28 Wis. 2d 519 | Wis. | 1965
Two issues are presented on this appeal:
First, was the annexation petition invalid because not signed by the president of Racine Properties, Inc. ?
Second, is the annexation void because the boundary lines were drawn in such a way as to eliminate electors from the area proposed for annexation ?
Validity of Petition.
The board of directors of Racine Properties, Inc., which owned over half of the land in terms of area and assessed value, adopted the following resolution:
“Be it further Resolved, that George P. Demos, as President of the corporation, be and he hereby is authorized to execute such papers and documents on behalf of the corporation as are necessary and required to accomplish such annexation and that Craig T. Griffin, as Secretary of the corporation, be and he hereby is authorized to countersign such papers and documents on behalf of the corporation.”
Relying on Brown Deer v. Milwaukee,
The resolution specifies that the signatures of both the president and secretary (or at the very least, the president) were required on any papers concerning the annexation. This is because the secretary was authorized to “countersign” any documents, and countersigning, by definition, is the adding of “one’s signature . . . after another’s to attest authenticity.”
Validity of Annexation.
Annexation procedures are purely statutory.
Assuming that the prescribed procedures have been followed in the adoption of an annexation ordinance, it may be attacked in the courts on the ground that it is “arbitrary and capricious or is an abuse of discretion.”
In the instant case the town of Mt. Pleasant attacks the ordinance complaining that it is arbitrary and capricious and unreasonable in the way the boundary lines are drawn so “as to arbitrarily eliminate electors from participating in the annexation proceedings and without regard for city needs and purposes.” Respondent does not attack the ordinance on the ground that the territory lacks sufficient contiguity as was done in the first Mt. Pleasant v. Racine Case. Apparently respondent concedes that the addition of more land at the junction with the city cures that defect.
Following the taking of testimony, the trial court found:
“in segmenting jurisdiction along the Meachem Road, ten homes containing twenty electors were excluded from the area annexed; the excluded areas are bounded on three sides by the City of Racine, and they could have been included and given City services, and no municipal reason was advanced for their not being included in the annexed territory; . . .”
and
“that to adopt a rational and natural boundary line along the Meachem Road it would have been necessary to include*529 the said twenty electors; that the boundary lines were gerrymandered so as to exclude at least twenty electors; that the said boundary lines are not reasonable or realistic, and create crazy-quilt boundaries which are difficult for both the City of Racine and the Town of Mt. Pleasant to administer ; that the boundary lines transcend into the realm of arbitrary and capricious action; that the annexation of the annexed area is an unreasonable annexation.”
As a conclusion of law the court stated:
“That a rational and natural boundary line along Meachem Road would have included twenty electors which were not included in the annexation; that the annexation boundary lines were gerrymandered so as to exclude at least twenty electors; that the boundary lines are not reasonable or realistic and result in crazy-quilt boundaries difficult for both City and Town to administer; that the boundary lines transcend into the realm of arbitrary and capricious action; and that the annexed area does not meet the test of reason; and that said annexation is void.”
Thus the court centered its attention on the boundary line along Meachem road. The record discloses, as shown on the accompanying map, that parts of the land both east and west of Meachem road were to remain in the town of Mt. Pleasant (G, H, I), while three interspersed areas (C, F and J) were incorporated in the proposed territory. Proceeding along Meachem road from north to south this left three parcels of land abutting on Meachem road in the township, on which parcels 10 different residences were located containing a total of 20 electors. The record reveals no proof of the reason why these residences were not included in the proposed annexation. Not one of the 20 excluded
Under the 1957 and 1959 comprehensive legislative rewrite of the annexation laws,
Respondent contends that the facts of the instant case are completely within the following statement in Town of Fond du Lac v. City of Fond du Lac:
“In the case at bar the exclusion of the small island from Kiekhaefer’s property which contained two residences was solely to preclude the electors living therein from participating in the annexation proceeding. Such reason is not justifiable or germane to the purpose of the annexation to develop a future industrial area. Creating an island within the city solely for the purpose of assuring the success of the annexation was an arbitrary and capricious action and an abuse of discretion and invalidates the annexation.”
The present case is distinguishable from Fond du Lac on at least three grounds: First, in Fond du Lac the proposed boundary lines were such that if the annexation plan were adopted, a piece of township land 300 feet by 130 feet would be completely surrounded by city territory. The boundary lines associated with the Georgetown annexation do not create any “island.” Second, in Fond du Lac the annexation proceedings were commenced by the city while in the present case the city was bound to accept the plan “as is” since Racine Properties, Inc., was the petitioner. Third, the Meachem road electors, who were not included did not con
In Madison v. Monona,
Although the courts have the jurisdiction on review to determine whether a proposed annexation is arbitrary and capricious, the party so contending still has the burden of proving that the annexation is arbitrary and capricious, thus overcoming the presumed validity of the ordinance. This the town of Mt. Pleasant failed to do and we must therefore set aside the trial court’s determination that the ordinance was void.
On its appeal, respondent contends that even though the trial court declared the annexation invalid, it mistakenly enjoined the township from attempting to exercise control over the area in question while actually allowing the city to continue jurisdiction. Although this issue is rendered moot by our decision on appellant’s appeal, the procedure employed by the trial court was proper in that it was merely preserving the status quo as suggested in Town of Fond du Lac v. City of Fond du Lac.
By the Court. — Judgment reversed as to appeal by the city of Racine; order affirmed as to appeal by the town of Mt. Pleasant.
(1962), 16 Wis. (2d) 206, 114 N. W. (2d) 493.
Webster’s New International Dictionary (3d ed., unabridged).
Greenfield v. Milwaukee (1956), 272 Wis. 388, 391, 75 N. W. (2d) 434; Zweifel v. Milwaukee (1925), 188 Wis. 358, 364, 206 N. W. 215.
Greenfield v. Milwaukee, supra, footnote 5, at page 395; State ex rel. Madison v. Monona (1960), 11 Wis. (2d) 93, 97, 104 N. W. (2d) 158.
“In annexation proceedings the city council in the first instance determines the suitability or adaptability of the area proposed to be annexed and the necessity of annexing the same for the proper
Supra, footnote 6.
Sec. 66.021, Stats., ch. 676, Laws of 1957, ch. 261, Laws of 1959. See report of the Interim Urban Problems Committee to the 1959 Wisconsin Legislature, pp. 13, 14, and notes contained in Bill No. 226, A. (which became ch. 261, Laws of 1959). Also see 1957 General Report of Legislative Council, Vol. II, pp. 222-235.
Town of Fond du Lac v. City of Fond du Lac (1964), 22 Wis. (2d) 533, 541, 126 N. W. (2d) 201; Mt. Pleasant v. Racine, supra, footnote 1, at page 45.
Sec. 66.021 (11) (a) and (b), Stats.
Sec. 66.021 (11) (c), Stats., provides as follows: “For purposes of this subsection public interest is determined by the director of the planning function in the department of resource development after consideration of the following:
“1. Whether the governmental services, including zoning, to be supplied to the territory could clearly be better supplied by the town or by some other village or city whose boundaries are contiguous to the territory proposed for annexation which files with the circuit court a certified copy of a resolution adopted by a two-thirds vote of the elected members of the governing body indicating a willingness to annex the territory upon receiving an otherwise valid petition for the annexation of the territory.
“2. The shape of the proposed annexation and the homogeneity of the territory with the annexing village or city and any other contiguous village or city.”
Supra, footnote 10, at page 542.
(1960), 10 Wis. (2d) 32, 40, 102 N. W. (2d) 206.
Madison v. Monona, supra, footnote 14; In re Village of Oconomowoc Lake (1959), 7 Wis. (2d) 400, 97 N. W. (2d) 189; Town of Fond du Lac v. City of Fond du Lac, supra, footnote 10.
(1964), 22 Wis. (2d) 525, 532, 126 N. W. (2d) 206.