State on Relation of City of Albemarle v. Nance, 266 N.C. App. 353

The Nances owned the Heart of Albemarle Hotel property since 2012; police responded to complaints of criminal activity near the property many times between 2014–2017.
On March 24, 2017 Albemarle's Chief of Police sent notice letters accusing the property of being used as a public nuisance; no notice letter was sent to defendant Charlene Smith.
The City filed a civil public-nuisance complaint on August 4, 2017—after the hotel had closed in April 2017 and after the Nances say they had evicted patrons, fired Smith, and ceased operations.
Smith moved to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6); the Nances moved to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1) arguing the City lacked authority to initiate the action because the city council never adopted a resolution authorizing the suit.
The trial court granted Smith's dismissal for failure to state a claim and granted the Nances' dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction; the City appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Appeal of trial court order compelling discovery	City attempted to appeal the motion-to-compel order	Nances argued City did not brief the issue on appeal	Abandoned for failure to brief; trial court order is final
Sufficiency of complaint against Smith (12(b)(6))	City sought injunctive abatement against Smith as a manager involved in the nuisance	Smith argued she was no longer employed or on the premises when suit was filed and thus cannot be subject to the requested relief	Dismissed—City failed to state a claim; Smith could not obtain the relief sought
Subject-matter jurisdiction / standing to bring nuisance action (12(b)(1))	City argued public-nuisance actions can be brought by municipality and its retained outside counsel; council discussion and hiring outside counsel sufficed	Nances argued no city-council resolution or ordinance authorized filing; ordinances require council resolution to employ outside counsel to sue	Dismissed—City failed to prove council adopted required resolution; no standing and court lacked jurisdiction

Leary v. N.C. Forest Prods., 157 N.C. App. 396, 580 S.E.2d 1 (N.C. Ct. App.) (de novo review on motion to dismiss)
State Emps. Ass'n of N.C., Inc. v. N.C. Dep't of State Treasurer, 364 N.C. 205, 695 S.E.2d 91 (N.C.) (standard for Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal)
Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555 (U.S. 1992) (standing burden and proof throughout litigation stages)
Neuse River Found., Inc. v. Smithfield Foods, Inc., 155 N.C. App. 110, 574 S.E.2d 48 (N.C. Ct. App.) (standing burden)
Fuller v. Easley, 145 N.C. App. 391, 553 S.E.2d 43 (N.C. Ct. App.) (standing and Rule 12(b)(1) motions)
Peninsula Prop. Owners Ass'n, Inc. v. Crescent Res., LLC, 171 N.C. App. 89, 614 S.E.2d 351 (N.C. Ct. App.) (municipal authority to commence litigation requires proper council action)
Town of Kenansville v. Summerlin, 70 N.C. App. 601, 320 S.E.2d 428 (N.C. Ct. App.) (municipality must follow its own ordinance procedures)