to the SE for her domestic well permit. While the City could provide the other procedural protections in Section 3-53-1.1 without explicitly including them in the ordinance's language, the filing of its ordinance with the SE is mandatory.

{4} Therefore, we remand to the district court to determine whether the. City had its ordinance on file with the SE before Stennis applied to the SE for a domestic well permit. If the City filed its ordinance before Stennis applied for her permit, Stennis must submit a domestic well application for the City's authorization and the City must provide her a procedure in accordance with Section 3-53-1.1. If the City did not file its ordinance before Stennis applied for her permit, the City is without authority to regulate Stennis's well and she is permitted to use it.

I. FACTS

{5} The City became a home rule charter municipality² in 1998. In 1999, pursuant to its home rule authority, the City Council passed Ordinance No.1999-3, Section 1, entitled "Regulation of New Domestic Wells," codified at Santa Fe, N.M., Code chapter XXV, section 1.10 (1999) [hereinafter "1999 Ordinance"]. This ordinance provided that "[a]ll domestic well applications within the city's municipal water service area" submitted to the SE "shall be denied if the applicant's property boundary is within two hundred feet (200') of a water distribution main." Id. In practice, a person wanting to drill a domestic well within the City limits would apply to the SE for a permit, and the SE would hold these applications for review by City staff. The City would then inform the applicant that the applicant needed City authorization for the well and that the 1999 Ordinance prohibited the drilling of domestic wells if the property boundary was within two hundred feet of a City water distribution line.

{6} Thereafter, in 2001, the Legislature enacted Section 3-53-1.1, which reads, in pertinent part:

A. A municipality may, by ordinance, restrict the drilling of new domestic water wells, except for property zoned agricultural, if the property line of the applicant is within three hundred feet of the municipal water distribution lines and the property is located within the exterior boundaries of the municipality.

. . . .

D. A municipality shall file with the state engineer its municipal ordinance restricting the drilling of new domestic water wells.

(Emphasis added.) The 1999 Ordinance remained in, effect until March 31, 2004, when the City Council passed an ordinance that tracked the language of Section 3-53-1.1. Compare Santa Fe, N.M., Ordinance No.2004-7, § 1, codified at Santa Fe, N.M., Code ch. XXV, § 1.10 (2004) with 3-53-1.1.

{7} Pursuant to NMSA 1978, Sections 72-12-1 and 72-12-1.1 (2003),³ Stennis applied for a domestic well permit from the SE and, on September 24, 2003, she received a permit to drill a domestic well on her property. The SE notified the City of the permit and explained that the well might fall within the boundaries of the area covered by the 1999 Ordinance. In late September 2003, Stennis received notice from the City regarding the provisions of the 1999 Ordinance. The City informed her that she was required to obtain city authorization for the well because the boundary of Stennis's property was located within the city limits.

{8} Stennis never requested authorization from the City, but, on March 3, 2004, over five months after receiving the City's notice, she proceeded to drill her well. The City notified Stennis that drilling should stop, and Stennis applied for a restraining order. On March 5, 2004, the parties entered into a stipulated agreement, which allowed Stennis to complete drilling of the well but forbade her from pumping or using any water until the court rendered a decision on Stennis's right to drill the well.

{9} Even though the City informed Stennis that she needed its authorization to drill a well and that she was bound by the 1999 Ordinance, Stennis did not attempt to challenge this decision through any administrative proceeding. Instead, Stennis filed an amended complaint for declaratory relief, asking the district court to declare that the City had no authority to prohibit the drilling of a domestic well on her property. After a hearing on the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court granted the City's motion and denied Stennis's motion.

{10} Stennis appealed to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed in a split decision. Stennis, 2006-NMCA-125, ¶¶ 1, 5, 140 N.M. 517, 143 P.3d 756. The Court of Appeals held that, as a home rule municipality, the City had the authority to enact the 1999 Ordinance. Id. ¶ 11. Furthermore, the Court concluded that Section 3-53-1.1, governing municipal authority over domestic wells, did not preempt the 1999 Ordinance. Id. ¶ 24.

{11} Stennis petitioned this Court for certiorari and asked us to determine whether the City was preempted from enacting the 1999 Ordinance regulating domestic wells and whether the City's failure to adopt an ordinance pursuant to Section 3-53-1.1 until after she began drilling her well leaves the City without authority to regulate her well. Our decision in Smith answers the first question: the City had the authority to enact the 1999 Ordinance. 2007-NMSC-055, ¶ 27, 142 N.M. 786, 171 P.3d 300. Smith also informs our decision on the second issue. We conclude that the Legislature did not intend to negate the City's valid authority to regulate domestic wells. Instead, Section 3-53-1.1 affirms this authority, but requires that the City follow a certain procedure, in particular, the filing of the municipal ordinance with the SE. Section 3-53-1.1(D). Because it is unclear whether the City filed the 1999 Ordinance with the SE, we remand this case for a determination of this fact by the district court. If the City filed the 1999 Ordinance before Stennis applied for her SE permit, she must apply for city authorization. On the other hand, if the City failed to file the 1999 Ordinance in accordance with Section 3-53-1.1(D)'s mandatory requirement, it is without authority to regulate Stennis's well.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

{12} We recently explained the standard of review applied when reviewing a trial court's decision to grant a motion for summary judgment:

An appeal from the grant of a motion for summary judgment presents a question of law and is reviewed de...