City of Albuquerque v. State of New Mexico Municipal Boundary Commission

The New Mexico legislature established the New Mexico Municipal Boundary Commission (commission) (defendant) as an independent board with the authority to hear petitions from both municipalities seeking to annex new territory and landowners seeking to be annexed by a municipality. Regarding petitions from landowners, as required by statute, the commission held public hearings to determine whether the territory proposed to be annexed was contiguous to the municipality and whether it “may be provided with municipal services.” The annexation had to be approved if these two requirements were met. West Tijeras Canyon Limited (West Tijeras) (defendant) owned land that was contiguous to the border of the City of Albuquerque (plaintiff) and sought annexation into the city mainly to gain access to water and sewer services. West Tijeras first requested that the Albuquerque City Council (council) approve annexation of its land, which the council denied. Subsequently, West Tijeras filed a petition with the commission for annexation. The commission held a hearing on the petition in which the city expressed its opposition. The commission interpreted the requirement that the land “may be provided with municipal services” to mean simply that the city was capable of providing services to the land. The city contended that the forced annexation would put an undue burden on its already strained services, conflict with the county comprehensive plan’s policy for rural areas, and conflict with the city’s infill policy promoting development within existing infrastructure. The commission voted in favor of annexation. The city appealed to the district court, which overturned the annexation. West Tijeras and the commission appealed.