Request By:
Honorable Daugh K. White
Mayor, City of Manchester
City Hall
Manchester, Kentucky 40962
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of April 15 in which you request an opinion on several matters concerning the city of Manchester, a city of the fourth class. Your questions are as follows:
"If the city purchases a tract of land outside the city limits (in the county) does it automatically become a part of the city or would it be necessary to annex this tract.
"If we have to annex this tract of land can we go along the state right of way without annexing property in between. The property that we are concerned about is property that we purchased and built a community recreational building and swimming pool on."
Our response to your initial question would be in the negative. The corporate limits of any city can only be extended pursuant to annexation under Ch. 81 KRS. As a consequence, any land acquired by the city that is located outside its corporate limits does not automatically become a part of the city upon acquisition but only pursuant to an appropriate annexation proceeding.
In response to your second question concerning the legality of the city annexing along a state right of way or highway in order to annex additional territory that is not adjacent to the city, we enclose OAG 76-686 dealing with this question and from which we quote the following:
"In response to your question we refer you to the case of Ridings v. City of Owensboro, Ky., 383 S.W.2d 510 (1964), in which corridor annexation was held to be invalid. In this case the annexed corridor consisted of a public highway. The court's decision did not rule out corridor annexation as such, but held that the corridor or finger must have a municipal value or, in other words, serve some municipal purpose, otherwise the use of a corridor or finger to reach the intended area to be annexed must be considered a mere subterfuge.
"From the facts given, it would appear that the attempt on the part of the city to annex the interchange area by virtue of Kentucky Highway 218 as a connecting link, and without annexing adjacent territory to the highway, would constitute a form of corridor annexation declared invalid in the Ridings case cited above."
Under the circumstances, any attempt on the part of the city of Manchester to reach the tract of land in question by annexing along a state right of way or highway would appear to be invalid. See also OAG 75-550, copy attached.