Holding v. Franklin County Zoning Board of Adjustment

I concur in the result reached by the majority, but for a different reason. Statutes and our procedural rules should be interpreted and applied to sanction parties who are late in their filings, not those who are early. Conversely, we should not reward parties who withhold their complaints about the procedural posture of a case until it is too late for the offending party to correct the mistake.

In fairness, the board should have filed a pre-answer motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 104(b). See Tombergs v. City of…