1. An owner of property may apply to the solar access regulatory board designated under section 564A.3 for an order granting a solar access easement. The application must be filed before installation or construction of the solar collector. The application shall state the following:

 a. A statement of the need for the solar access easement by the owner of the dominant estate.
 b. A legal description of the dominant and servient estates.
 c. The name and address of the dominant and servient estate owners of record.
 d. A description of the solar collector to be used.
 e. The size and location of the collector, including heights, its orientation with respect to south, and its slope from the horizontal shown either by drawings or in words.
 f. An explanation of how the applicant has done everything reasonable, taking cost and efficiency into account, to design and locate the collector in a manner to minimize the impact on development of servient estates.
 g. A legal description of the solar access easement which is sought and a drawing that is a spatial representation of the area of the servient estate burdened by the easement illustrating the degrees of the vertical and horizontal angles through which the easement extends over the burdened property and the points from which those angles are measured.
 h. A statement that the applicant has attempted to voluntarily negotiate a solar access easement with the owner of the servient estate and has been unsuccessful in obtaining the easement voluntarily.
 i. A statement that the space to be burdened by the solar access easement is not obstructed at the time of filing of the application by anything other than vegetation that would shade the solar collector.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 564A.4

  • Dominant estate: means that parcel of land to which the benefits of a solar access easement attach. See Iowa Code 564A.2
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Servient estate: means land burdened by a solar access easement, other than the dominant estate. See Iowa Code 564A.2
  • Solar access easement: means an easement recorded under section 564A. See Iowa Code 564A.2
  • Solar access regulatory board: means the board designated by a city council or county board of supervisors under section 564A. See Iowa Code 564A.2
  • Solar collector: means a device or structural feature of a building that collects solar energy and that is part of a system for the collection, storage, and distribution of solar energy. See Iowa Code 564A.2
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. Upon receipt of the application the solar access regulatory board shall determine whether the application is complete and contains the information required under subsection 1. The board may return an application for correction of any deficiencies. Upon acceptance of an application the board shall schedule a hearing. The board shall cause a copy of the application and a notice of the hearing to be served upon the owners of the servient estates in the manner provided for service of original notice and at least twenty days prior to the date of the hearing. The notice shall state that the solar access regulatory board will determine whether and to what extent a solar access easement will be granted, that the board will determine the compensation that may be awarded to the servient estate owner if the solar access easement is granted and that the servient estate owner has the right to contest the application before the board.
 3. The applicant shall pay all costs incurred by the solar access regulatory board in copying and mailing the application and notice.
 4. An application for a solar access easement submitted to the district court acting as the solar access regulatory board under this chapter is not subject to the small claims procedures under chapter 631.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 564A Contents