Commission approves variance to allow house, driveway inside Fox Springs wetland setback

The Planning & Zoning Commission approved a variance request for a Fox Springs lot that would place a single-family home, garage and driveway inside the county’s 50-foot wetland setback after staff and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reviewed the site and concluded the proposed disturbance would be minimal and unavoidable.

Planning staff explained an aquatic resource inventory and site visits were completed in July and September 2024 and that the U.S. Army Corps issued a preliminary jurisdictional determination on Feb. 5, 2025. The lot sits in Fox Springs PUD and the submitted plan locates the primary improvements largely on uplands. The driveway would cross delineated wetlands; the presentation noted a calculated wetland impact of roughly 0.04 acres and that agencies did not require additional mitigation because of the limited scale.

Matt Bonet, the builder and applicant representative, said the team explored several placements and concluded that relocating the house either north or south increased ecological impacts, including an enlarged fire turnaround footprint or putting the house close to a larger pond. “There was no 0 impact solution to developing this property because that northern wetland boundary does cross the entirety of that boundary for access from the driveway,” Bonet said. He added that the disturbed wetland area was split about evenly between driveway disturbance and the small house footprint and that the Army Corps did not require mitigation given the small scale.

Bonet also said the project will use a highly engineered, raised septic treatment system to route wastewater and keep discharge more than 100 feet from the pond at the south of the parcel. He described the wetland areas as emergent meadows that are vegetated but “much less of an ecological factor” than the pond and riparian habitat.

Commission discussion focused on whether bridging would ever be required to cross the delineated wetland (staff said a bridge was not proposed or required here) and on mitigation ratios used by agencies; staff noted mitigation ratios can vary and that the agencies treating this site considered the impact sufficiently small not to require additional mitigation.

Motion to approve the variance (applicant: Matt Bonet) carried on a recorded voice vote with Commissioners Weber, Wertenbrock, Penfold, Kaufman, Kohut and Baker voting “Aye.” The approval was recorded with the conditions listed in the staff report and standard permitting requirements.

Votes at a glance • Fox Springs variance — Motion to approve variance to construct house, garage and driveway within 50-foot wetland setback as described in application materials (submitted 02/05/2025); outcome: approved (unanimous recorded vote).

Next steps: the applicant will proceed with building-permit applications under the county’s permit process and must comply with any state or federal wetland permitting requirements identified during that process.