Opinion ID: 2042539
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Heading: Whether the Agreement for a Three-Inch Median Strip was Void as Against Public Policy.

Text: IDOT urges that the agreement between it and plaintiffs to build a three-inch median should not be enforced because it essentially amounts to contracting away the police power of the state. From this premise, it reasons that the agreement is void as against public policy. In support of this contention, it relies upon the decision of this court in Williamson v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, 53 Iowa 126, 4 N.W. 870 (1880), and decisions from other jurisdictions. Illustrative of these decisions is Board of County Road Commissioners v. Michigan State Highway Commission, 79 Mich.App. 505, 261 N.W.2d 329 (1978), where the court refused to enforce a contract requiring the State Highway Commission to build a highway in a specified manner. As a basis for this result, the Michigan court concluded that the duty of the highway commission to the state as a whole superseded and voided the contract. Id. at ___, 261 N.W.2d at 332-33. We conclude that the public-policy defense upon which IDOT relies is not applicable to defeat the trial court's award in the present case. The safety considerations upon which it relies in seeking to justify its change of position do not in our opinion provide a bright line specification as to how the median should have been constructed. The proper median height was a discretionary decision for IDOT officials. We believe that administrative agencies may enter into binding agreements with respect to discretionary actions if the subject matter is within the scope of their authority and such agreements are not contrary to the public interest. Since our decision in Simkins v. City of Davenport, 232 N.W.2d 561, 566 (Iowa 1975), the denial of business access may be a compensable taking even if it occurs as a result of the state's exercise of its police power. No hard and fast rule can be stated as to whether an abutting property owner has been denied access that is reasonable. In most instances, this becomes a question of fact rather than of law. Id. Given the uncertainty which exists as to the state's liability for access interference, we believe the authorized representatives of IDOT could validly contract with respect to the degree of interference to be imposed.