Walworth County hearing on shoreland setback for East Troy screened porch continued to Jan. 9

Norman Sass asked the Walworth County Board of Adjustment on Jan. 8, 2025, for a variance from the Walworth County Shoreland Zoning Ordinance to construct a screened porch on an existing deck at N9139 South Shore Lane in the Town of East Troy. The ordinance requires a 15-foot side-yard setback; Sass requested an approximate 12.7-foot setback.

The variance matter was heard but not decided. The board read letters of neighborhood support and town actions recommending approval, heard testimony from the applicant and the contractor, discussed statutory limits on reasons for granting variances, and recessed the Board of Adjustment until 9 a.m. Jan. 9, 2025, without issuing a final ruling.

The requested work would replace an existing open deck footprint with a roofed, screened enclosure. Norman Sass said the screened porch is intended to reduce exposure to bees that his wife and mother-in-law are sensitive to and to ease maintenance: “My mother-in-law and my wife both have susceptibility to bee stings,” Sass said. He also told the board the family has used the property for about 12 to 14 years and that the new structure would use the existing deck footprint.

Chair Ann Seaver told the applicant the board is bound by state law and cannot grant a variance based on medical needs. “We can't use any health problems to grant a variance,” Seaver said, explaining a variance runs with the land and may not address future owners’ needs. The board repeated that rationale several times while asking the applicant to describe property-specific constraints.

Richard Pleinons, representing Champion Window (the contractor), testified that replacing the roofed structure could reduce erosion below the deck because of the slope to the lake and that the existing footings are not sufficient for the new structure. “Having it covered would probably help with the erosion,” Pleinons said. Staff noted that an impervious surface worksheet would be required if the board approved the enclosed structure.

Board members discussed alternatives: shortening the deck by the roughly 2.3-foot difference would meet the 15-foot setback, and staff and the contractor indicated smaller screened-porch models exist that would comply with the setback. The record includes multiple written statements from adjacent property owners supporting the variance and a Town of East Troy Planning Commission recommendation (Dec. 4, 2024) and Town Board action (Dec. 9, 2024) both favoring approval. Planning staff read those letters and the town resolution into the record; no members of the public spoke in opposition at the hearing.

Because the board did not make a final determination on the variance at the Jan. 8 meeting, the hearing was recessed until 9 a.m. Jan. 9, 2025. The record presented to the board includes correspondence from neighbors (exhibits from John and Janice Fryatt; Janet and Steve Derralu; an email from Jim Meister) and the Town of East Troy resolution signed by Clerk‑Treasurer Kim Buchanan. The parcel is identified in the record as PMR 102E. Staff in attendance included Nick Sigman (zoning) and recording secretary Wendy Boettcher.

The board’s discussion distinguished matters of personal convenience and health from the statutory standards the board must apply when considering variances; members emphasized that a variance, if granted, runs with the property and may affect future owners.

The board recessed the meeting to Jan. 9, 2025. No final vote on the side-yard setback variance was recorded on Jan. 8, 2025.