Main St Properties LLC v. City of Bellevue, Nebraska

Summary

The Nebraska Supreme Court held that Bellevue’s adoption of a rezoning ordinance was a legislative act rather than the exercise of a judicial function. Consequently, a petition in error was not the exclusive means of challenging the ordinance, and the plaintiff’s complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief was sufficient to survive dismissal. The court reversed the dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and remanded for further proceedings without addressing the merits.

Holdings

1. The city council acted legislatively, not judicially, when it adopted the rezoning ordinance. The allegations did not show that the council decided a dispute of adjudicative fact, received evidence or testimony into an official record, conducted an adversarial proceeding, or was statutorily required to act in a judicial manner.
2. Because the rezoning ordinance was a purely legislative act, an appeal or petition-in-error proceeding did not lie; the ordinance could instead be challenged collaterally through an injunction or other suitable action.
3. The complaint was sufficient to survive the motion to dismiss because, accepting its factual allegations as true and drawing reasonable inferences in Main St Properties' favor, it alleged a plausible basis for declaratory and injunctive relief.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the city council's adoption of a rezoning ordinance constituted the exercise of a judicial function reviewable only by petition in error.
2. Whether the district court had subject matter jurisdiction over Main St Properties' collateral action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the rezoning ordinance.
3. Whether the complaint stated sufficient allegations to survive a motion to dismiss.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded