Iowa Code
Chapter 306 - ESTABLISHMENT, ALTERATION, AND VACATION OF HIGHWAYS
Section 306.19 - Right-of-way — access — notice.

306.19 Right-of-way — access — notice.
1. In the maintenance, relocation, establishment, or improvement of any road, including the extension of such road within cities, the agency having jurisdiction and control of such road shall have authority to purchase or to institute and maintain proceedings for the condemnation of the necessary right-of-way therefor. Such agency shall likewise have power to purchase or institute and maintain proceedings for the condemnation of land necessary for highway drainage, or land containing gravel or other suitable material for the improvement or maintenance of highways, together with the necessary road access or right of access thereto.
2. Whenever the agency condemns or purchases property access rights or alters by lengthening any existing driveway to a road from abutting property, except during the time required for construction and maintenance of the road or highway, the agency shall:
a. Compensate the owner for any diminution in the market value of the property by the denial or alteration by lengthening the driveway. In computing the diminution in value, no consideration shall be given to the additional maintenance expense for maintaining the additional length of driveway, but in lieu thereof, both in condemnation proceedings or negotiated purchases, the agency shall pay to the owner the sum of twenty dollars for every lineal foot of additional length of driveway located on the owner’s property. This payment shall represent just compensation to the property owner for the additional driveway maintenance caused by reason of the highway or road project.
b. If in the opinion of the agency it would be more economical to purchase the entire tract of the property owner than to provide and pay the maintenance expense required under the provisions of this section, proceed with the acquisition of the entire tract of land; or
c. If mutually agreeable, move buildings from an existing location to a location requiring an equal or lesser length of driveway and provide an adequate driveway to a public road.
3. None of the foregoing requirements shall prohibit the property owner and the agency from entering into a mutually acceptable agreement for the replacement, relocation, construction, or maintenance of any alternate driveway on the owner’s property. Compensation for any property rights taken in the establishment of any alternative temporary or permanent access shall be paid as in any other purchase or condemnation of property.
4. Proceedings for the condemnation of land for any highway shall be under the provisions of chapter 6A and chapter 6B. Provided that, in the condemnation of right-of-way for secondary roads that is contiguous to existing road right-of-way for the maintenance, safety improvement, or upgrade of the existing secondary road, the board of supervisors may proceed as provided in sections 306.28 through 306.37.
5. a. The department may notify a city or county that a road under the jurisdiction or control of the department will be established, improved, relocated, or maintained and that the department may need to acquire additional right-of-way or property rights within an area described by the department. The notice shall include a depiction of the area on a map provided by the city, county, or the department. This notice shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of notification to the city or county and may be refiled by the department every three years. Within seven days of filing the notice, the department shall publish in a newspaper of public record a description and map of the area and a description of the potential restrictions applied to the city or county with respect to the granting of building permits, approving of subdivision plats, or zoning changes within the area.
b. The city or county shall notify the department of an application for a building permit for construction valued at twenty-five thousand dollars or more, of the submission of a subdivision plat, or of a proposed zoning change within the area at least thirty days prior to granting the proposed building permit, approving the subdivision plat, or changing the zoning.
c. If the department, within the thirty-day period, notifies the city or county that the department is proceeding to acquire all or part of the property or property rights affecting the area, the city or county shall not issue the building permit, approve the subdivision plat, or change the zoning. The department may apply to the city or county for an extension of the thirty-day period. After a public hearing on the matter, the city or county may grant an additional sixty-day extension of the period.
d. The department shall begin the process of acquiring property or property rights from affected persons within ten days of the department’s written notification of intent to the city or county.
6. If the agency determines that it is necessary to relocate a utility facility, the agency shall have the authority to institute and maintain proceedings on behalf of the owner of the utility facility for the condemnation of replacement property rights. The replacement property rights shall be equal in substance to the existing rights of the owner of the utility facility, except that the replacement property rights shall be for a width and location deemed appropriate and necessary for the needs of the owner of the utility facility, as determined by the agency and the owner of the facility. The replacement property rights of the owner of the utility facility shall be subordinate to the rights of the agency only to the extent necessary for the construction and maintenance of the designated road. Within a reasonable time after completion of the relocation, all previously owned property rights of the owner of the utility facility no longer required for operation and maintenance of the utility facility shall be released or conveyed to the appropriate parties. The authority of the agency under this subsection may only be exercised upon execution of a relocation agreement between the agency and the owner of the utility facility. For purposes of this subsection, “utility facility” means an electric, gas, water, steam power, or materials transmission or distribution system; a transportation system; a communications system, including cable television; and fixtures, equipment, or other property associated with the operation, maintenance, or repair of the system. A utility facility may be publicly, privately, or cooperatively owned.
7. For the purposes of this section, the term “driveway” shall mean a way of ingress and egress located entirely on private property, consisting of a lane or passageway leading from a residence to a public roadway or highway.
[C24, §4732; C27, 31, 35, §4755-b27; C39, §4658, 4683.23, 4755.23; C46, 50, §309.64, 310.23, 313.25; C54, 58, 62, 66, §306.13; C71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §306.19]
91 Acts, ch 114, §1; 94 Acts, ch 1030, §1; 95 Acts, ch 135, §2; 96 Acts, ch 1126, §1; 99 Acts, ch 171, §26, 27, 42; 2001 Acts, ch 32, §1; 2021 Acts, ch 80, §157
Referred to in §309.57, 331.304
Subsection 4 amended

Structure Iowa Code