Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/02/2017

Home

Zoning Bulletin January 10, 2017 I Volume 11 I Issue 1 Landowners claim zoning regulations amount to regulatory taking of property for which they are entitled to just compensation Citation: Strode v. City of Ashland, 295 Neb. 44, 886 N.W.2d 293 (2016) NEBRASKA (10/28/16)—This case addressed whether zoning regulations on the use of the property and on roadways leading to the property amounted to regulatory takings for which the landowners were entitled to just compensation. The case also addressed the issue of when an action for inverse condemnation based on a regulatory taking begins to accrue in determining timeliness of the action under a statute of limitations. The Background/Facts: Randy and Helen Strode (the "Strodes") owned real property in the City of Ashland (the "City") in Saunders County (the "County"). Randy owned three lots, which were purchased in 1999, and together, the Strodes owned eight lots, which were purchased between 2000 and 2002. All of that real property was zoned Public ("PUB") by a 1998 City Ordinance. In a PUB zone, permitted uses included specified recreational uses, such as parks, swimming pools, ball fields, and trails, as well as other public uses such as cemeteries and fairgrounds. Since their purchase of the land, the Strodes operated a business for the manufacture of agricultural fencing and the storage of salvage on the property. Between November 2002 and June 2003, the City zoning administrator repeatedly notified Randy that his use of the property was in violation of the City's code and regulations. Randy was requested to remedy his violation. Helen claimed that she was unaware of the violation notices until June 2003. In September 2003, the City filed an injunction against Randy's nonconforming use of the property. The district court held that Randy's use of the property to store salvage was in violation of the zoning ordinance and granted the City's request for an injunction. The court also found that the manufacture of agricultural fencing on six of the lots was permitted as a continuing, nonconforming use. Ten years later, in September 2013, Randy and Helen sued the City and the County for inverse condemnation (i.e., a taking of private prop- erty by the government without just compensation) based on both the zoning ordinance and a load limitation regulation of a bridge. Article I, § 21 of the Nebraska Constitution provides that the "property of no person shall be taken or damaged for public use without just compensa- tion therefor." The Strodes argued that the zoning ordinance's limita- tion on their use of their land amounted to a regulatory taking for which they were entitled to just compensation. With regard to the load limita- 02017 Thomson Reuters 3