Opinion ID: 1834363
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Establishment of Use Prior to 1980

Text: Although we give some deference to an administrative agency's interpretation of a statute it administers, final construction and interpretation of statutory law is a question of law for this court to decide. Good v. Iowa Civil Rights Comm'n, 368 N.W.2d 151, 155 (Iowa 1985). We construe zoning restrictions strictly in order to favor the free use of property and we will not extend such restrictions by implication or interpretation. Greenawalt v. Zoning Bd. of Adjustment of Davenport, 345 N.W.2d 537, 545 (Iowa 1984). We also will not construe zoning restrictions in such a way that they will be arbitrary or unreasonable and we will avoid an interpretation which would make them confiscatory. Jersild v. Sarcone, 260 Iowa 288, 293, 149 N.W.2d 179, 183 (1967). A party asserting a nonconforming use carries the burden to establish the lawful and continued existence of the use by a preponderance of the evidence. City of Jewell Junction v. Cunningham, 439 N.W.2d 183, 186 (Iowa 1989). In order to determine whether a party established a nonconforming use we will look to the realities of the business in question and the nature of its operations. County of Du Page v. Elmhurst-Chicago Stone Co., 18 Ill.2d 479, 165 N.E.2d 310, 313 (1960). An industrial use of land is that use in which members of the trade customarily or commonly engage. Durning v. Summerfield, 314 Ky. 318, 235 S.W.2d 761, 763 (Ct.App.1951). The county and intervenors assert that Ernst and Vulcan failed to establish the quarry as an existing use because they did not perform any commercial activity at the quarry site when the county adopted the conditional use permit amendments. The county and intervenors argue that since the parties were not blasting, crushing, or selling quarry materials at the time of the adoption of the amendments, Ernst and Vulcan did not establish the use they assert. The plaintiffs argue that they had established the quarry as an existing use at the time of adoption of the conditional use amendments because all required licenses, leases, and permits were maintained at the time and have been maintained continuously since at least the early 1960s. The plaintiffs assert that due to the nature of the quarrying business, such maintenance of licenses, leases, and permits establishes an active quarrying operation. At trial, the plaintiffs presented a number of experts who testified that a quarry site which continuously maintains all required permits, licenses, and leases is considered active by industry standards. Two of the experts the plaintiffs presented testified that quarries such as the Ernst quarry, denoted country quarries, typically undergo extended periods without blasting, crushing, mineral extraction, or sales. This occurs because such quarrying operations depend on demand for the materials in question and demand is a function of whether or not operations requiring such materials are taking place near the quarry. Therefore, it is typical in the life of a country quarry to undergo periods in which the quarry operator or operators will maintain all required permits and licenses but will engage in very little commercial activity due to low demand. Such a period does not indicate the quarry is not in use, but merely demonstrates the quarry operators are waiting for market conditions which demand increased activity. Some jurisdictions hold that a party establishes an existing nonconforming use if they use the premises so that they may be known in the neighborhood as being employed for a given purpose. See, e.g., Kubby v. Hammond, 68 Ariz. 17, 23, 198 P.2d 134, 139 (1948). This test requires the party to: (1) adapt the land for the purpose; and (2) use the land within that purpose. Id. By any standard, the quarrying use of the site was clearly established in the mid-1960s when considerable blasting, crushing, and commercial sale of materials took place in conjunction with the construction of Interstate 80. Thereafter, demand for materials from the quarry fell off and the plaintiffs were not engaging in any blasting, crushing, or extraction of rock when the special permit amendments were enacted. A decrease in business does not amount to a per se abandonment of a nonconforming use. See Donham v. E.L.B., Inc., 8 Ohio Misc.2d 31, 457 N.E.2d 953 (Ohio C.P.1983). Discontinuance of one or more, but not all operations of the quarry did not amount to a voluntary discontinuance of the use. Cf. id. Due to the nature of the quarrying business, we hold that the plaintiffs did establish the quarrying operation as an existing use at the time of the amendments since the relevant parties established the quarrying use in the mid-1960s and continued its use by: (1) maintaining all requisite licenses, permits, and leases; and (2) engaging in minimal activity at the site through 1980.