Residential and Agricultural Advisory Committee, LLC v. Dyersville City Council

The 1989 movie Field of Dreams was filmed primarily at a farm located in the town of Dyersville, Iowa (the town) (defendant), and the farmhouse and baseball diamond on the property became a popular tourist destination. In 2010, Mike Stillman and Denise Stillman agreed to purchase the property, including the farmhouse, the baseball diamond, and 193 acres, contingent on the property being rezoned for commercial use. The Stillmans planned to maintain the farmhouse and baseball diamond as a tourist attraction and to develop a large baseball and softball complex on the remaining property. An economic and fiscal impact study determined that the proposed project would create 1400 new jobs and would result in substantial state and local tax revenue. Studies were also conducted concerning the impact of the project on traffic and wastewater. A series of public hearings was held at which community members spoke in favor of and against the project. After considering the reports and the public comments, the Dyersville City Council voted to rezone the property from agricultural to commercial. The Residential and Agricultural Advisory Committee, LLC (the committee) (plaintiff) filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, arguing that the city council had acted in a quasi-judicial capacity in rezoning the property and that the decision should be invalidated for a number of reasons. The district court sustained the city’s decision, and the committee appealed.