State's high court clears way for lawsuit against Sikeston

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated a lawsuit alleging the Sikeston City Council violated the state's open meetings law with the 2001 passage of a zoning ordinance that some city landowners opposed.

Stoddard County Associate Circuit Judge Stephen Mitchell dismissed the lawsuit as moot in September 2002 after the council had repealed the disputed ordinance a month earlier. R.E.J. Inc., which owns property near the temporarily rezoned area and brought the lawsuit, appealed. The company claims the council's repeal of the ordinance didn't remove responsibility under Missouri's Sunshine Law, which requires government proceedings to be open to the public.

In its brief 6-0 decision, the Supreme Court remanded the case to Mitchell to determine if the council violated the law.

Writing for the high court, Judge William Ray Price Jr. drew a distinction between the repeal of an official act of government and a court declaring such an act to be invalid.

The court's ruling means R.E.J. still has the right to ask a judge to declare that the ordinance wasn't legal during the year between its original passage and repeal.

James Robison, the city's attorney in this case, said the Supreme Court's opinion will have little practical effect.

"At best the judge could find an ordinance that has already been repealed is void and enforceable," Robison said. "I'm not sure how that really changes anything."

If the lower court were to find the council violated the Sunshine Law, however, the city could be subject to a maximum $500 fine and be required to pay the legal fees incurred by R.E.J.

Jean Maneke, an expert on the Sunshine Law and attorney for the Missouri Press Association, said the ruling clarifies that a public entity may not avoid sanctions for violations by taking corrective action after the fact. The press association is not a party to the lawsuit.

"What it does is add one little brick to the structure of the Sunshine Law," Maneke said.

The dispute began in June 2001 when Greers Grove Development submitted a proposal to rezone 12 acres along North Main Street in Sikeston from agricultural to commercial. The Sikeston Planning and Zoning Commission rejected the request, but the city council overruled the commission a month later.

However, the council initially passed a procedurally faulty version of the zoning ordinance and in August 2001 enacted a corrected version. R.E.J. sued days later, claiming the council failed to provide sufficient public notice of its intent to amend the ordinance as required by the Sunshine Law. The council repealed the ordinance in August 2002.

During the period the land was rezoned commercial, construction was started on a portion of the affected property to build a new facility for the Scott County Health Department. Because as a public entity the health department isn't necessarily subject to municipal zoning restrictions, Robison said the Supreme Court's ruling should have no bearing on the agency's ability to operate its new facility.

The case is R.E.J Inc. v. City of Sikeston and Greers Grove Development.

mpowers@semissourian.com

(573) 635-4608