Brooks v. City of Benton

826 S.W.2d 259, 308 Ark. 571, 1992 Ark. LEXIS 165
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 9, 1992
Docket91-177
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 826 S.W.2d 259 (Brooks v. City of Benton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brooks v. City of Benton, 826 S.W.2d 259, 308 Ark. 571, 1992 Ark. LEXIS 165 (Ark. 1992).

Opinion

David Newbern, Justice.

This is a zoning case having to do with allegations that an ordinance of the City of Benton was enacted improperly and is thus invalid. The Chancellor awarded summary judgment in favor of the City’s assertion that its Zoning Code was properly adopted. We reverse the decision because a genuine issue of material fact remained to be decided. Ark. R. Civ. P. 56(c)

The appellants, who will be referred to collectively as “Citizens,” are Glenn P. Brooks, Melvin Congleton, John Bob Parks, Cecil Red, and Troy Wright. They, individually and as members of an unincorporated association, Citizens for Better Government, petitioned for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief in the Chancery Court. They asserted the City had enacted Ordinance 8 of 1989, which purported to rezone certain property, without proper notice and without attaching a zoning map as required by Ark. Code Ann. § 14-56-416(a)(2) (1987).

The City moved for summary judgment, appending affidavits from the Mayor, City Clerk, a Metroplan staff member, and the Director of Community Development. The affidavits asserted the Ordinance was enacted according to law. Citizens responded with a motion for summary judgment with affidavits asserting various defects in the procedure by which Ordinance 8 was adopted.

The appendix to Citizens’ brief does not contain a copy of the Chancellor’s order and thus violates our former Temporary Rule 9 pursuant to which it was filed. That Rule, however, unlike our current abstracting Rule, permitted us to observe the Chancellor’s order in the record. In the circumstances of this case, we choose to do so. The order is simplicity itself. There is no statement of factual findings or conclusions of law, and no basis is stated for the ruling.

Citizens’ notice of appeal referred both to the granting of the City’s motion for summary judgment and the denial of Citizens’ motion. However, Citizens have stated and argued only one point of appeal, i.e., that the Chancellor erred in granting summary judgment to the City.

1. Summary Judgment

When summary judgment is requested, the moving party has the burden of showing there are no genuine issues of material fact remaining. Rule 56(c); Smith v. Gray, 300 Ark. 401, 779 S.W.2d 173 (1989). On appeal, the evidence is viewed most favorably to the party resisting the motion, all doubts and inferences being resolved against the moving party. Rickenbacker v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 302 Ark. 119, 788 S.W.2d 474 (1990).

a. The map

The primary unresolved fact dispute in this case concerns the zoning map which is attached to the regulation titled, “City of Benton, Arkansas, Zoning Regulation,” adopted by Ordinance 8 on March 27, 1989.

Ordinance 8 is entitled:

AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE ZONING REGULATIONS FOR THE CITY OF BENTON, ARKANSAS, BY REFERENCE RELATING TO: AUTHORITY, JURISDICTION AND PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS; ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE AND ENFORCEMENT; GENERAL PROVISIONS; ESTABLISHMENT OF DISTRICTS; DISTRICT REGULATIONS; OFF-STREET PARKING AND LOADING FACILITIES; MOBILE HOMES; SPECIAL PROVISIONS.

Affidavits presented by Citizens from each of the individual plaintiffs stated no map was attached to the Ordinance, read with the Ordinance, or introduced at the combined hearing and board meeting at which Ordinance 8 was adopted. The legend imprinted on the zoning map now accompanying the Ordinance states it was prepared by Metroplan on March 22,1989, just five days prior to the passage of the Ordinance.

The City’s response included the minutes of the March 27 Board meeting along with affidavits of Charles Randel, Metroplan staff member; Rodney Larsen, Mayor; Buddy Burrow, Community Development Director; and Margaret Ramsey, City Clerk. There is nothing in the City’s evidence which contradicts the assertions raised by Citizens.

The minutes of the meeting do not mention a map attached to the Ordinance or any discussion of a map displayed with the Ordinance. The affidavit of Buddy Burrow states the zoning map “has been on continuous display in city hall from and after its adoption on March 27, 1989,” but does not say the map was on display at the hearing and meeting when Ordinance 8 was adopted.

Charles Randel states that “prior to the enactment of Ordinance 8 of 1989, the text of the ordinance, accompanying regulations adopted in conjunction therewith, and the zoning map, were discussed and debated in detail over several sessions of the Benton Planning Commission.” He says the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the regulations on February 27, 1989, and adopted them on March 9,1989, but his affidavit does not indicate that the regulations to which the map was ultimately attached were presented at the March 27 meeting of the City Board. Randel further asserts that Chapter V of the regulations “makes reference to, and authorizes filing and display of, the ‘Zoning Map, City of Benton, Arkansas’ ” and suggests that that part of the text of the regulation constitutes the “map” required by law, but there is no indication that this text was presented or attached to the Ordinance discussed and adopted at the meeting.

Cities have no inherent authority to enact legislation. That authority is dependent upon the Constitution and the General Assembly. City of Fordyce v. Vaughn, 300 Ark. 554, 781 S.W.2d 6 (1989). Municipal zoning authority is conferred solely by state enabling legislation. Taggart v. City of Augusta, 278 Ark. 570, 647 S.W.2d 458 (1983). Failure to comply with mandatory procedural requirements of the enabling statute renders a zoning ordinance invalid. City of Searcy v. Roberson, 224 Ark. 344, 273 S.W.2d 26 (1954). A zoning ordinance “shall consist of both a map and a text.” § 14-56-416(a) (2). Compliance is mandatory, and failure renders a zoning ordinance void. City of Benton v. Phillips, 191 Ark. 961, 88 S.W.2d 828 (1936).

The purpose of the map requirement is to give notice of a zoning proposal so that, before adoption, residents may object or make suggestions, and after adoption, land purchasers and users may acquaint themselves with the zoning restrictions. Osborne v. City of Camden, 301 Ark. 420, 784 S.W.2d 596 (1990).

The City’s burden in seeking summary judgment before the Chancellor, was to show no issues of fact remained. Smith v. Gray, supra. The availability of the map at the meeting on March 27 was a disputed question of fact, and contrary to the assertions of the City on appeal, it is a material fact. It was their burden to present evidence in support of their motion to show that the map was presented along with the text of Ordinance 8.

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Bluebook (online)
826 S.W.2d 259, 308 Ark. 571, 1992 Ark. LEXIS 165, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brooks-v-city-of-benton-ark-1992.