Rule of Civil Procedure
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA No. 17–1458 Filed May 10, 2019 Amended July 17, 2019 THE CARROLL AIRPORT COMMISSION, Appellee, vs. LOREN W. DANNER and PAN DANNER, Appellants. On review from the Iowa Court of Appeals. Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Carroll County, William C. Ostlund, Judge. A farmer seeks further review of a court of appeals decision declining to give preemptive effect to a no-hazard determination by the Federal Aviation Administration. DECISION OF COURT OF APPEALS VACATED; DISTRICT COURT JUDGMENT AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED. Steven D. Hamilton of Hamilton Law Firm, P.C., Storm Lake, for appellants. Gina C. Badding of Neu, Minnich, Comito, Halbur, Neu & Badding, P.C., Carroll, for appellee. 2 WATERMAN, Justice. In this appeal, we must determine the legal effect of a “no hazard” letter issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to a farmer who built a twelve-story grain leg (bucket elevator) near an airport. The structure intrudes sixty feet into airspace restricted for aviation. Construction was well underway when a member of the local airport commission cried foul. The airport commission informed the farmer he needed a variance and refused to grant one, without waiting for input from federal officials. Shortly thereafter, the FAA investigated and granted a no-hazard determination, approving the structure on the condition the farmer paint it and place blinking red lights on top, which he did. The FAA also adjusted the flight path. This did not satisfy the local commissioners, who two years later filed this action in equity to force the farmer to remove or modify the structure.
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