We are still accepting registrations for the Planning and Zoning workshops in Dubuque (April 5), Waterloo (April 6), Council Bluffs (April 12) and Spencer (April 13). You are too late to get a meal with your registrations for Dubuque and Waterloo, but we can still feed you if you sign up for Council Bluffs or Spencer by the end of this week (April 1). Go to the Intro to Planning and Zoning Workshops tab above to download the registration form.
Month: March 2011
Challenge to decision to refuse water service dismissed
by Melanie Thwing
Small v. City of Milton
(Iowa Court of Appeals, February 23, 2011)
In 2004, Jimmie Small paid five hundred dollars for a parcel of land in Milton, Iowa. He then placed an RV on the property and began living out of it. In 2005 Small requested that Rathbun Regional Water Association, Inc (RRWA) connect his RV to their water distribution system. RRWA agreed to do so but Small would still be responsible for the $1,065.37 cost. He did not connect to RRWA.
In August of 2005 Small requested that the City connect his parcel to the water and sewer systems. This request was denied because it was not practical to connect his property to the systems due to distance and private properties that would be crossed in the process.
After filing unsuccessful complaints with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and the Iowa Utilities Board, Small filed a petition with the district court in July of 2007. He argued that both the City and RRWA had entered into a public utility contracts as a condition of receiving federal funding. Small claimed that these contracts contained certain nondiscrimination covenants that were breached when both denied access to water and sewer based on his disability. He sought an order to provide the connections.
In March 2008 Small then filed for sanctions against the City for a failure to comply with discovery requests. Although he had received the requested documentation he claimed it was untimely and the certificates displayed the wrong dates. A public hearing for the matter was set for April and the morning of the hearing Small filed for a motion of continuance. This motion was denied, and after Small failed to appear at the afternoon hearing the motion for sanctions was dismissed.
Ultimately the City and RRWA moved for summary judgment in district court, which was granted when the court found no evidence that the City or RRWA discriminated against Small. Small then appealed this decision, but moved to postpone the filing of the proof brief with the Supreme Court claiming that the judicial record from the district court was incorrect. The Supreme Court allowed him to file a motion with the district court to modify the record. Ultimately the district court found that Small was rearguing his original claim and he should proceed with the appeal.
Small argued to the Court of Appeals that the district court was incorrect when they failed to find any factual reasons on the motion to amend the record, on granting summary judgment, and when denying this motion for sanctions. Under Iowa Court Rule 21.29(1)(d) the Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s decision.
Some land use bills moving forward.
In a session slowed by a divided house and senate, the Iowa legislature has recently moved some land use-related bills forward.
HF 603 (formerly HF 64) passed the house by a vote of 91-6 on March 22 and has been messaged over to the senate. It makes a number of changes to eminent domain authority. Among those, it generally raises the bar for most state agencies by requiring a showing of public use/public purpose by clear and convincing evidence (a higher standard than previous). It also increases the procedural requirements for condemnation for lakes, prohibits condemnation of land on historic register, limits cities use of eminent domain outside city limits, and severely limits condemnations to aquire recreational lands. There are more details to it. It is worth reading.
SF 321 passed the house 91-8. This bill provides for on-farm processing operations which manufacture products from commodities originating from that farm or another farm such as a dairy, creamery, winery, distillery, or cannery. The bill requires the DNR to adopt standards for the disposal of wastewater or septage from that operation. The standards for disposal of wastewater must provide for disposal by land application, at a wastewater treatment system, through a subsurface absorption system, or through a disposal system that discharges into a public water. The department must also adopt by rule standards for the disposal of septage to a septage lagoon or septage drying bed.
SF 489, the bill to implement the recommendations of the Smart Planning Taskforce report from November 2010, has been referred to a senate appropriations subcommittee.
HF 300 has been assigned to a subcommittee in the House Ways and Means Committee. Its companion bill in the senate (SF 395) has also been referred to a subcommittee of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. HF 300 would keep platted lots assessed as acreage or unimproved property until improved with permanent construction. Right now a platted lot is assessed as residential 3 years after platting or upon development, whichever comes first. From a planning perspective, this bill has the potential to promote sprawl. In other states with assessment rules similar to what is proposed, it has been shown to result in buy and hold by developers because there is no negative tax consequence to speculation on the fringe of urban areas.
Planning and Zoning Workshop reminder
A reminder that the Introduction to Planning and Zoning workshop registration due dates are approaching. The first two workshops in the Quad Cities and Fairfield are March 22 and 23, respectively. If you haven’t yet registered please do so soon. If you need a registration brochure go to the “Intro to Planning and Zoning Workshops” tab above and follow the link.
March 1 legislation status check
The funnel deadline for bills to keep moving (must be passed out of a committee) is Friday, March 4. SSB 1068, the study bill that carries many of the recommendations of the Smart Planning Taskforce, passed out of the State Government Committee on February 28 (the link is not to the current as-amended version). SSB 1068 will now receive a Senate File number.
SF 321 is the successor bill to SF 269, discussed below, concerning wastewater discharges by on-farm processing operations. It also passed out of committee yesterday.
Bills recently introduced, but not yet through committee:
SF 297 and SF 336 both deal with the notification requirements of meetings of the boards of condominium and homeowners associations.
HF 430 would protect agricultural operations from nuisance suits under certain circumstances (commonly referred to as a right-to-farm law. NOTE: the Iowa Supreme Court struck down Iowa’s previous right-to-farm law in a nationally-famous case, Bormann v. Kossuth County, in the 1990s).
HF 413 would provide a property tax exemption for commercial property in an urban revitalization area that has been vacant for more than six months and meets other criteria.
HF 388 would no longer allow cities to adopt ordinances providing for the use of a designated amount of the increased local sales and services tax revenues attributable to retail establishments in an urban renewal area to fund urban renewal projects located in that area. Existing ordinances could be amended or repealed only.
HF 357 would change the authority of city zoning boards of adjustment to grant variances, by allowing the granting of area variances upon a showing of ‘practical difficulties’ rather than unnecessary hardship.