In re Village of Pleasant Valley

272 S.W.2d 8, 1954 Mo. App. LEXIS 377
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 4, 1954
DocketNo. 22126
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 272 S.W.2d 8 (In re Village of Pleasant Valley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Village of Pleasant Valley, 272 S.W.2d 8, 1954 Mo. App. LEXIS 377 (Mo. Ct. App. 1954).

Opinion

BOUR, Commissioner.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the circuit court of Macon County, affirming an order of the county court of Clay County denying a petition for incorporation of a certain area of land in Clay County as the Village of Pleasant Valley.

On November 5, 1952, a petition was filed in the' county court of Clay County, which petition, omitting the caption and the signatures thereto, reads as follows:

"Now come the undersigned, more than two-thirds of the taxable inhabitants of the area of land hereinafter specifically described, and pray the court that said area and the inhabitants thereof be incorporated under a police established for their local government, all as provided by Section 80.020 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri for 1949 [V.A.M.S.], which said real estate so proposed to be incorporated under the name stated in the caption hereof is described as follows, to wit:

“Beginning at a point where the east and west center line of Section 14, in Township 51, Range 32, in Clay County, Missouri, intersects the northwesterly line of the right of way of U. S. Highway No. 69, as now located, thence southwesterly in said right of way line to the intersection thereof with the east and west center line of Section 22, in said township and range, thence west two and one-half miles, more or less, to the center of Section 20, in said township and range, thence north two miles, more or less, to the center of Section 8, in said township and range, thence east one and one-half miles, more or less, to the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of Section 9, in said township and range, thence south one mile to the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of Section 16, in said township and range, thence east one and [10]*10one-half miles, more or less, to the point of beginning.

“Petitioners further state that there aré no commons included within .said .area sought to be incorporated.

“All of which is respectfully, submitted.”

. The. petition, which was not verified, purported to have been signed by 109 persons. It consisted of four separate papers each identical as to-text, differing only as.to the purported signatures appearing thereon.

On November 7, 1952, a “remonstrance” was filed in the county court of Clay County requesting “that the court deny said petition for incorporation.” The so-called “remonstrance” bore the purported signatures of Neil Barron and 29 other persons alleged to be owners of land “located within the area' described in the petition for the incorporation-of Pleasant Valley.”

On November 20, 1952, the county court made and entered of record the following findings and order:

"Now-on this 20th day of November, 1952, come the petitioners herein and present their petition for incorporation as a village in the- state of Missouri. And the court' having read the said petition and heard the evidence adduced finds that the court is not satisfied that the signatures on said petition constitute two-thirds of ..the taxable inhabitants of said proposed village and further finds. that the- prayer of said petition is- unreasonable. , .

“It is therefore ordered and decreed that the petition for incorporation of the village of. Pleasant Valley be and is hereby denied.”

■Four of the petitioners appealed- from the above order “on-behalf of themselves and the other petitioners to the Circuit Court of" Clay County.” A transcript of the proceedings in the county court was filed in the circuit court'. The transcript consists of the petition for incorporation, the remonstrators’ written objection to the incorporation, the notice of áppeal (designated an “Affidavit and Application for Appeal”), and the orders made-and entered" of record by the county court. This -tran--script contains no testimony or other, evidence.

On December 22, 1952, the City of Kansas City, Missouri,-filed in the circuit court of Clay County an application to intervene in this proceeding. The record-' recites that on January 13, 1953, the court announced that said application to intervene “will be refused and said Kansas City, Missouri, requests two weeks from this date to seek a writ of prohibition which request is granted.” On December 29, 1952, Neil Barron and Gladys Barron filed an application to intervene, - alleging that they were owners of certain real estate located within the area described in the petition for incorporation of said area as a village.- Their application was denied on January 13, 1953.

.Thereafter the City of Kansas City, Missouri, filed in the Supreme Court a petition for a writ of prohibition to restrain the Honorable James S. Rooney, judge of .the circuit court of Clay County, from exercising jurisdiction' over said proceeding; and Neil Barron and Gladys Barron likewise petitioned the Supreme Court" for a writ of prohibition to Judge Rooney; Both petitions' were denied by- the Supreme -Court en banc in an opinion handed down on February 9, 1953. See Kansas City v. Rooney, 363 Mo. 902, 254 S.W.2d 626.

On March 2, 1953, the circuit court:of Clay County entered an order denying the application of the City of Kansas City to intervene in the case. Thereafter.the case was transferred to the circuit court of Macon County ,on petitioners’ (appellants’)' application for change of venue. After the casé was so' transferred, the circuit court of Macon County entered an order which states that five, attorneys (naming them) “are hereby appointed amicus curiae in this case.” Petitioners then filed what - they called a “Motion for Ouster of Amicus Curiae”, and a “Motion for Judgment on the Record.” The case was set for hearing in the circuit court of Macon County on April 18, 1953. Petitioners were represent[11]*11ed by counsel and two of the five attorneys mentioned above appeared as amici curiae. The “Motion for Ouster of Amicus Curiae” was heard and overruled; and the “Motion for Judgment on the Record” was heard and taken under advisement.

The record shows.that four witnesses testified for the petitioners at the hearing in the circuit court on April 18, 1953. Their testimony was to the effect that they signed the petition for the incorporation of the Village of Pleasant Valley; that they owned r.eal estate located within the area described in the petition and paid 'taxes thereon; that .the petition had been signed by two-thirds of the taxable inhabitants of said area; that said area had no fire department, no police force, and no sewers; that said area was not subject to any zoning laws or building codes; and that the roads within the area were not in good condition. Each of the witnesses stated, in answer to questions asked by the court, that he did not testify before the county court or appear before the county court in support of the petition for incorporation. When the testimony of the four witnesses was offered, the attorneys appearing as amici curiae objected to the introduction of any evidence on the ground that the circuit court could not “hear the case de novo”, whereupon the court announced that the testimony would be received conditionally, and that a ruling on its admissibilty would be made at the close of the case. After the four witnesses testified, the case was submitted and taken under advisement.

At the request of petitioners, the court prepared, and filed an opinion in the case. We do not deem it necessary to set out that, opinion in full.

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Bluebook (online)
272 S.W.2d 8, 1954 Mo. App. LEXIS 377, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-village-of-pleasant-valley-moctapp-1954.