City of Oak Hill v. City of Edgewater

917 So. 2d 943, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 19955, 2005 WL 3439916
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedDecember 16, 2005
DocketNo. 5D05-1212
StatusPublished

This text of 917 So. 2d 943 (City of Oak Hill v. City of Edgewater) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Oak Hill v. City of Edgewater, 917 So. 2d 943, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 19955, 2005 WL 3439916 (Fla. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

THOMPSON, J.

The City of Oak Hill seeks certiorari review of a circuit court order that found that the City of Edgewater had standing to file an annexation challenge. The issue is whether Edgewater had standing to join the annexation litigation and was thereby entitled to attorney’s fees as a prevailing party pursuant to section 171.08, Florida Statutes (2004). We hold that the circuit court misapplied the law in concluding that Edgewater was an “affected party” as defined under section 171.031(5). We grant certiorari and quash that portion of the final order that recognized Edgewater’s standing and right to collect attorney’s fees.

Oak Hill received petitions for the voluntary annexation of various properties. After public hearings, the Oak Hill City Commission adopted Ordinance 2003-18 on 8 December 2003 and annexed twenty-nine parcels of land near and around Oak Hill’s existing city limits. All parcels were located in the unincorporated area of Volusia County. Before final vote, Edgewater filed a written objection to the proposed annexation, noting that the ordinance contemplated the annexation of property north of Ariel Road within Edgewater’s Chapter 180 Utility Reserve Area.

After the final vote, Volusia County petitioned for certiorari in circuit court under section 171.081, and Edgewater filed a similar petition shortly thereafter. The annexation challenges were consolidated, and both certiorari petitions made essentially the same arguments. Both Edgewater and Volusia County claimed the ordinance did not comply with the requirements of Chapter 171 because it annexed parcels that were not contiguous [944]*944to Oak Hill’s city limits, the parcels to be annexed were not reasonably compact, and the annexation would create impermissible enclaves.

Eighteen of the twenty-nine parcels within Oak Hill’s annexation were challenged in the certiorari petitions filed by Volusia County and Edgewater, including the two parcels within Edgewater’s Chapter 180 utility reserve area. Oak Hill objected to Edgewater’s standing to file a separate challenge. Edgewater asserted it had standing because it had established a water and sewer utility service reserve area under Chapter 180, which included two parcels of property proposed for annexation by Oak Hill, and that its right to serve that area could be harmed.

Oak Hill confessed error as to six of the eighteen challenged parcels, including the two parcels within Edgewater’s utility reserve area, and conceded that they were not contiguous to Oak Hill’s municipal boundaries. After oral argument, Edge-water filed a notice of supplemental authority, Town of Polk City v. City of Auburndale, 11 Fla. Supp. 962 (Fla. 10th Cir.Ct.2004) (finding that Polk City had standing to challenge an annexation ordinance adopted by the City of Auburndale on the basis of its water and sewer reserve area in the property to be annexed).

Relying upon Auburndale, the circuit court issued an order on 22 February 2005 that granted in part and denied in part the certiorari petitions. The court ruled that Edgewater had standing to challenge Oak Hill’s annexation of the land within Edge-water’s Chapter 180 reserve area, invalidated the annexation of ten of the eighteen parcels, and upheld the annexation of the remaining eight parcels. With respect to Edgewater’s standing, the court stated:

Edgewater claims standing on the basis of its Chapter 180 right to provide services to some of the area Oak Hill annexed under Ordinance No. 2003-18. Oak Hill has conceded that the particular parcels to which Edgewater provided service are not contiguous and should be stricken. Thus, the remaining dispute between the parties is Edgewater’s entitlement to an award of reasonable costs and attorney’s fees under section 171.081. Oak Hill argues that it has no plans to interfere with Edgewater’s Chapter 180 utility reserve, thus Edge-water will suffer no material injury by the annexation.
Under somewhat similar facts, Florida’s Tenth Circuit found that even though annexed property was not within the petitioner’s boundaries, the challenged annexation could infringe upon the petitioner’s exclusive right to provide water and wastewater service to that area under section 180.86, and this was sufficient to confer standing under section 171.081. See Town of Polk City v. City of Auburndale, ER FALR 04:214 (Fla. 10th Cir. Aug. 9, 2004). Further, as Edgewater points out, section 180.02(2), Florida Statutes, specifically states that corporate powers identified in Chapter 180 “shall not extend or apply within the corporate limits within another municipality.” Section 180.02(2), Fla. Stat. This Court finds the reasoning of the Tenth Circuit persuasive. Edgewater has satisfied the requirement of proving material injury by virtue of its Chapter 180 utility reserve. Oak Hill’s annexation would [deprive] Edgewater of a recognized right to provide services to the area.

Subsequently, the Second District quashed the circuit court’s opinion and held, as a matter of law, that Polk City was not affected by the annexation merely because it had established a Chapter 180 reserve area within the annexed property. See City of Auburndale v. Town of Polk [945]*945City, 898 So.2d 1101, 1103 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). In this certiorari proceeding, Oak Hill continues to challenge Edgewater’s standing and entitlement to reasonable costs and attorney’s fees under section 171.081.

To prevail on appeal, Oak Hill must show that Edgewater is not an affected party that has standing. The issue is whether a city, which provides water and wastewater service to annexed parcels, has standing to challenge another city’s annexation of unincorporated land. Section 171.081 addresses the requirement of standing to challenge an annexation:

No later than 30 days following the passage of an annexation or contraction ordinance, any party affected who believes that he or she will suffer material injury by reason of the failure of the municipal governing body to comply with the procedure set forth in this chapter for annexation or contraction as they apply to his or her property may file a petition in the circuit court for the county in which the municipality or municipalities are located seeking review by certiorari.

Section 171.031(5) defines “parties affected”:

“Parties affected” means any persons or firms owning property in, or residing in, either a municipality proposing annexation or contraction or owning property that is proposed for annexation to a municipality or any governmental unit with jurisdiction over such area.

In this second tier petition for certiorari, the appellate court is limited to determining whether there was a lack of procedural due process or a misapplication of the law. See Haines City Cmty. Dev. v. Heggs, 658 So.2d 523 (Fla.1995). Oak Hill does not argue that the circuit court deprived it of procedural due process. Our only consideration, then, is whether the circuit court departed from the essential requirements of law as to Edgewater’s standing. The Second District’s decision in City of Auburndale, 898 So.2d 1101, is instructive.

There, Auburndale purchased 196 acres of unincorporated land so that discharged water from a new power plant could be rerouted to the annexed land, which would serve as a sprayfield for disposal. Id. at 1102.

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Bluebook (online)
917 So. 2d 943, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 19955, 2005 WL 3439916, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-oak-hill-v-city-of-edgewater-fladistctapp-2005.