State ex rel. State Budget & Control Board v. City of Columbia

Harwell, Chief Justice:

This is a declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration as to the legality of certain annexations made by the City of Columbia (the City). We reverse in part and remand in part.

I. FACTS

On December 6, 1989, the City purchased a strip of land approximately five feet wide and one-half mile long bordering the eastern shore of the Broad River just north of the point where the Broad River is traversed by Interstate Highway 20 (the five-foot strip). The City annexed this five-foot strip on December 20, 1989. Based on the strip’s alleged contiguity to other lands abutting…