Opinion ID: 1582132
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Designation of Extent of Owner's Interest to be Condemned.

Text: SMB argues first that the defendant's notice of condemnation does not comply with Iowa Code section 472.9 because it failed to specify the property interest sought by Iowa-Illinois. SMB points to the statutory form of notice set out in section 472.9 parenthetically requiring the notice to describe the particular land or portion thereof sought to be condemned, in such a manner that it will be clearly identified and argues that the condemnor [must] apprise the condemnee in the notice of condemnation not only of the description of the parcel to be acquired but also the interests in the parcel which the condemnor seeks. While statutory provisions regulating the exercise of eminent domain must be strictly complied with, City of Des Moines v. Geller Glass, 319 N.W.2d 239, 242 (Iowa 1982), this does not necessarily mean literal compliance with the notice statute is required; substantial conformity is sufficient. Koss v. City of Cedar Rapids, 271 N.W.2d 730, 735 (Iowa 1978); Bourjaily v. Johnson County, 167 N.W.2d 630, 633 (Iowa 1969). Iowa-Illinois' notice stated in the caption that it was for Condemnation of a Right of Way for Transmission Line in Muscatine County, Iowa. (Emphasis added.) The term right of way, when used in reference to the right to pass over another's land, is synonymous with the term easement. See Hawk v. Rice, 325 N.W.2d 97, 99 (Iowa 1982); Draker v. Iowa Electric Co., 191 Iowa 1376, 1382, 182 N.W. 896, 899 (1921); Clark v. Wabash Railroad Company, 132 Iowa 11, 13, 109 N.W. 309, 310 (1906); Kleih v. Van Schoyck, 250 Wis. 413, 418, 27 N.W.2d 490, 493 (1947); see also, Annot., 89 A.L.R.3d 767 (1979). In its strict meaning, a right of way means the right to pass over another's land. It is only an easement, and the grantee acquires only the right to a reasonable and usual enjoyment thereof. The owner of the soil has all the rights and benefits of ownership consistent with the easement. Minneapolis Athletic Club v. Cohler, 287 Minn. 254, 257, 177 N.W.2d 786, 789 (1970). We believe the notice substantially complied with section 472.9 in its specification of the nature of the interest; the reference to right of way in the notice caption sufficiently alerted SMB to the interest sought. Moreover, if SMB had any doubts as to what nature of interest was being sought, it could have merely looked at Iowa-Illinois' application for condemnation filed with the chief judge of the district under Iowa Code section 472.3, which stated that [a]pplicant seeks to condemn ... a right of way and easement....  The district court properly concluded the notice was not defective on this ground.