Independent School District No. 700 v. City of Duluth

170 N.W.2d 116, 284 Minn. 279, 1969 Minn. LEXIS 1048
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedAugust 8, 1969
Docket41429
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 170 N.W.2d 116 (Independent School District No. 700 v. City of Duluth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Independent School District No. 700 v. City of Duluth, 170 N.W.2d 116, 284 Minn. 279, 1969 Minn. LEXIS 1048 (Mich. 1969).

Opinion

Nelson, Justice.

The action involved on this appeal was commenced by Independent School District No. 700, St. Louis County, Minnesota, plaintiff-appellant, against the city of Duluth, its mayor, its city *281 clerk, and the Board of Education of the city (Special School District No. 3, State of Minnesota). Plaintiff district sought judgment that an ordinance purporting to annex to the city certain property abutting the city was void and that, in any event, the annexation did not remove any land from plaintiff although the area annexed was included within plaintiff’s boundaries.

After entering into a stipulation as to the facts, both plaintiff and defendants moved for summary judgment. On the basis of the stipulation and the pleadings, the trial court ordered that summary judgment be entered for defendants and the action be dismissed. Plaintiff appeals from the judgment thereafter entered.

The trial court, in a memorandum made a part of the order for summary judgment, analyzed the controversy as follows:

“On February 13, 1967, the City Council of the City of Duluth adopted an ordinance annexing to the City of Duluth property abutting such City, owned by such City, and known generally as the Duluth International Airport property. Such property was not on such date included in any other municipality. Such ordinance, by its own terms, and in accordance with the City Charter of the City of Duluth, provided that it would become effective thirty days after passage, approval by the Mayor, and publication by the City Clerk.

“On February 13, 1967, before the Mayor of the City of Duluth approved the ordinance, and before the City Clerk published the ordinance, this Court entered a temporary restraining order, prohibiting the Mayor from approving, and the City Clerk from publishing, the ordinance.

“The temporary restraining order was dissolved by order of the District Court April 5, 1967; and on the same date the Mayor of the City of Duluth approved the ordinance.

“The ordinance was published by the City Clerk on April 13, 1967, and became effective May 13, 1967. Such ordinance is Ordinance No. 7564 of the City of Duluth.

*282 “The premises described in Ordinance No. 7564 were at the time of adoption of such ordinance a part of the land embraced within the territory of Independent School District No. 700, St. Louis County, Minnesota, the plaintiff in this proceeding.

“Defendant The Board of Education of the City of Duluth was created by Chapter 312, Special Laws of Minnesota 1891; and by virtue of such act is charged with the responsibility of administering the school program within the territory of the City of Duluth.

“Plaintiff’s complaint asked the Court to enter judgment declaring that the annexation of land described in Ordinance No. 7564 of the City of Duluth does not remove the land from the boundaries of Independent School District No. 700.

“In addition, plaintiff alleged in its complaint that Ordinance No. 7564 is illegal and void.

“Arguments made by plaintiff in support of such prayer for relief are essentially two-fold: (1) That the boundaries of the City of Duluth may not be extended without amending Section 1 of the Charter of the City of Duluth, and in the alternative (2) even if the territory annexed properly becomes a part of the City of Duluth for municipal purposes, it nevertheless remains within the jurisdiction of School District No. 700 for school administration purposes.

“Minnesota Statutes, 414.03, deals with annexation of unincorporated property to a municipality; and Subdivision 2; of such section describes those circumstances under which annexation by ordinance is permissible:

“ ‘Except as hereinafter provided, territory abutting on any municipality and not included in any other municipality may be annexed to the municipality without an order of the commission in the manner provided in this subdivision:

“ ‘If the land is owned by the municipality, the governing body may by ordinance declare the land annexed to the municipality, and any such land is deemed to be urban in character.

*283 “ ‘Any annexation provided for in this subdivision shall be deemed final upon filing a copy of the ordinance with the commission [Minnesota Municipal Commission], the county auditor, and the secretary of state.’

“The parties to the proceeding have stipulated * * * that City of Duluth has complied with the provisions of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter U1U.

“Section 1 of the Charter of the City of Duluth provides in part:

“ ‘The City of Duluth in the County of St. Louis and State of Minnesota shall continue to be, upon the adoption of this charter, a municipal corporation of the same name, and with the same boundaries as it now has, to-wit: * * *.’

“The remainder of the first paragraph of Section 1 of the Charter is devoted to a metes and bounds description of the City as it existed at the time of Charter adoption in 1912. Plaintiff argues that Section 1 of the Charter controls the territorial limits of the City of Duluth; that therefore such limits can only be enlarged through the adoption of an appropriate amendment to the Home Rule Charter. Minn. Stats., Chap. 414, sets forth in specific detail the procedure to be followed in accomplishing municipal annexation in various circumstances. The legislature of the State of Minnesota has given much attention to municipal annexation in the past several years due to the rapid growth of urban communities throughout the State. Annexation proceedings almost always involved differences between the metropolitan community proposing the annexation and those individuals living in the adjoining and unincorporated community. The legislature has attempted to establish an orderly procedure for resolving these differences, such procedure being set forth in Minn. Stats., Chap. 414.

“The matter of annexation demands regulation by State government and not municipal government; and it is the opinion of this Court that the legislature of the State of Minnesota, in adopting Minn. Stats., Chap. 414, intended to establish a state *284 wide procedure to accomplish annexation; and that therefore, Section 1 of the Home Rule Charter, which is merely descriptive of the territory of the City of Duluth as it existed in 1912, does not limit the authority of the City Council of the City of Duluth to annex by ordinance where permitted by Chapter 414.

“Minn. Stats., Section 122.21, relating to the annexation of land upon petition of a landowner to have his land detached from the school district in which it lies and have it attached to another school district, provides that such petition must have the consent of the board of the school district from which the land is to be removed. Such section does not deal with annexation of territory by the City of Duluth, pursuant to Chapter 414; and therefore, it is the opinion of this Court that Independent School District No. 700 need not consent to the annexation of the property described in Ordinance No. 7564 by the City of Duluth.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
170 N.W.2d 116, 284 Minn. 279, 1969 Minn. LEXIS 1048, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/independent-school-district-no-700-v-city-of-duluth-minn-1969.