The Lamar Company, LLC d/b/a Lamar Outdoor Advertising
v.
City of Des Moines, Iowa, City of Des Moines, Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals and City of Des Moines Zoning Board of Adjustment
Appellant
The Lamar Company, LLC d/b/a Lamar Outdoor Advertising
Appellee
City of Des Moines, Iowa, City of Des Moines, Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals and City of Des Moines Zoning Board of Adjustment
Attorney for the Appellant
William M. Reasoner and Richard A. Malm
Attorney for the Appellee
John O. Haraldson
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge. REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS. Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Badding, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, J. (16 pages)
Lamar Outdoor Advertising appeals the district court’s denial of its writ of certiorari alleging the City of Des Moines Zoning Board of Adjustment and Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals erroneously denied its application to convert five existing static billboards around the city to digital boards. On appeal, Lamar alleges the Building Board lacked jurisdiction to deny his appeal under the new zoning ordinance and the city and its boards acted illegally in interpreting the grandfather clause. OPINION HOLDS: On the first point, the Zoning Board’s independent finding that Lamar’s application was incomplete resolves any jurisdictional question. On the second point, we agree the Zoning Board acted illegally in denying Lamar’s sign permits based on the language of the grandfather clause. Thus, we reverse and remand for the district court to enter an order sustaining Lamar’s petition for writ of certiorari.
