2023 Iowa Code › Title VIII - TRANSPORTATION › Chapter 316 - RELOCATION OF PERSONS DISPLACED BY HIGHWAYS › Section 316.1 - Definitions.

316.1 Definitions.
As used in this chapter the term:
1. “Administrative rules” means all rules subject to the provisions of chapter 17A.
2. “Business” means any lawful activity, excepting a farm operation, conducted primarily:
a. For the purchase, sale, lease and rental of personal and real property, and for the manufacture, processing, or marketing of products, commodities, or any other personal property;
b. For the sale of services to the public;
c. By a nonprofit organization; or
d. Solely for the purposes of section 316.4, for assisting in the purchase, sale, resale, manufacture, processing, or marketing of products, commodities, personal property, or services by the erection and maintenance of an outdoor advertising display or displays, whether or not the display or displays are located on the premises on which any of the above activities are conducted.
3. “Comparable replacement dwelling” means any single family residential unit that is all of the following:
a. Decent, safe, and sanitary.
b. Adequate in size to accommodate the occupants.
c. Within the financial means of the displaced person.
d. Functionally equivalent to the displaced person’s dwelling.
e. In an area not subject to unreasonably adverse environmental conditions.
f. In a location generally not less desirable than the location of the displaced person’s dwelling with respect to public utilities, facilities, services, and the displaced person’s place of employment.
4. “Department” means the state department of transportation.
5. “Displaced person” means:
a. A person who moves from real property or moves the person’s personal property from real property in any of the following circumstances:
(1) As a direct result of a written notice of intent to acquire, the initiation of negotiations for, or the acquisition of, the real property in whole or in part for a program or project undertaken with federal financial assistance.
(2) The person moved or moved the person’s personal property from real property on which the person is either a residential tenant or conducts a small business, a farm operation, or a business as defined in subsection 2, paragraph “d”, as a direct result of rehabilitation or demolition for a program or project undertaken with federal financial assistance in a case in which the head of the displacing agency determines that the displacement is permanent.
(3) As a direct result of a written notice of intent to acquire by condemnation, the initiation of negotiations for, or the acquisition of, the real property in whole or in part by the state of Iowa or by an entity or person conferred the right to condemn private property.
b. For purposes of section 316.4, subsections 1 and 2, and section 316.7, a person who moves from real property, or moves the person’s personal property from real property in any of the following circumstances:
(1) As a direct result of a written notice of intent to acquire, the initiation of negotiations for, or the acquisition of, other real property in whole or in part if the person conducts a business or farm operation on the other real property for a program or project undertaken with federal financial assistance.
(2) As a direct result of rehabilitation or demolition of other real property on which the person conducts a business or a farm operation for a program or project undertaken with federal financial assistance in a case in which the head of the displacing agency determines that the displacement is permanent.
(3) As a direct result of a written notice of intent to acquire by condemnation, the initiation of negotiations for, or the acquisition of, other real property in whole or in part by the state of Iowa or by an entity or person conferred the right to condemn private property if the person conducts a business or farm operation on the other real property.
c. The term “displaced person” does not include any of the following:
(1) A person who has been determined to be either in unlawful occupancy of the real property or who has occupied the real property for the purpose of obtaining assistance under this chapter.
(2) A person, other than the person who was the occupant of the real property at the time it was acquired, who occupies the real property on a rental basis for a short term or a period subject to termination when the real property is needed for the program or project.
(3) An owner-occupant who voluntarily sells the owner-occupant’s property, after being informed in writing that if a mutually satisfactory agreement of sale cannot be reached the state agency will not acquire the property.
(4) A person who retains the right of use and occupancy of the real property for life following its acquisition by a state agency.
6. “Displacing agency” means the state or a state agency carrying out a program or project, or any person carrying out a program or project with federal financial assistance, which causes a person to be a displaced person.
7. “Farm operation” means any activity conducted solely or primarily for the production of one or more agricultural products or commodities, including timber, for sale or home use, and customarily producing such products or commodities in sufficient quantity to be capable of contributing materially to the operator’s support.
8. “Federal financial assistance” means a grant, loan, or contribution provided by the United States; however, “federal financial assistance” does not include any federal guarantee or insurance and any interest reduction payment to an individual in connection with the purchase and occupancy of a residence by that individual.
9. “Federal Uniform Relocation Act” means the federal Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, Pub. L. No. 91-646, as amended by the Uniform Relocation Act Amendments of 1987, Tit. IV, Pub. L. No. 100-17.
10. “Mortgage” means such classes of liens as are commonly given to secure advances on, or the unpaid purchase price of real property, under the laws of this state, together with the credit instruments, if any, secured thereby.
11. “Person” means any individual, partnership, corporation, or association.
12. “State agency” means any of the following:
a. A department, agency, or instrumentality of the state or of a political subdivision of the state.
b. A department, agency, or instrumentality of two or more political subdivisions of the state, or states.
c. A person who has the authority to acquire property by eminent domain under state law.
[C71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §316.1]
89 Acts, ch 20, §1 – 5; 99 Acts, ch 171, §32, 42
Referred to in §6B.42, 316.4