Agenda - Planning Commission - 12/02/1997

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~ ~ ,.. Page 4 - November 10, 1997 Z.B. mercial use. Because the ordinance focused on roads designed to carry the increased traffic that commercial uses were likely to produce, the court held that the prohibition on private roads to serve commercial district uses extended to any private road that would serve a use allowed in a commercial district. see also: Gage v. City of Portland, 877 P.2d 1187 (1994). J unkyard - City asks court to shut down junkyard City ofOttumwa v. Hill, 567 N. W2d 424 (Iowa) 1997 The Hills (and their predecessors) had run a junkyard on their property since the 1940s. The city of Ottumwa, Iowa, annexed the area for residential use in 1957, and the junkyard continued to operate as a nonconforming use. In 1988, the Hills and the city signed an agreement granting the Hills a variance that allowed them to expand their nonconforming use. The agreement stated the junkyard would not be expanded beyond its then current limits, would be properly fenced, and would comply with all city codes. The agreement also stated the Hills could not expand the junkyard without first contacting the city zoning administrator, and that expansion could be done only if it was in total compliance with all city ordinances. Soon after getting the variance, the Hills began to expand the junkyard. The city health department sent them frequent notices stating the junkyard was violating a city ordinance that required junk vehicles to be stored behind a fence, and was therefore a nuisance. The notices stated that if the Hills failed to comply with the ordinance regarding junk vehicles, the vehicles would be removed at the Hills' expense. The ordinance regulating junk vehicles stated that if the city notified an owner that a junk vehicle was a nuisance and the owner didn't remove or repair the vehicle within 10 days, the city had to abate the nuisance. The city had to remove and impound the vehicle, sell it, and then charge the owner for the abatement costs. Another ordinance made the failure to remove or repair a junk vehicle a misdemeanor punishable by 30 days in jail or a fine up to $100. When Hill failed to remove the vehicles, the city got an administrative search warrant, seized 30 vehicles, and towed them to a storage facility. It told the Hills that unless they paid the costs of towing and storing the vehicles they would lose all their rights in the vehicles. The city sued the Hills, seeking a court order permanently prohibiting them from operating the junkyard. The court ordered the Hills to pay the towing and storage costs or lose all rights in the vehicles. It also issued an order prohibiting the Hills from operating the junkyard in any way that would violate city ordinances or the variance agreement. It refused to order the Hills to permanently close the junkyard. The Hills appealed, claiming the court shouldn't have allowed the city to collect the towing and storage charges. Relying on the ordinance that made the failure to remove or repair a nuisance vehicle a misdemeanor punishable by 30 III days in jail or a $100 fine, they argued the city's only means of reimbursement ,.