In this case, a small-town resident appealed the trial court’s denial of his petition to avoid a city ordinance requiring mandatory hook-up to the city sewer system. The resident opposed the city project from the beginning, objecting in particular to the city’s right to enter onto his property for the purpose of “constructing, installing, maintaining, and monitoring the system.”
The town was the first one in Iowa to use a system of individual on-site septic tanks maintained and monitored by the city in compliance with federal, state, and county requirements. Before the system was developed, several homeowners in the town of fifty households maintained their own, private septic systems, because the city had no uniform sewer service in place. This resulted in make-shift systems being erected and sewage draining in city ditches. The town developed the current plan and enacted a city-wide ordinance, assessing a $16 monthly fee for the maintenance of the system. The ordinance required mandatory hook-up to the new city wastewater treatment system. Failure to comply with the ordinance resulted in a separate misdemeanor for every day of non-compliance.
The resident argued that the trial court erred in concluding that he was subject to the city ordinance, that the ordinance was authorized by Iowa law, and that the ordinance was a constitutional exercise of the municipality’s power. However, because the resident’s property was located within the city limits, the argument that he was not subject to city ordinances bore no weight with the court. Further, the appellate court found that the mandatory hook-up ordinance applied, because the public sewer was available to the resident and the county board of health required that he hook up to it. In addition, the court held that enactment of the ordinance was supported by the theory of “legislative home rule.” While the state legislature can make laws with respect to local issues, if a local ordinance is not “irreconcilable” with state law, the right to adopt an ordinance in that particular area is reserved to the cities. According to the Iowa Constitution, municipalities should enjoy “broad authority to regulate matters of local concern.” Disposal of sewage has always been an area regulated at the local level. Thus, the mandatory hook-up ordinance applied to the resident and he was required to use the city sewer system.
The court also held that the town had a reasonable basis for enacting the ordinance (health and cleanliness), that enactment was a valid exercise of police power and was rationally related to a legitimate end. Also, the resident still has the use and enjoyment of his private property, despite the city’s interest in maintaining and constructing a city sewer system.Carlisle v. City of Shannon City, No. 7-571/05-2036, 2007 Iowa App. LEXIS 1132 (Iowa Ct. App., Oct. 24, 2007)