City of Canton v. Nissan North America, Inc.

870 F. Supp. 2d 430, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60561, 2012 WL 1556493
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Mississippi
DecidedMay 1, 2012
DocketCause No. 3:11-CV-00318-CWR-LRA
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 870 F. Supp. 2d 430 (City of Canton v. Nissan North America, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Canton v. Nissan North America, Inc., 870 F. Supp. 2d 430, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60561, 2012 WL 1556493 (S.D. Miss. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER OF DISMISSAL

CARLTON W. REEVES, District Judge.

The above-styled cause is before the Court on the motions to dismiss of defendant Nissan North America, Inc., and intervenor Attorney General Jim Hood. The Court has considered those motions, along with the parties’ arguments in favor of and in opposition to the requests, as well as governing authority relevant to the dispute. After due deliberation, the Court has concluded that the motions must be grant[433]*433ed and that the case must be dismissed with prejudice.

FACTS

On November 6, 2000, James C. Burns of the Mississippi Development Authority-notified Canton Mayor Alice M. Scott by letter that “a major industrial client” was considering building a manufacturing plant at a site near her city. Burns explained:

The client has invoked one of the most strict [sic] confidentiality rules for the project that we have seen and largely directed who could or could not be contacted regarding the project.
I am aware that you were frustrated regarding your personal level of knowledge regarding this project. I am sorry for that, but I hope you will understand that our main mission was to secure the project for Mississippi. Obviously, because of the location, Madison County and the City of Canton will derive a great deal of direct benefit should this project locate in the metro area.
Over the last few months we have been in negotiation with the company regarding a broad array of incentives. Most of the incentives involve state and county. However, there are some incentives that will involve the city and I would like to discuss these areas with you.1

The letter asked Mayor Scott to facilitate the agreement in seven specific ways, one of which was to

ask the City of Canton to agree to the provisions outlined in the attached House Bill 1 adopted on November 6, 2000 and signed by Governor Musgrove. Specifically, the provisions of this bill give the City of Canton the authority to agree and to bind further city mayors and alderman [sic ] to a thirty year moratorium on any annexation of the primary project site for that project known as Project Delta. Further, under this authorization the Project Delta primary site could not be annexed at any time during this thirty year period of time unless the project officials request the City of Canton in writing to annex the primary site.2

As Burns’ letter indicated, on that same day, the Mississippi Legislature passed House Bill 1 of its third extraordinary session. Section 18 of that legislation amended Section 21-1-59 of the Mississippi Code to provide that

[t]he governing authorities of a municipality may enter into an agreement with an enterprise operating a project as defined in Section 57-75-5(f)(iv)l3 providing that the municipality shall not change its boundaries so as to include within the limits of such municipality the project site of such a project unless consent thereto shall be obtained in writing from the enterprise operating the project. Such agreement may be for a period not to exceed thirty (30) years. Such agreement shall be binding on future governing authorities of such municipality.4

[434]*434The City of Canton responded quickly— within twenty-four hours. On November 7, 2000, the Board of Aldermen met to take up a measure addressing the Mississippi Development Authority’s requests and, in particular, the specific issue of the City of Canton agreeing that it would not change its boundaries for a period of 30 years to include the project site. The measure is styled a “resolution” and recognizes that, under House Bill 1 adopted by the Mississippi Legislature a day earlier,

a municipality is authorized to agree that said municipality will not change its boundaries for a period of up to thirty (30) years so as to include within the limits of such municipality the site of a project, as defined in Sections 57-75-5(f)(iv)l and 57-75-5(g). of the Mississippi Code ... unless consent thereto shall be obtained in writing from the enterprise operating the Project[.]5

After delineating a series of specific findings, including the City’s “anticipation]” that Nissan North America, Inc. (hereinafter “Nissan”), the new industrial client, “will operate a Project in Madison County presently located outside the corporate boundaries of the City of Canton, Mississippi,”6 and “will agree to pay to the Municipality a fee in lieu of ad valorem taxes, which payment shall be for Canton Municipal School District purposes,”7 the measure reads:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GOVERNING BODY, AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Governing Body of the Municipality hereby agrees that the Municipality will not change its boundaries for a period of at least thirty (30) years from the date hereof so as to include within the corporate limits of the Municipality the site of the Project which is anticipated to be operated by [Nissan], its successors and assigns, unless consent thereto shall be obtained in writing from the Company, its successors and assigns.
SECTION 2. This resolution shall constitute an “agreement” as that term is used in Section 18(2) of [House Bill 1],
SECTION 3. This resolution may not be revoked without the consent of the operator of the Project.
SECTION 4. All prior orders, resolutions or proceedings of the Governing Body in conflict with the provisions of this resolution are hereby repealed, rescinded and set aside, but only to the extent of such conflict. For cause, this resolution shall become effective immediately upon the adoption thereof.8

The measure was adopted by a unanimous vote. In time, Nissan constructed the plant in Madison County, where it continues to operate today.

Many years later, the City of Canton’s Board of Aldermen and Mayor assembled at a special call meeting on February 11, 2011. According to the minutes of that meeting, “[t]here came on for consideration before the Mayor and Board the matter of seeking a declaratory judgment to clarify whether successors are bound by agreement predecessors’ [sic] made between the City of Canton and Nissan’s exemption from annexation for a period of 30 years.”9 By a vote of 3-1, with three aldermen absent, the Board agreed to seek such a determination.

[435]*435On May 3, 2011, the City of Canton (hereinafter “Canton” or “the City”), by and through its mayor and seven aider-men, filed suit against Nissan in Madison County Circuit Court seeking a declaratory judgment as to 12 separate questions:

a. Whether the governing authorities of Canton, Mississippi can bind their successors in office beyond their terms of office by resolution and/or contract prohibiting the municipality of Canton from annexing the site of a project as defined by Sections 57-75 — 5(f) and 57-75-5(g) of the Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended, also known as the “Nissan Project,” thereby taking away from them rights and responsibilities conferred by law.
b.

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Bluebook (online)
870 F. Supp. 2d 430, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60561, 2012 WL 1556493, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-canton-v-nissan-north-america-inc-mssd-2012.