HOT SPRINGS -- State Rep. Bruce Cozart, R-Hot Springs, has filed a bill to limit annexation legislation that he's said the city of Hot Springs is using as a "land grab," a consequence he didn't foresee when he voted for the law last year.
House Bill 1018 would require a special election to annex an enclave. The state code's annexation chapter currently allows a municipality's governing body to annex such areas by majority vote. Residents in unincorporated areas contiguous to corporate limits can be annexed by a special election or by residents who own more than half the area's acreage petitioning the county judge for a voluntary annexation.
Enclaves are lands surrounded by corporate limits. In 2015, the Legislature passed Act 109, expanding the definition of enclave to include areas bordered by corporate limits on three sides and a lake or a river on a fourth. The city invoked the legislation last December and in January to take in two areas bounded by the city's corporate limits and Lake Hamilton.
Cozart was one of 89 House members to vote for the bill that became Act 109. Last week he apologized for his vote, telling the gallery at a special meeting of the Garland County Quorum Court that the city's use of Act 109 has exceeded the scope of the intent behind the law.
"I thought it was what we needed," he said last week. "We didn't know what it was capable of. I'm as guilty as anybody in the House and Senate that voted for that bill. I apologize for making that mistake."
Cozart said many constituents in the Twin Points and Burchwood Bay Road areas contacted him after the Hot Springs Board of Directors annexed the land under Act 109 in December. While HB1018 can't help them, Cozart said it could be beneficial to plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the city's annexation of the Lakeland Drive, Lake Hamilton Drive and Buena Vista Road areas.
The Hot Springs Board of Directors adopted an ordinance annexing that area Jan. 19, but the city has said it won't enact the ordinance until two pending lawsuits are resolved. The plaintiffs in one are appealing the dismissal of it earlier this year in Garland County Circuit Court. A hearing is scheduled Dec. 13 in the other lawsuit. Both were filed Feb. 18.
"I voted for the bill not knowing what it would do," Cozart said. "I realized I made a mistake. I apologized to the people and told them I'd try to fix it. Maybe they could get an injunction filed, because [HB1018] shows measures are being taken to change the law. I think it could give their lawsuit some teeth."
The response the city filed last week to the Opponents of Ordinance 6121's motion for summary judgment said the plaintiffs have falsely claimed that property owners in the affected area were prohibited from speaking against the ordinance at a public hearing held during the Jan. 5 city board meeting.
The city's brief in support of its response said the crowd exceeded the "lawful limits" of the board chambers, and that people were asked to leave. But those who signed up to speak were given the opportunity, the response said, referring to exhibits showing the sign-up sheet and a DVD of the meeting.
The response said the plaintiffs have no evidence that the city prohibited anyone who wanted to speak from addressing the city board.
"The plaintiffs bring forward no direct evidence of an aggrieved party, not a single person to complain about being asked to leave the hearing to ensure the fire code was followed," the city and its attorneys from the Arkansas Municipal League said in the response. "One would think that if this were really a problem, others would come forward saying so, particularly one of the plaintiffs."
Public hearings are scheduled for Tuesday at the board chambers in City Hall regarding three enclave study areas the city's considering annexing under the authority of Act 109. One of the areas, Enclave Study Area D, west of Weston Road, is in Cozart's district. It covers 311 acres and has a population of 22o.
Enclave Study Area C, which is east of the Hot Springs Creek mouth, and Enclave Study Area E, which is northwest of Lake Catherine, are in outgoing Rep. John Vines' House District 25. Representative-elect Les Warren, a Republican, will represent the area when the 91st General Assembly convenes Jan. 9.
More than 1,000 people live on the two areas' more than 2,700 acres. The law allows the city board to vote on the annexation ordinances at its next regularly scheduled meeting after the public hearing. Dec. 20 is the board's next meeting after Tuesday's public hearings.
State Desk on 12/03/2016