Iowa Code §335.2 exempts agricultural land from county zoning regulations. But, does that exemption apply to a wastewater storage lagoon? In this case, the plaintiffs argued for an exemption on the basis that the lagoon had an agricultural purpose. The county board of adjustment disagreed, and the plaintiff’s appealed to the county district court.
The plaintiffs are manufacturers of chondroitin sulfate, a process which produces 18,000 gallons of wastewater daily. The process requires extraction of substances from cow, pig, and chicken parts. The wastewater contains protein that the city water treatment center would not accept. As a result, the plaintiffs constructed an earthen lagoon to contain the wastewater. In 2004, the DNR approved the project and issued a permit to the plaintiffs. The lagoon was constructed on farmland the plaintiffs owned. County zoning regulations specified that unincorporated areas of the county are subject to county zoning rules, and the area where the lagoon was built was subject to county zoning as an agricultural area. Under the applicable regulations, the construction of a wastewater treatment facility in an agricultural area requires a special exception use permit from the county board of adjustment that the plaintiffs never obtained.
Upon receiving several complaints regarding the lagoon’s odor, the board issued written notices to the plaintiffs that the construction and use of the lagoon violated county zoning ordinances. The wastewater treatment facility was a non-farm use, according to the board. The plaintiffs applied for a special use permit and the board issued a temporary permit containing the following conditions: 1) the plaintiffs were to place a no-access chain link fence around the lagoon, 2) the odor must be reduced by 50% within one year, 3) the plaintiffs must fully comply with DNR regulations, and 4) the plaintiffs must apply for a permanent permit and have their application reviewed within a year. A year later, the board determined that the plaintiffs had failed to meet the conditions and declined to extend the permit. The plaintiffs kept transporting wastewater to the lagoon and filed suit against the board with the county district court seeking injunctive relief and asking the court to issue a permit. The judge ruled in favor of the board and the plaintiffs appealed.
On appeal, the court affirmed. The court noted that Iowa Code §335.2 was intended to protect farmers and their investment in land, not to protect an industrial manufacturer. While the plaintiffs did own farmland, they were also in the business of manufacturing industrial waste. The appellate court found that the lagoon served no agricultural purpose. Even though the plaintiffs argued that the waste was used in the cultivation and fertilization of crops that was not the sole purpose behind the construction of the lagoon. According to the Iowa Supreme Court “agriculture is the art and science of cultivating the ground, including the harvesting of crops and the rearing and management of livestock.” The lagoon, in this case, did not fit within traditional notions of agriculture in Iowa. Kramer v. Sioux County Board of Adjustment, 795 N.W.2d 86 (Iowa Ct. App. 2010).