Town of Campbell v. City of La Crosse, No. 02-2541
| Decision Date | 13 November 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-2541, No. 02-2586. |
| Citation | 673 N.W.2d 696,268 Wis.2d 253,2003 WI App 247 |
| Parties | IN RE the ANNEXATION OF the SMITH, BECKER AND McCORMICK PROPERTIES: TOWN OF CAMPBELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF LA CROSSE, Defendant-Respondent. IN RE the ANNEXATION OF the EDWARDS PROPERTY: TOWN OF CAMPBELL, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. CITY OF LA CROSSE, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Wisconsin Court of Appeals |
On behalf of the plaintiff-appellant, Town of Campbell, the cause was submitted on the briefs of Roger W. Clark and John D. Claypool, Herrling, Clark, Hartzheim & Siddall, Ltd., Appleton.
On behalf of the defendant-appellant, City of La Crosse, the cause was submitted on the briefs of Patrick J. Houlihan, City Attorney.
On behalf of the defendant-respondent, City of La Crosse, the cause was submitted on the brief of Patrick J. Houlihan, City Attorney.
On behalf of the plaintiff-respondent, Town of Campbell, the cause was submitted on the brief of John D. Claypool, Herrling, Clark, Hartzheim & Siddall, Ltd., Appleton.
Before Dykman, Vergeront and Lundsten, JJ.
¶ 1.
This appeal concerns the Town of Campbell's challenge to four ordinances of the City of La Crosse annexing certain properties in the Town. The Town appeals the trial court's ruling denying its motion to amend the complaints regarding the Smith, Becker, and McCormick annexations to add a ground for invalidating those annexations and also appeals the determination that those annexations did not violate the rule of reason. The City appeals the trial court's determination that the Edwards annexation violated the rule of reason and that annexation was therefore invalid.2
¶ 2. We conclude the trial court's decision denying the Town's motion to amend was based on an error of law because WIS. STAT. § 66.021(10) (1995-96)3 does not prohibit an amendment to a complaint after ninety days from the annexation ordinance. Whether to allow an amendment is, we hold, a matter committed to the trial court's discretion. Because the trial court did not exercise its discretion, we remand for that purpose. If on remand the trial court denies permission to amend, then the resolution of the challenges based on the rule of reason will terminate these actions. We therefore address the merits of the appeals. We agree with the trial court that the Smith, Becker, and McCormick annexations meet each of the three components of the rule of reason. We also agree with the trial court that the Edwards annexation does not meet the need component of the rule of reason and is invalid on that basis. We therefore affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
¶ 3. The City passed ordinances approving the Smith, Becker, and McCormick annexations on December 17, 1996, and the Edwards annexation on January 21, 1997. The Town filed complaints challenging the validity of each of the annexations on the grounds that none met the contiguity requirement of WIS. STAT. § 66.021(2)4 and that none met the rule of reason. The trial court concluded that none of the annexations met the contiguity requirement because each was separated from the City of La Crosse by the Black River and did not touch or contact City land. On appeal, this court reversed in a decision issued on August 30, 2001, and remanded to the trial court. We held that the property of the City and the annexed properties meet at the center of the riverbed and are therefore "contiguous" within the meaning of § 66.021(2). Town of Campbell v. City of La Crosse, 2001 WI App 201, ¶ 19, 247 Wis. 2d 946, 634 N.W.2d 840.
¶ 4. After remand, the Town in March 2002 filed a motion for a declaratory judgment that the Smith, Becker, and McCormick annexations were invalid because they erroneously included riverbed property of non-consenting property owners. The Town also apparently moved to amend the three complaints to add this ground.5 The trial court denied the motions. It concluded that this ground was not alleged in the complaints; it also concluded that because WIS. STAT. § 66.021(10) contemplated that a complaint contesting the validity of an annexation state the grounds of invalidity and be filed within ninety days of the adoption of the annexation ordinance, the Town could not at this time add an additional ground for invalidity.
¶ 5. The court then conducted one trial for all four annexations to determine whether they violated the rule of reason. The rule of reason has three components: (1) exclusions and irregularities in boundary lines must not be the result of arbitrariness; (2) there must be some present or demonstrable future need for the annexation; and (3) there must be no other factors that constitute an abuse of discretion on the part of the municipality. Town of Menasha v. City of Menasha, 170 Wis. 2d 181, 189, 488 N.W.2d 104 (Ct. App. 1992). With respect to the Becker, Smith, and McCormick annexations, the court determined that the boundary lines were not arbitrary or capricious, that both the City and the petitioners had a reasonable need for the annexation, and that the City did not in any other way abuse its discretion. The court therefore concluded that these annexations were valid and entered judgment dismissing these complaints.
¶ 6. With respect to the Edwards annexation, the court determined that it was of irregular shape, contained exclusions that were arbitrary, cut the Town in half, and highly disrupted the Town's reasonable provision of municipal planning and services. The court found that the Town provided this petitioner, Jack Edwards, with all municipal services except water, but that Edwards had access to potable water. The court found there was no evidence that his wells were failing, there were no concrete plans for him to obtain water from the City, and he did not need the annexation in order to have potable water. The court concluded this annexation was invalid and entered judgment ordering that the property revert to the Town.
¶ 7. The Town contends the court erred in not permitting an amendment to the Smith, Becker, and McCormick complaints to add that these annexations are invalid because they included riverbed property of non-consenting property owners. The Town asserts that the City followed the statutory procedure for annexations that include only consenting property owners, but should have followed a different procedure for annexations that include non-consenting property owners. Compare WIS. STAT. § 66.021(12) (now WIS. STAT. § 66.0217(2) (2001-02)) with § 66.021(2)(a) (now § 66.0217(3)(a) (2001-02)). According to the Town, it was not until this court's decision concluding there was contiguity that "it was understood by the parties" that the City had followed the wrong statutory procedure.
¶ 8. The Town first argues that under WIS. STAT. § 802.02(1), which governs the general rule of pleadings, the allegation in each complaint that the annexation was "invalid as a matter of law" was sufficient to encompass any basis for invalidity. In the Town's view, it did not need to plead specific grounds for invalidity. Alternatively, the Town contends, if it did need to plead specific grounds, the court erred in concluding the amendments were barred by the ninety-day statute of limitations and failed to properly exercise its discretion because it did not analyze whether the amendments would prejudice the City. According to the Town, the City would not have been prejudiced.
¶ 9. The City responds that the court did not rule that the amendments were barred by the statute and did properly exercise its discretion in denying permission to amend after considering the proper factors.
¶ 10. We cannot agree with the City's characterization of the trial court's decision. In denying permission to amend the complaints, the court explained that the motion to amend was "beyond the statute of limitations . . . which is ninety days." The court also stated that the statute governing challenges, WIS. STAT. § 66.021(10), indicated that the grounds for the petition had to be stated with specificity, the Town did not plead this specific ground, and the appeal did not toll the statute of limitations. The written order entered by the court likewise stated that the court was denying the motion to amend the pleadings on the ground that "the statute of limitations bars the Plaintiff from raising the issue that these annexations are invalid due to the inclusion of non-consenting property owners."
¶ 11. Therefore, we must decide first whether the Town was required by statute to specifically allege that a ground of invalidity was the inclusion of the property of non-consenting owners; and, second, if the Town was so required, whether it was prohibited by statute from amending later than ninety days after the annexation ordinance was passed. The construction of statutes when the relevant facts are not disputed is a question of law, which we review de novo. State v. Setagord, 211 Wis. 2d 397, 405-06, 565 N.W.2d 506 (1997).
¶ 12. WISCONSIN STAT. § 802.02(1) provides:
¶ 13. WISCONSIN STAT. § 66.021(10) provides:
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