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Board grants small bluff‑setback variance for screen porch on West Bearskin Lake
Summary
Cook County BZA approved a minor variance—about 13 square feet and 4 feet into the top‑of‑bluff setback—to allow a 12×15 screened porch on a West Bearskin Lake property, subject to septic inspection and standard conditions.
The Cook County Board of Adjustment voted March 12 to grant a modest variance allowing a screened porch to encroach into the top‑of‑bluff setback at 191 Needham Road on West Bearskin Lake.
Neva, Cook County land‑use staff, presented the application by property owner Keith Harmon. Staff said the parcel is a conforming lot (about 1.56 acres with roughly 165 feet of shoreline in the Lakeshore Residential zone) and that the proposed 12‑by‑15 screened porch would encroach about 4 feet into the 30‑foot top‑of‑bluff structure setback; only approximately 13 square feet of the 80‑square‑foot addition lies inside the setback. Staff reported the addition would remain outside the bluff impact zone and that Soil & Water recommended best‑management practices for construction stormwater. The DNR did not submit comments on this request.
Keith Harmon, the applicant, said the porch location provided less visual impact from the lake than placing an addition to the side of the cabin and that the build would avoid removing shoreline vegetation. Harmon told the board the build would not require heavy excavation and that established construction practices would be used.
Board members reviewed staff findings that the encroachment is minor, that the parcel’s bedrock outcroppings and existing site constraints limit locations for the porch, and that the porch would not intrude into the bluff impact zone. Several members said they were comfortable that the request was small in scale relative to the property and consistent with staff recommendations.
The board approved the variance with the staff‑recommended conditions: obtain a land‑use permit for the addition and complete a new septic compliance inspection (the existing certificate had expired). The motion carried with board concurrence; staff will issue a memo and the owner must follow the septic and construction conditions.
