Supervisors remand front-yard garage variance and schedule public hearing on accessory dwelling-unit changes

The Muscatine County Board of Supervisors remanded to the Zoning Board of Adjustment a variance that would have allowed a detached accessory structure (a 22-by-14-foot garage) to be sited in the front yard at 2639 Canterbury Road and set a public hearing for Aug. 11, 2025 on proposed amendments to the county zoning ordinance for accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

Eric Furnace, Muscatine County development director, briefed the board on the variance the zoning board had granted and the board of supervisors’ authority to remand. Furnace described the variance location as approximately 28 feet from the front property line, with steep topography and a septic field in the rear that the zoning board cited when finding hardship. Furnace summarized the board of adjustment’s analysis: "They found the structure would not negatively impact the public or surrounding properties" and that topography and utility locations (septic) were the basis for the hardship finding.

Several supervisors questioned whether the hardship standard in state case law and the county ordinance had been met for what they saw as a convenience-level request: "I don't see how not having a shed for your lawn mower is a hardship," one supervisor said during the discussion. The board discussed whether repeated variances of this type suggested the county’s ordinance is too restrictive and whether a more comprehensive ordinance revision would be appropriate rather than ad hoc variances.

Furnace advised the board that the state legislature had recently passed Senate File 592, which affects accessory-dwelling regulations. "Senate File 592 ... specifically mandates that counties allow accessory dwelling units. We can't prohibit them in the front yard space," Furnace said, explaining that the state change makes it timely to examine the county’s ordinance.

After debate, a supervisor moved to remand the variance to the zoning board for further consideration and direction; another supervisor seconded. The board voted by voice and approved the remand. The supervisors then approved, by motion and second, setting a public hearing for 9 a.m. Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, to consider proposed amendments to the county zoning ordinance addressing accessory dwelling units.

The board’s action remands the specific variance back to the Zoning Board of Adjustment for additional findings; it does not itself grant or deny the variance. The ADU public hearing was scheduled so supervisors can consider ordinance revisions in light of the state law change.

Key factual details discussed during the meeting included the garage size (22 by 14 feet), the proposed structure’s placement (about 28 feet from the front parcel line), and the location of the septic field and steep terrain behind the house, which the zoning board cited as its rationale for a hardship finding. Supervisors also noted the county has received similar front-yard detached-structure variance requests repeatedly and that one variance had been denied by the board of adjustment the previous Friday for lack of hardship.

The county will publish notice of the Aug. 11 public hearing and return the remanded variance to the zoning board for further consideration.