6A.10 Initiating railroad condemnation.

1. The railway corporation shall apply to the department of transportation for permission to condemn. The railway corporation shall serve notice of the application and hearing and provide a copy of the legal description of the property to be condemned to the owner and any recordholders of liens and encumbrances on any land described in the application. The department may, after hearing, report to the clerk of the district court of the county in which the land is situated the description of the land sought to be condemned. The corporation may begin condemnation procedures in district court for the land described by the department.

2. The railway finance authority may begin condemnation proceedings in district court.

6A.11 Lands for water stations--how set aside.

Lands which are sought to be condemned for water stations, dams, or reservoirs, including all the overflowed lands, if any, shall, if requested by the owner, be set aside in a square or rectangular shape by the department of transportation or district court.

6A.12 Access to water--overflow limited.

An owner of land, which has in part been condemned for water stations, dams, or reservoirs, shall not be deprived, without the owner's consent, of access to the water, or the use thereof, in common with the company, on the owner's own land, nor, without the owner's consent, shall the owner's dwelling, outhouses, or orchards be overflowed, or otherwise injuriously affected by such condemnation.

6A.13 Change in streams.

When a railway company would have the right to excavate a channel or ditch and thereby change and straighten the course of a stream or watercourse, which is too frequently crossed by such railway, and thereby protect the right of way and roadbed, or promote safety and convenience in the operation of the railway, it may, by condemnation or otherwise, acquire sufficient land on which to excavate such ditch or channel.

6A.14 Unlawful diversion prohibited.

Nothing in section 6A.13 shall give such corporation the right to change the course of any stream or watercourse where such right does not otherwise exist, nor, without the owner's consent, to divert such stream or watercourse from any cultivated meadow or pasture land, when it only touches such lands at one point.

6A.15

Reserved.

6A.16 Right to condemn abandoned right-of-way.

Railroad right-of-way which has been abandoned by order of the proper authority, may be condemned by a railway corporation or the Iowa railway finance authority before or after the track materials have been removed. The procedure to condemn abandoned right-of-way shall be the same as for an original condemnation.

6A.17

Reserved.

6A.18 No double damages.

Owners of abandoned right-of-way which was originally condemned for rail purposes shall not receive additional compensation unless the track materials were removed prior to the second condemnation.

6A.19 Interpretative clause.

A grant in this chapter of right to take private property for a public use shall not be construed as limiting a like grant elsewhere in the Code for another and different use.

6A.2 On behalf of federal government.

The executive council may institute and maintain such proceedings when private property is necessary for any use of the government of the United States.

6A.20 Description of land furnished.

Whenever any person, state department, or political subdivision takes title to land in fee simple for a public use by condemnation or by purchase in lieu of condemnation, the purchaser shall furnish to the owner of the land a legal description of the part taken and a legal description of the remainder which is compatible with the existing abstract description of the entire tract of land. For the purposes of this section a center line description is compatible only when it contains reference points which are a part of and tied to the abstract description.

6A.21 Condemnation of agricultural land--definitions.

1. Except as otherwise provided, for purposes of this chapter and chapter 6B:

a. "Agricultural land" means real property owned by a person in tracts of ten acres or more and not laid off into lots of less than ten acres or divided by streets and alleys into parcels of less than ten acres, and that has been used for the production of agricultural commodities during three out of the past five years. Such use of property includes, but is not limited to, the raising, harvesting, handling, drying, or storage of crops used for feed, food, seed, or fiber; the care or feeding of livestock; the handling or transportation of crops or livestock; the storage, treatment, or disposal of livestock manure; and the application of fertilizers, soil conditioners, pesticides, and herbicides on crops. Agricultural land includes land on which is located farm residences or outbuildings used for agricultural purposes and land on which is located facilities, structures, or equipment for agricultural purposes. Agricultural land includes land taken out of agricultural production for purposes of environmental protection or preservation.

b. "Private development purposes" means the construction of, or improvement related to, recreational trails, recreational development paid for primarily with private funds, housing and residential development, or commercial or industrial enterprise development.

c. "Public use" or "public purpose" or "public improvement" does not include the authority to condemn agricultural land for private development purposes unless the owner of the agricultural land consents to the condemnation.

2. The limitation on the definition of public use, public purpose, or public improvement does not apply to a slum area or blighted area as defined in section 403.17, or to agricultural land acquired for industry as that term is defined in section 260E.2, or to the establishment, relocation, or improvement of a road pursuant to chapter 306, or to the establishment of a railway under the supervision of the department of transportation as provided in section 327C.2, or to an airport as defined in section 328.1, or to land acquired in order to replace or mitigate land used in a road project when federal law requires replacement or mitigation. This limitation also does not apply to utilities or persons under the jurisdiction of the Iowa utilities board in the department of commerce or to any other utility conferred the right by statute to condemn private property or to otherwise exercise the power of eminent domain.

6A.3 Conveyance by state to federal government.

When land or any easement therein is condemned by the state for the use and benefit of the United States, the governor, after the land has been finally acquired, shall have power to convey, to the United States, the easement or lands so acquired and all rights of the state therein.

6A.4 Right conferred.

The right to take private property for public use is hereby conferred:

1. Counties. Upon all counties for public purposes which are reasonable and necessary as an incident to the powers and duties conferred upon counties.

2. Owners of land without a way to the land. Upon the owner or lessee of lands, which have no public or private way to the lands, for the purpose of providing a public way, not exceeding forty feet in width, which will connect with an existing public road. The condemned public way shall be located on a division, subdivision or "forty" line, or immediately adjacent thereto, and along the line which is the nearest feasible route to an existing public road, or along a route established for a period of ten years or more by an easement of record or by use and travel to and from the property by the owner and the general public. The public way shall not interfere with buildings, orchards, or cemeteries. When passing through enclosed lands, the public way shall be fenced on both sides by the condemner upon request of the owner of the condemned land. The condemner or the condemner's assignee, shall provide easement for access to the owner of property severed by the condemnation. The public way shall be maintained by the condemner or the condemner's assignee, and shall not be considered any part of the primary or secondary road systems.

A public way condemned under this subsection shall not be considered an existing public road in subsequent condemnations to provide a public way for access to an existing public road.

3. Owners of mineral lands. Upon all owners, lessees, or possessors of land, for a railway right of way thereto not exceeding one hundred feet in width and located wherever necessary or practical, when such lands have no railway thereto and contain coal, stone, gravel, lead, or other minerals and such railway is necessary in order to reach and operate any mine, quarry, or gravel bed on said land and transport the products thereof to market. Such right of way shall not interfere with buildings, orchards, or cemeteries, and when passing through enclosed lands, fences shall be built and maintained on both sides thereof by the party condemning the land and by that party's assignees. The jury, in the assessment of damages, shall consider the fact that a railway is to be constructed thereon.

4. Cemetery associations. Upon any private cemetery or cemetery association which is incorporated under the laws of this state relating to corporations not for pecuniary profit, and having its cemetery located outside the limits of a city, for the purpose of acquiring necessary grounds for cemetery use or reasonable additions thereto. The right granted in this subsection shall not be exercised until the board of supervisors, of the county in which the land sought to be condemned is located, has, on written application and hearing, on such reasonable notice to all interested parties as it may fix, found that the land, describing it, sought to be condemned, is necessary for cemetery purposes. The association shall pay all costs attending such hearing.

5. Subdistricts of soil and water conservation districts. Upon a subdistrict of a soil and water conservation district for land or rights or interests in the land as reasonable and necessary to carry out the purposes of the subdistrict.

6. Cities. Upon all cities for public purposes which are reasonable and necessary as an incident to the powers and duties conferred upon cities.

6A.5 Right to purchase.

6A.6 Railways.

The Iowa railway finance authority or any railway corporation, may acquire by condemnation property as necessary for the location, construction, and convenient use of a railway. The Iowa railway finance authority may acquire fee title or a lesser property interest. The authority shall offer to sell its interest in the property at fair market value to the adjoining property owners upon abandonment. The acquisition shall carry the right to use for the construction and repair of the railway and its appurtenances any earth, gravel, stone, timber, or other material, on or from the land taken.

6A.7 Cemetery lands.

No lands actually platted, used, and devoted to cemetery purposes shall be taken for any railway purpose without the consent of the proper officers or owners thereof.

6A.8 Limitation on right of way.

Land taken for railway right of way, otherwise than by consent of the owner, shall not exceed one hundred feet in width unless greater width is necessary for excavation, embankment, or depositing waste earth.

6A.9 Additional purposes.

The Iowa railway finance authority or a railway corporation may, by condemnation or otherwise, acquire lands for the following additional purposes:

1. For necessary additional depot grounds or yards.

2. For constructing a track or tracks to any mine, quarry, gravel pit, manufacturing plant, warehouse, or mercantile establishment.

3. For additional or new right of way for constructing double track, reducing or straightening curves, changing grades, shortening or relocating portions of the line, and for excavations, embankments, or places for depositing waste earth.

4. For the preservation of abandoned railroad right of way for future railroad use.