Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 335.3 (2026)

Powers

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section IA-LEGlegis.iowa.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

1. Subject to section 335.2, the board of supervisors may by ordinance regulate and restrict the height, number of structures, and size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces, the density of population, and the location and use of buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, residence, or other purposes, and may regulate, restrict, and prohibit the use for residential purposes of tents, trailers, and portable or potentially portable structures. However, such powers shall be exercised only with reference to land and structures located within the county but lying outside of the corporate limits of any city.

2. a. Except as provided in paragraph “b”, when there is a replacement of a preexisting manufactured, modular, or mobile home with any other manufactured, modular, or mobile home containing no more than the original number of dwelling units, or a replacement of a preexisting site-built dwelling unit with a manufactured, modular, or mobile home or site-built dwelling unit, within a manufactured home community or a mobile home park, the board of supervisors shall not adopt or enforce any ordinance, regulation, or restriction, or impose any conditions on the replacement home, home site upon which the home sits, or the owner’s property that were not required of the preexisting home, home site, or property, that would prevent the continuance of the property owner’s lawful nonconforming use that had existed relating to the preexisting home, home site upon which the home sat, or the owner’s property.

b. Paragraph “a” does not apply if any of the following conditions exist:

(1) The replacement of the preexisting home with the replacement home would substantially increase the risk to the safety of life or property.

(2) The property owner has discontinued and abandoned the nonconforming use for the period of time established by ordinance, unless such discontinuance is caused by circumstances outside the control of the property owner. The period of time so established shall be not less than one year. For purposes of this subparagraph, circumstances outside the control of the property owner include floods, fires, destructive thunderstorm events such as derechos and tornadoes, and similar catastrophic events causing widespread or localized severe property damage. For purposes of this subparagraph, a property owner shall not be considered to have discontinued and abandoned the nonconforming use if the property owner demonstrates that the applicable home site continues to be available for use as a home site for a replacement home.

(3) The replacement results in the overall nature and character of the present use being substantially or entirely different from the original lawful preexisting nonconforming use.

(4) The replacement results in an obstruction to a shared driveway or shared sidewalk providing vehicular or pedestrian access to other homes and uses unless the property owner makes modifications to such shared driveway or sidewalk that extinguishes such obstruction or the effects of such obstruction. [C50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, S81, §358A.3; 81 Acts, ch 117, §1071] C93, §335.3 2019 Acts, ch 43, §1; 2022 Acts, ch 1070, §17 \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1998–2022 · leading case: Residential & Agric. Advisory Comm., LLC, an Iowa Ltd. Liab. Co. Matt Mescher Allan R. Demmer Catherine Demmer Wayne Ameskamp Sharon Ameskamp Vernon Boge Donald Boge Mary Ann Rubly John R. Rubly Dolores Thier Larry Thier Gary Burkle Cindy Burkle Wayne Vorwald Linda Vorwald Jeff Pape Gerald Wolf & Joanne Wolf v. Dyersville City Council, Mayor Jame, 888 N.W.2d 24 (Iowa 2016).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Residential & Agric. Advisory Comm., LLC, an Iowa Ltd. Liab. Co. Matt Mescher Allan R. Demmer Catherine Demmer Wayne Ameskamp Sharon Ameskamp Vernon Boge Donald Boge Mary Ann Rubly John R. Rubly Dolores Thier Larry Thier Gary Burkle Cindy Burkle Wayne Vorwald Linda Vorwald Jeff Pape Gerald Wolf & Joanne Wolf v. Dyersville City Council, Mayor Jame, 888 N.W.2d 24 (Iowa 2016). · cites it 4× “Iowa Code §§ 335.3 , .4. “The board of supervisors shall provide for the manner in which the regulations and restrictions and the boundaries of the districts shall be determined, established, and enforced, and from time to time amended, supplemented, or changed.”

Perkins v. Bd. of Supervisors, 636 N.W.2d 58 (Iowa 2001). · cites it 3× “Iowa Code §§ 335.3 , 335.6. This authority includes the power to designate areas of the county into districts and to regulate the use of property within those districts.”

Goodell v. Humboldt Cnty., 575 N.W.2d 486 (Iowa 1998). · cites it 4× “Iowa Code § 335.3 (emphasis added). The statute further provides that the board "may divide the county .”

Osage Conservation Club v. Bd. of Supervisors of Mitchell Cnty., 611 N.W.2d 294 (Iowa 2000). · cites it 3× “See Iowa Code §§ 335.3 , 335.6. This authority includes the power to designate areas of the county into districts and to regulate the use of property within those districts.”

Ackman v. Bd. of Adj. for Black Hawk Cty., 596 N.W.2d 96 (Iowa 1999). · cites it 2× “As already noted, the record provides substantial evidence that the operation of a quarry may be harmonized with an agricultural district and does not conflict with the county's plan and policy statements. By statute the board of supervisors is empowered to adopt zoning…”

James Fettkether & Candice Fettkether v. Grundy Cnty. Bd. of Supervisors, Barbara Smith, Charles Bakker, Heidi Nederhoff, James Ross & Mark Schildroth (Iowa Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 3× “See Iowa Code §§ 335.3 , 335.6. This authority includes the power to designate areas of the county into districts and to regulate the use of property within those districts.”

Amended February 21, 2017 Residential & Agric. Advisory Comm., LLC, an Iowa Ltd. Liab. Co. Matt Mescher Allan R. Demmer Catherine Demmer Wayne Ameskamp Sharon Ameskamp Vernon Boge Donald Boge Mary Ann Rubly John R. Rubly Dolores Thier Larry Thier Gary Burkle Cindy Burkle Wayne Vorwald Linda Vorwald Jeff Pape Gerald Wolf & Joanne Wolf v. Dyersvil (Iowa 2016). · cites it 2× “Iowa Code §§ 335.3 , .4. “The board of supervisors shall provide for the manner in which the regulations and restrictions and the boundaries of the districts shall be determined, established, and enforced, and from time to time amended, supplemented, or changed.”

Mary Sue Earley & Bankers Trust Co. as Trs. of the Mary Sue Earley Revocable Trust Dated September 26, 1994 v. Bd. of Adjustment of Cerro Gordo Cnty., Iowa, Gregory A. Saul & Lea Ann Saul (Iowa 2021). · cites it 2× “15(3) (2019) gives boards of adjustment power to grant an individual “variance from the terms of the ordinance as will not be contrary to the public interest, where owing to special conditions a literal enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance will result in unnecessary…”

— Iowa Code § 335.3(1) — 1 case

Mary Sue Earley & Bankers Trust Co. as Trs. of the Mary Sue Earley Revocable Trust Dated September 26, 1994 v. Bd. of Adjustment of Cerro Gordo Cnty., Iowa, Gregory A. Saul & Lea Ann Saul (Iowa 2021). “15(3) (2019) gives boards of adjustment power to grant an individual “variance from the terms of the ordinance as will not be contrary to the public interest, where owing to special conditions a literal enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance will result in unnecessary…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.