Wilkie v. City of Boiling Spring Lakes, 370 N.C. 540

Summary

The Supreme Court of North Carolina considered whether property owners could pursue statutory inverse condemnation under N.C.G.S. § 40A-51 for temporary flooding allegedly caused by a municipality acting for a private purpose. The court held that references to N.C.G.S. § 40A-3(b) and (c) identify the entities subject to statutory inverse condemnation claims and do not require that the challenged act or omission have been undertaken for a public purpose. The court reversed the Court of Appeals and remanded for consideration of the municipality’s remaining challenges.

Holdings

1. A plaintiff asserting a statutory inverse-condemnation claim under N.C.G.S. § 40A-51 need not prove that the condemnor acted for a public use or benefit. The statute permits an action when property has been taken by an act or omission of a condemnor listed in N.C.G.S. § 40A-3(b) or (c), without a filed complaint containing a declaration of taking.
2. The trial court did not err by denying plaintiffs' motion to dismiss defendant's appeal, and the Court of Appeals properly addressed defendant's challenges to the trial court's order on the merits.

Questions Presented

1. Whether N.C.G.S. § 40A-51 requires a plaintiff asserting statutory inverse condemnation to prove that the condemnor acted for a public use or benefit.
2. Whether the reference in N.C.G.S. § 40A-51(a) to condemnors listed in N.C.G.S. § 40A-3(b) or (c) limits the purposes for which the condemnor may have acted or merely identifies the entities subject to a statutory inverse-condemnation action.
3. Whether the defendant's appeal from the trial court's condemnation order was properly before the Court of Appeals.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded