Opinion ID: 1888691
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Strom's Claim Against City

Text: Strom's appeal vis-a-vis the City, however, merits its own analysis. The City argues that even if we determine that genuine issues of material fact remain regarding Strom's inverse condemnation action against the LENRD, the district court did not have jurisdiction over the City because the City did nothing more than file a complaint pursuant to § 2-4608(1). That section provides that [c]omplaints may be filed by any owner or operator of land being damaged by sediment, [and] by any state agency or political subdivision whose roads or other public facilities are being damaged by sediment .... § 2-4608(1). Thus, we are presented with the issue of whether Strom has the requisite standing to raise an action for inverse condemnation against the City. Before a party is entitled to invoke a court's jurisdiction, that party must have standing to sue. In re Complaints of McLeod Telemanagement et al., 255 Neb. 202, 583 N.W.2d 39 (1998). Standing is the legal or equitable right, title, or interest in the subject matter of the controversy which entitles a party to invoke the jurisdiction of the court. Because the requirement of standing is fundamental to a court's exercise of jurisdiction, a litigant or a court before which a case is pending can raise the question of standing at any time during the proceeding. Id. The purpose of the inquiry is to determine whether the party has a legally protectable interest or right in the controversy that would benefit by the relief to be granted. Id. In Simpson v. City of North Platte, 206 Neb. 240, 292 N.W.2d 297 (1980), the City of North Platte, by ordinance, required the property owner to dedicate certain private property to the city for use as a street as a condition for obtaining a building permit, without paying the property owner just compensation. The property owner in Simpson had standing to raise the inverse condemnation issue and seek to have the city's ordinance declared unconstitutional. However, in the instant case, it was the LENRD, rather than the City, which sought an order for Strom to set aside certain portions of his farmland for the installation of terraces and a sediment and water control basin pursuant to § 2-4612. The City was merely a reporting entity which had the right under the act to initiate the action with the LENRD by filing a complaint in conformance with § 2-4608(1), alleging that sediment damage had occurred on its property and that the sediment originated from Strom's adjoining farmland. After the complaint was filed, it was the LENRD which was responsible for prosecuting the complaint by inspecting the complained-of erosion and seeking the order for Strom to take the necessary steps to eliminate the erosion. See §§ 2-4612 and 2-4613. While the City has a significant interest in seeing that the sediment problem is eliminated, it was the LENRD and not the City which, in the instant case, sought the order for Strom to set aside portions of his farmland for the installation of conservation measures to control the sediment problem. Therefore, we conclude that Strom has standing to sue only the LENRD based on the inverse condemnation cause of action. Accordingly, since Strom has no standing to sue the City on an inverse condemnation theory, we dismiss Strom's appeal against the City for lack of jurisdiction.