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Wednesday, March 31, 2004

Indiana Decisions - Impact of Supreme Court's decision not to review landfill case

The LaPorte Herald-Argus reports in this story today on the impact of the Indiana Supreme Court's decision last week not to grant transfer in Bd of Comm. of LaPorte County, et al. v. Town & Country Utilities, Inc. , a 7/10/13 decision of the Indiana Court of Appeals. Some quotes:

A Gary company’s legal fight to site a landfill in Kingsbury Industrial Park is losing its punch.

The Indiana Supreme Court decided last week not to hear a petition from Town and Country Utilities, thereby upholding an earlier ruling by the Indiana Court of Appeals.

Town and Country wanted the state’s highest court to reverse the court of appeals’ July 10, 2003, ruling that local communities have the authority over the state in deciding if there’s a need for a landfill.

In its 4-1 vote, the Indiana Supreme Court voted to deny Town and Country’s petition to transfer the case to its court.

More from the story:
Judge Steven King ruled in October 2002 that the state and not the county had the authority to make the landfill decision. He ruled that a section of the LaPorte County Master Plan was invalid and the county had overstepped its bounds.

Less than a year later, the court of appeals reversed King’s decision.

The master plan states that to obtain a special exception to build a landfill from the LaPorte County of Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), the developer must first gain approval from the county solid waste district showing there's a need for one.

The court of appeals agreed that the county has the authority to adopt zoning ordinances because it regulates the use of land.

Additionally, it ruled that while approval for a landfill must still be obtained at the state level, the first OK to determine a need must come from the local level, the solid-waste district.

Access the July 13, 2003 Indiana Law Blog entry on the Court of Appeals opinion, titled "Indiana Decisions - Local zoning authority over solid waste landfills," plus a link to the Court of Appeal's decision, here.

[Update 4/1/04] This story appears today in the South Bend Tribune.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 31, 2004 06:24 PM
Posted to Indiana Decisions