Fruitland incorporation seekers asked to go back to square one

Fruitland residents seeking incorporation didn't get the answer they wanted Monday.

Helmut Starr, a St. Louis attorney representing the Cape Girardeau County Commission, said Fruitland residents who are seeking to incorporate again will have to approach Cape Girardeau and Jackson on whether those cities want to annex their community.

In January, Fruitland residents filed a petition to incorporate as a fourth-class city. Commissioners sought Starr's review on the legality of the petition before a vote to place an incorporation question on the ballot.

"The threshold issue has not been met by the petitioners to have this county court even act on this," Starr said Monday during the commission's meeting.

Starr's examination of the petition and state law on incorporation found that each city within two miles of the proposed area has a year to respond before an incorporation question can go before voters, meaning the commission does not have the jurisdiction to approve the current incorporation petition. Each city also would have to turn down annexation.

Fruitland residents are no strangers to the annexation petition process. A vote by Jackson residents in 2012 nixed the city's plan to annex parts of Fruitland. The vote came after the Fruitland community filed its first incorporation petition in August 2011. That petition, which asked for Fruitland to become an incorporated village, was voted down by the county commission last summer.

Starr's review also found that an annexation petition must be signed by a number of voters equal to 15 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election in the area proposed to be incorporated. An argument made by the residents that annexation petitions filed in 2011 could count toward satisfying the requirement of the law didn't hold up, according to Starr, because the areas proposed for incorporation have been changed, the prior petitions were signed by voters based on the 2008 gubernatorial election and asked for incorporation as a village. The commission's vote last year also nullified the 2011 petitions, according to Starr's findings, meaning the petitions couldn't be used to support the new incorporation petition.

An attorney representing the residents, Thad Brady, attended the meeting, but did not speak to the commission.

Fruitland residents say they want to incorporate so they are not annexed by the city of Jackson. Some believe the city seeks to turn areas in and around their homes into an industrial park.

The presentation Monday leaves the residents with one choice since the commission cannot place an incorporation question on the ballot -- they will have to start over with the annexation process and hope they are rejected by the nearby cities.

Brinda Luttrull, who is among the petitioners, said they will continue their efforts.

"We will start from square one. We are not giving up," she said. "We are in this until it's done."

Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy said he wants to give the petitioners until Thursday to decide whether to withdraw the incorporation petition. The commission approved a motion to postpone any decision until its next regular at 9 a.m. Thursday.

The petition, which was submitted in January, included a plan for how Fruitland could provide services to residents if allowed to become incorporated, and redrawn boundaries. Starr told commissioners he also has concerns the proposed area may not meet the state law requirements to seek incorporation.

Missouri courts, according to Starr's letter to commissioners, have held that a town or village must meet certain characteristics, which include that they must comprise a "small urban community" and cannot contain any land used solely for farming. The courts also have expressed displeasure, according to the letter, with petitions seeking to incorporate only a portion of the "natural town," which could prevent some residents from voting on the incorporation. The proposed area does not include some areas traditionally known as Fruitland.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

1 Barton Square, Jackson, Mo.

Fruitland, Mo.