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Commission tables Fisher lot‑split and business‑farm separation; asks staff for easement language and plan revisions
Summary
After extended discussion about a concrete retaining wall and business access, the commission tabled Dave Fisher’s lot split and asked staff to work with the applicant on a 10‑foot maintenance easement and clarified waiver language limited to existing structures.
The Perry County Planning Commission on June 18 tabled a complex lot‑split filed by property owner Dave Fisher that would separate a shed business area from adjacent farmland and create a 7.061‑acre addition to an adjacent residence.
The discussion focused on a concrete retaining wall that divides the business storage area from the farm yard and the question of setbacks for buildings and temporary storage (sheds). Staff and commissioners raised maintenance and access concerns for the wall and whether a building‑setback waiver should be limited only to the existing structures as of the subdivision date.
Commissioner and staff comments noted the wall is a permanent feature with a roughly 6‑foot elevation difference between the finished surfaces; sheds are stored up to the face of the wall. Commissioners discussed creating an easement to allow maintenance access for whoever owns the wall in the future. Staff cited the ordinance provision that pedestrian easements for access to common/private lands should be at least 10 feet wide and suggested that a 10‑foot maintenance easement be considered to allow maintenance work from the lower side of the wall.
Commissioners said they would not grant an unrestricted waiver for future new construction within the setback; instead they asked staff to draft specific waiver language limiting relief to the existing structures and to depict the wall and a proposed maintenance easement on a blow‑up inset of the plan. After that discussion a motion to table the Fisher plan was made, seconded and carried by voice vote so the applicant and staff can prepare the easement drawing and specific note language for the commission’s review.
Staff recommended showing the wall as a site feature, showing the steps/stair opening in the wall, adding a note identifying the septic/well servicing the dwelling, and drafting an easement that allows maintenance (snow removal, painting, repairs) but does not authorize demolition. Commissioners suggested a 10‑foot width as reasonable for maintenance access and asked that the waiver language explicitly limit relief to structures in place on the plan's date.
