In Re Olmer

752 N.W.2d 124, 275 Neb. 852
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedJune 6, 2008
DocketS-07-247
StatusPublished
Cited by172 cases

This text of 752 N.W.2d 124 (In Re Olmer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Olmer, 752 N.W.2d 124, 275 Neb. 852 (Neb. 2008).

Opinion

752 N.W.2d 124 (2008)
275 Neb. 852

In re Application of Mark OLMER.
Mark Olmer, Appellant,
v.
Madison County Board of Commissioners, Appellee.

No. S-07-247.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

June 6, 2008.

*125 Stephen D. Mossman, of Mattson, Ricketts, Davies, Stewart & Calkins, Lincoln, and James G. Egley, of Moyer, Moyer, Egley, Fullner & Montag, Madison, for appellant.

Joseph M. Smith, Madison County Attorney, for appellee.

WRIGHT, CONNOLLY, GERRARD, STEPHAN, McCORMACK, and MILLER-LERMAN, JJ.

*126 GERRARD, J.

This is an appeal from the judgment of the district court, which affirmed the decision of the Madison County Board of Commissioners (the Board) denying Mark Olmer's application for a conditional use permit. Olmer contends that the district court erred by reviewing his appeal from the Board's decision under the standard of review for error proceedings. Olmer argues that the district court should have conducted a trial de novo pursuant to Neb. Rev.Stat. § 25-1937 (Reissue 1995). As discussed below, we conclude that Olmer had the option of proceeding either by way of a petition in error or by filing an appeal under § 25-1937. Because Olmer chose to proceed under § 25-1937, the district court erred in treating his appeal as an error proceeding, and we reverse the judgment of the court and remand this cause with directions.

FACTS

Olmer filed an application for a conditional use permit to allow a "swine finishing operation" on his property in Madison County, Nebraska. Olmer's proposed swine finishing operation would involve approximately 2,460 head of feeder pigs. After hearings before the Madison County Planning Commission, the planning commission recommended to the Board that Olmer's application be approved with certain conditions. On September 27 and October 7, 2005, the Board held hearings on Olmer's application. At the hearing on September 27, the Board received into evidence various exhibits and heard the testimony of several individuals, some testifying in favor of Olmer's application and others testifying against it. Minutes from this hearing indicate that there was discussion about, among other things, the threat of increased nitrate levels in the ground water near Olmer's proposed operation, the procedures Olmer would adopt to control odor and dust, and the effect Olmer's operation would have on the health of neighboring landowners.

After all of the evidence was presented, the Board, on October 7, 2005, issued "Resolution #2005-77," setting forth in detail the Board's findings of fact and denying Olmer's application for a conditional use permit. On November 4, Olmer filed a "Notice of Appeal" with the county commissioners of Madison County, informing the county commissioners of his intent to appeal the Board's decision to the Madison County District Court. On November 21, Olmer filed a "Petition on Appeal" in the district court, setting forth his grounds for appeal. In his "Petition on Appeal," Olmer stated that he "has properly perfected his appeal under Section 25-1937."

On November 30, 2006, the district court held what appeared to be a trial on a joint stipulated record. The stipulated record received by the court included, among other things, the minutes of the hearings held before the Board and all of the exhibits offered and received by the Board. The stipulated record also included evidence that was not presented to the Board, including deposition testimony from Olmer's neighbor and attached exhibits. One of the issues presented to the district court was whether Olmer's appeal from the Board's decision is governed by Neb.Rev. Stat. § 25-1901 (Supp.2007) and is therefore treated as a review on a petition in error or whether his appeal is governed by § 25-1937 which requires a trial de novo in the district court.

The district court found that the Board, in denying Olmer's conditional use permit, acted as a tribunal exercising judicial functions and that therefore, Olmer's appeal should be treated as a petition in error. Because Olmer's appeal was treated as a petition in error, the court explained that *127 Olmer was not entitled to a trial de novo, nor could the court receive additional evidence that was not offered at the hearing before the Board. Accordingly, the court stated that, in making its decision, it did not consider any exhibits that were not offered and received by the Board.

The court determined that Olmer had met all of the jurisdictional requirements for filing a petition in error and that therefore, the court had jurisdiction to review the Board's decision denying Olmer's application. The court, relying on the standard of review for error proceedings, found that the Board acted within its jurisdiction and that the Board's findings were supported by some competent evidence in the record. Accordingly, the court affirmed the Board's decision denying Olmer's application. Olmer appealed.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

Olmer assigns, consolidated, restated, and renumbered, that the district court erred in (1) reviewing the Board's decision under the standard of review applicable to a petition in error, as opposed to conducting a trial de novo as required under § 25-1937, and (2) affirming the decision of the Board denying his application for a conditional use permit.

ANALYSIS

PROPER METHOD OF APPEAL AND STANDARD OF REVIEW FOR DISTRICT COURT

The primary issue presented in this appeal is the proper procedure and standard of review for an appeal of a denial of a conditional use permit by a county board of commissioners. Olmer claims that the proper method of appeal and standard of review is set forth in § 25-1937, which requires the district court to conduct a trial "de novo upon the issues made up by the pleadings in the district court." The Board contends, however, that because it acted in a judicial manner in denying Olmer's application, Olmer's exclusive mode of appeal was through the filing of a petition in error under § 25-1901.

In Mogensen v. Board of Supervisors,[1] we were asked to determine the proper procedure for appealing a denial of a conditional use permit by a board of supervisors. In that case, the county board of supervisors denied an application for a conditional use permit. The applicant filed a petition in error in the district court. The district court affirmed the board of supervisors' decision.

On appeal to this court, we concluded that the district court lacked jurisdiction because the applicant's filing of a petition in error did not properly perfect the appeal. In reaching this conclusion, we noted that the Nebraska Court of Appeals, in Niewohner v. Antelope Cty. Bd. of Adjustment,[2] had addressed a similar issue and had concluded that under Neb.Rev.Stat. § 23-168.03 (Reissue 1997), an appeal of a denial of a conditional use permit by the county board of supervisors must be made to the board of adjustment.

We agreed with the Court of Appeals and concluded that the appeal procedure in Neb.Rev.Stat. §§ 23-168.01

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
752 N.W.2d 124, 275 Neb. 852, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-olmer-neb-2008.