Eminent domain protections don't go far enough, lawmakers say

DES MOINES -- Rural Iowa landowners who might see their homes and land taken to create a lake in Clarke County are warning other Iowa property owners they could face the same fate.

Those landowners took their fight to the State Capitol Monday, hoping to raise awareness of Iowa's eminent domain laws.

A local commission wants their land to create a lake in northwest Clarke County that would serve as a drinking water source. But landowners opposed to the idea say the needs for drinking water are overstated and that the lake also would be used for recreational purposes.

Cindy Sanford of rural Osceola is worried her home and acres of timber and farmland could be condemned to make way for a lake. Money from the farm ground they rent out pays their bills, and wood from the timber heats their home.

"It just is heartbreaking, you know, because we thought this is where we'd live the rest of life," Sanford said.

Kathy Kelly is also worried she could lose 40 acres of pasture and timber to the lake project. She said people's lives are in limbo for years waiting years to see how their land might be affected.

"It's like terrorism in your own backyard from your community members," Kelly said.

The Iowa Legislature in 2006 placed limits on the powers of local governments to seize private property. But Rep. Jeff Kaufmann, R-Wilton, said the law he helped push through the Legislature did not go far enough.

"This is a deliberate attempt to get around our law," he said of the Clarke County case.

Kaufmann and other lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to place additional limits on eminent domain powers since 2006.

Rep. Jodi Tymeson, R-Winterset, raised concerns that that the entity seeking to condemn land, in this case the Clarke County Reservoir Commission, is not made up of elected officials who are accountable to voters.

Only some of the members on the commission are elected officials. Others on the board stand to gain from a new lake, Tymeson said, including representatives from a development corporation and a local water association.

Iowans need to be aware that the current law is not strong enough, she said.

"I'm not sure anyone in Iowa is safe," Tymeson said.

Dan McIntosh is general manager of Southern Iowa Rural Water Association. He's also treasurer of the Clarke County Reservoir Commission, which wants to create the lake.

He said they need additional water for future development and are taking steps laid out in Iowa law for possible condemnation of the land. McIntosh is hoping they don't have to go that far.

"Everybody on our commission is sympathetic," McIntosh said.

He said more grant money for the project could be available if the lake is used for recreation as well.