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Board grants after-the-fact variance for portable scale at Alexandria-area pit
Summary
The Clay County Board of Adjustment approved an after-the-fact variance allowing a portable scale house to remain closer than the 200-foot right-of-way setback on a pit in Goose Prairie Township, with a condition limiting that only the scale house may be located within the reduced setback.
The Clay County Board of Adjustment approved an after-the-fact variance permitting a portable scale house to remain within the 200-foot road right-of-way setback on a parcel in Goose Prairie Township, with a condition that only the scale house may be located 175 feet off the center line of County State Aid 33.
Staff member Matt explained the applicant sought approval for a scale house on Parcel ID 11.0070.37 in the southeast corner of Township 141 Range 44 West (Goose Prairie Township). Matt said the parcel has agricultural and aggregate zoning and that the applicant received an interim use permit to mine in 2022. The practical difficulty the applicant provided centered on the location of the power supply at the existing scale site and the cost and effort to move and recalibrate the scale; staff noted the scale is likely to be removed in 2026 when the lease expires unless the operator chooses otherwise.
Corey, the applicant participating online, said the scale had been placed “honestly, by mistake,” that power had been trenched in and the location was not intended to disregard the 200-foot setback, and that the lease on the pit expires in May 2026.
Matt reported Goose Prairie Township had no objections and that the county engineer had no concerns. The board’s findings of fact concluded the variance met the code criteria, including that the variance would not allow a use not already allowed in the zoning district and that practical difficulties arose from the location of improvements on the site.
Staff proposed a condition limiting use of the reduced setback to the scale house only; the board adopted that condition. Motion to approve the variance was made by Tim (Board member) and seconded by Dennis (Board member). The chair called for a voice vote; the motion carried and the variance was granted with the single staff condition.
The board and staff noted the legal effect that a variance “runs with the land,” meaning a future operator could use the same location absent a new restriction; the board left the condition as printed, limiting the reduced setback to the scale house.
