[blindlaw] Municipal Law Question

[Jodi Monares]

Municipal powers and company towns research sought.  Canadian legal team
looking for U.S. research to challenge municipality  scope of powers and
preserve grizzly bear and wildlife habitat from proposed ski development.



Issues:





(i)  Any US law/decisions with respect to establishing a municipality
before the arrival of people?  I imagine there have been some company towns
in the US (Dow Chemical towns), and wonder if there is any law regarding
when these company towns are actually granted full municipal status
(immediately; or after a more stable population arrives?);



(ii) Any helpful caselaw respecting the actions of a public authority being
contrary to the stated purposes of a statute.  There are various statutory
interpretation terms that account for judges reviewing actions that do not
comply with the stated purposes of the statute.  One example is the term
'repugnancy' - whereby if there are two potential interpretations of a
statutory provision, the one that conforms with the purposes of the statute
will be preferred.  In this case, we are saying that the Minister's
decision fundamentally contravenes the stated purposes of the statute; and
we hope to have it struck down on that basis alone.





Thanks for any help or suggestions.


Jodi Monares
Paralegal
970-396-5389