Floyd County and Floyd County Plan Commission v. City of New Albany and New Albany City Plan Commission

1 N.E.3d 207, 2014 WL 172546, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 7
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 16, 2014
Docket22A05-1303-MI-139
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1 N.E.3d 207 (Floyd County and Floyd County Plan Commission v. City of New Albany and New Albany City Plan Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Floyd County and Floyd County Plan Commission v. City of New Albany and New Albany City Plan Commission, 1 N.E.3d 207, 2014 WL 172546, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 7 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION

ROBB, Judge.

Case Summary and Issues

The City of New Albany and the New Albany City Plan Commission (collectively, the "City") sought a declaratory judgment regarding whether it or Floyd County and the Floyd County Plan Commission (collectively, the "County") has zoning jurisdiction over an unincorporated area (the "fringe area") outside the City limits. The trial court granted summary judgment for the City. The County appeals, raising several issues for our review which we consolidate and restate as two: 1) whether the trial court erred in determining as a mat *209 ter of law that the County is not entitled to claim zoning jurisdiction over the fringe area pursuant to Indiana Code section 36-7-4-205(e), and 2) if the trial court did not err, whether the County's consent is required for the City to exercise jurisdiction pursuant to Indiana Code section 36-7-4-205(f). The City eross-appeals, contending the trial court abused its discretion in striking a supplemental affidavit it submitted after the summary judgment hearing.

Concluding the supplemental affidavit could be, and in fact was, considered by the trial court, and that as a matter of law, the County is not entitled to exercise jurisdiction over the fringe area, nor is it required to consent to the City's exercise of jurisdiction, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

From mid-1965 to 1967, the City and County jointly participated in an area plan commission. In 1968, the County opted out of the joint commission and adopted its own zoning ordinance, which stated that the zoning regulations therein were "made with regard to a comprehensive Master Plan now being made. . .." Appellant's Appendix at 44. A comprehensive plan 1 was not adopted by the County until 2006, however.

Pursuant to statute, when adopting a comprehensive plan, a municipal plan commission may provide for the development of an unincorporated area up to two miles outside the corporate boundaries of the municipality. See Ind.Code § 36-7-4-205. 2 In 1972, the City Council adopted a resolution of the City Plan Commission establishing as part of the City's comprehensive plan a "Zoning Fringe Area" outside the municipal boundaries, and a map showing the designated fringe area was recorded in September of that year. The City thereafter exercised zoning jurisdiction in the fringe area and provided municipal services, specifically sanitary sewer services, to the fringe area. In 1999, the City amended and replaced its previous comprehensive plan, but continued to assert jurisdiction over the fringe area. In 2001, 2002, and 2007, the City adopted resolutions designating additional unincorporated areas to which it provided sanitary sewer service as part of the fringe area.

As mentioned above, the County adopted a comprehensive plan in 2006, and in 2012, the County Board of Commissioners adopted an ordinance purporting to amend the County's zoning map to terminate the City's zoning jurisdiction over the fringe area and instead include it within the County's jurisdiction. In response to the County ordinance, the City adopted a resolution in February 2013 which "asserts and reaffirms its exclusive territorial zoning jurisdiction over and within the Zoning Fringe Area," which resolution was forwarded to the County and recorded. Appellant's App. at 230-38. The City also filed a petition for declaratory judgment seeking a declaration that the County ordinance was invalid as contrary to statute. On February 22, 2013, the City filed a motion for summary judgment. Shortly thereafter, the County filed a motion for summary judgment, designating evidence in support of its own motion and in opposition to the City's motion. 3 A hearing was *210 held on March 8, 2018, and the trial court took the matter under advisement. On March 12, 2018, the City moved for leave to supplement its designated evidence with an additional affidavit regarding the City's provision of building code and enforcement services in the fringe area. The County moved to strike the supplemental affidavit as untimely. 4 On March 18, 2013, the trial court entered an order granting the County's motion to strike the supplemental affidavit, but ultimately granting summary judgment for the City. The order reads in relevant part:

15. At the summary judgment hearing, the County raised for the first time its assertion that the City's provision of municipal sanitary sewer service is insufficient to satisfy the provisions of Ind. Code § 836-7-4-205(f), pursuant to 1999 amendment, regarding the necessity of County consent unless the City is providing "municipal services" (pl.).
16. -On March 12, 2013, the City then filed a motion for leave to supplement its designated evidence with the affidavit of City Building Commissioner David Brewer demonstrating that the City was also providing building code inspection and enforcement services at all material times with the Zoning Fringe Area as of the date that the County adopted its ordinance purporting to revoke the City's jurisdiction over the Zoning Fringe Area.
17. The County has moved to strike the Brewer affidavit as untimely, but has not designated any additional evidence that would refute the City's claim that it is also providing building code inspection and enforcement services within the Zoning Fringe Area.
18. The court grants the motion to strike the Brewer affidavit as untimely and not consistent with the agreement of the parties at the hearing.
19. There is no genuine issue of material fact that the City Plan Commission has filed notice with the County Recorder and the County Plan Commission of its exercise of territorial zoning jurisdiction over the Zoning Fringe Area as required by the provisions of Ind. Code § 36-7-4-205(F).
20. There is no genuine issue of material fact that the City has been exercising zoning authority over the Zoning Fringe Area continuously for forty (40) years.
21. The County's claim that the provisions of Ind.Code § 36-7-4-205(e) enable the County to revoke or terminate the City's territorial jurisdiction over the Zoning Fringe Area would vitiate the clear provisions of Ind.Code § 36-7-4-205(f). Statutes must be read in pari materia and in harmony with related statutes.
22.

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Bluebook (online)
1 N.E.3d 207, 2014 WL 172546, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 7, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/floyd-county-and-floyd-county-plan-commission-v-city-of-new-albany-and-new-indctapp-2014.