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.
99 Acts, ch 171, §1, 41, 42
Section applies to urban renewal areas established before, on, or after July 1, 1999, and to amendments to such urban renewal areas; see 99 Acts, ch 171, §41
Section applies to state highway construction projects approved for commencement by the transportation commission on or after July 1, 1999, and to all other condemnation proceedings in which the application for condemnation is filed on or after July 1, 1999; see 99 Acts, ch 171, §42
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