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Delavan cottage owners seek small rear-yard and side-yard variance after energy easement reduced usable lot
Summary
Barbara Touche and James Walsh asked the board for an 18-inch rear-yard variance and clarification on a 3.9-foot side-yard condition after discovering a 12-foot utility easement on their Delavan cottage lot; the Town of Delavan and nearby neighbors submitted support letters.
Barbara Touche and James Walsh told the Walworth County Board of Adjustment on March 12 that We Energies placed a 12-foot easement that substantially reduced the usable area of their property at 1502 State Street in Delavan, and they asked for a small variance to extend interior living space for a main-floor bedroom and bath.
Touche said the cottage—built in 1904 and purchased in February 2010—was narrow and that the easement runs the whole length of the house and diagonally through the driveway and across the yard. "This easement is unique because it does not cross every property in the subdivision," Touche said, and she told the board she had letters from neighbors supporting the request. The applicants asked to reduce the 25-foot rear-yard setback to 23.5 feet (an 18-inch relief) and to allow a 3.9-foot covered-porch roof projection where an uncovered deck now exists.
Staff and board members clarified that a covered porch counts differently than an uncovered deck for setback measurement. Touche and staff reviewed plan pages; staff advised that if the covered‑porch roofline is part of the request it could require variance relief, while an uncovered deck might not. Touche said the proposed covered porch is intended to be a small, modest roof extension over an existing patio area to keep the porch free of water and snow buildup.
Beth (zoning staff) read multiple written statements supporting the applicants: a Town of Delavan planning action recommending approval (meeting 02/11/2025) and several neighbor letters (addresses on State Street) indicating no objection. One neighbor letter requested that the applicants avoid window wells; Touche told the board she planned to remove the existing window well so the measurement would be reduced to 18 inches beyond the ordinance setback.
Touche said the park association that manages Assembly Park had no objection and that the town board recommended approval subject to receipt of a neighbor letter the town had requested; Beth confirmed that Bautista's neighbor letter was in the county file. No members of the public spoke in opposition at the hearing.
The board closed the public hearing on the Touche/Walsh request; the transcript records the town’s resolution and multiple neighbor letters in the file but does not record a final decision on March 12.
