Subdivision developer brought action against town water and fire district for declaratory and injunctive relief, contending that district was required to provide water services to subdivision lots which were partially in town and partially in neighboring town.
District filed motion to dismiss for failure to join indispensable parties. The Superior Court denied district’s motion and granted developer’s motion for summary judgment. District appealed.
The Supreme Court held that:
- Term “inhabitants” in district’s charter meant anyone who owned real estate and paid taxes to the district, and
- Owners of other 53 properties partially located in town and partially located in neighboring town were not indispensable parties.
Term “inhabitants” in town water and fire district’s charter, authorizing distribution of water to the inhabitants of the district, meant anyone who owned real estate and paid taxes to the district, rather than simply to parcels with residences within town boundaries; charter references not only a “house” but also a “building, tenement or estate,” charter also gave district the power and authority to mandate that “any estate” connect to an abutting main, and it would be absurd to allow district to tax businesses such as golf courses or farms which lacked residential components or buildings while not providing water to such businesses.
Owners of other 53 properties partially located in town and partially located in neighboring town were not indispensable parties to subdivision developer’s declaratory judgment action against town water and fire district seeking extension of water to subdivision lots partially located in town and partially located in neighboring town; none of the other owners had a direct claim upon the subject of the action such that joinder of that party would cause it to lose anything by operation of the judgment rendered, nor did they have an actual, present, adverse, and antagonistic interest in the judgment, and any risk that district would have to litigate the underlying issue every time a property straddling the borderline filed an application for water service was purely speculative.