City of Houston v. Todd

41 S.W.3d 289, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 2022, 2001 WL 225524
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 27, 2001
Docket01-01-00123-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 41 S.W.3d 289 (City of Houston v. Todd) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Houston v. Todd, 41 S.W.3d 289, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 2022, 2001 WL 225524 (Tex. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinions

OPINION

MIRABAL, Justice.

It is our task in this case to construe (1) certain provisions of the Texas Transportation Code,1 and (2) certain provisions of the Houston City Charter, many of which were drafted in 1905.2 The material facts in this case are undisputed. We are to construe the charter and statutory provisions as a matter of law, and then we are to apply the law to the undisputed facts.

This case is brought to us by way of an interlocutory appeal of a temporary injunction. Appellants, Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO), the City of Houston (the City), and Sterling Construction Company d/b/a Texas Sterling Construction, Inc. (Texas Sterling) appeal the trial court’s order granting a temporary injunction that enjoins METRO and the City from proceeding with the construction of a commuter light rail project. Because we conclude the trial court erred, as a matter of law, in its construction of the relevant provisions, we reverse.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The proposed light rail system, designed and developed by METRO, would operate in a street right-of-way of Main Street in Houston for approximately seven and a half miles. Construction of the project was scheduled to begin on February 1, 2001. Bidding on the project began in December 2000 and continued through January 2001. For bidding purposes, construction of the project was divided into five segments. Texas Sterling, a general contractor, was the recognized low-bidder for three of the segments.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In September 1999, Rob Todd, a Houston City Council member, filed suit against METRO seeking injunctive relief on the basis that METRO had failed to obtain the permission of the city council before beginning the light rail project. METRO re[293]*293sponded that it would obtain the City’s permission before undertaking the project.

By a vote of 11 to 4, the city council ■ passed Ordinance 2000 1028 on November 21, 2000 (the same day it was introduced) that approved, authorized, and incorporated by reference a consent agreement between the City and METRO relating to the construction of the light rail system. See Houston, Tex., ORDINANCE 2000-1028 (Nov. 21, 2000).

In December 2000, a petition for referendum on Ordinance 2000-1028 and the consent agreement was signed by approximately 1100 registered Houston voters. The petition stated that a vote of the citizens of Houston was required by article II, section 18 of Houston’s City Charter. Among the signatories to the petition was Allan Vogel.

When the City refused to hold an election on the referendum, Vogel intervened in the pending lawsuit against METRO, and Todd supplemented his petition adding the City of Houston as a defendant. Texas Sterling also intervened in the suit. Todd and Vogel filed an amended petition on January 29, 2001 seeking (1) temporary and permanent injunctions against METRO and the City to enjoin them from taking any action to construct the light rail, (2) a writ of mandamus requiring that a referendum on Ordinance 2000-1028 be held, and (3) a declaratory judgment that the ordinance was void and that METRO could not use or occupy the streets of Houston without an election granting it that right.

Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court signed a temporary injunction on February 2, 2001 enjoining the effectiveness of the ordinance and prohibiting the City from taking or allowing any further action relating to the ordinance or the consent agreement with METRO. The trial court set the bond for METRO at $1000 and for the City at $500.

In support of the temporary injunction, the trial court entered the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Applicant Vogel is a resident and taxpayer of the City of Houston who signed a Petition for Referendum on City Ordinance 2000-1028. He is also a registered voter authorized to vote in City elections.
2. Applicant Todd is a resident of the City of Houston, a taxpayer, a registered voter, and a member of the Houston City Council....
3. The City Council passed Ordinance 2000-1028 and the City signed a Consent Agreement ... that allows its property to be altered by Metro to build a rail line from downtown Houston to the Astrodome.
4. A petition, titled “Petition for Referendum,” containing more than 500 signatories of persons registered to vote in the City of Houston was filed with the City Secretary within 30 days of the signing of Ordinance 2000-1028 by Mayor Brown.
5. Defendants Metro and the City are proceeding to act under the Consent Agreement without holding an election on Ordinance 2000-1028.
6. Ordinance 2000-1028 was not read at three consecutive meetings before being passed by Council.
7. All findings of fact that are determined to be conclusions of law are so deemed.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Applicants Todd and Vogel have standing to bring this case.
[294]*2942. Texas Transportation Code section 451.058(e) requires a mass transit authority, including Metro, to obtain the written permission of the City before altering or damaging City property. Section 451.058(e) does not preempt the provisions of the Charter of the City of Houston ..., including the requirements of Article II Sections 17 and 18.
3. The provisions of Article II Section 17 of the City Charter apply to Ordinance 2000-1028 and to the Consent Agreement between the City of Houston and the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority.
4. The provisions of Article II Section 18 of the City Charter apply to Ordinance 2000-1028 and to the Consent Agreement between the City of Houston and the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority.
5. Houston Ordinance 2000-1028 is not a duly authorized and valid ordinance adopted pursuant to the general police powers of the City to regulate its streets and to enter into contracts for the benefit of its citizens.
6. The Petition for an election signed by Applicant Vogel requires the City of Houston to order a referendum election before Ordinance 2000-1028 is effective or action is taken pursuant to it.
7. Houston Ordinance 2000-1028 establishes, grants, or conveys a use or privilege within the meaning of “franchise or special privilege” as that phrase is used in Charter Article VII Section 7.
8. Houston Ordinance 2000-1028 is not a duly authorized Ordinance in that it was passed finally on its date of introduction contrary to Charter Article VII Section 7, which prevents the passing of an ordinance as an emergency measure when the ordinance grants a franchise or special privilege.
9. Having weighed the equities, the Court concludes that the damage to applicants’ right to vote, as well as other injuries that would be suffered if an injunction does not issue, exceed the damages, if any, that would be suffered by Metro and the City of Houston if the injunction does issue.
10. Intervenor Texas Sterling is not entitled to bond.

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Bluebook (online)
41 S.W.3d 289, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 2022, 2001 WL 225524, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-houston-v-todd-texapp-2001.