Goodhue County reconsiders variance after unpermitted driveway built on County Road 42

Goodhue County commissioners on Oct. 21 reconsidered a previously granted variance for a second driveway on County Road 42 after staff reported the driveway was constructed before a permit was issued and new information emerged about a potential business on the parcel.

Public works staff told the board the parcel (no. 470120100) in Sambrooke Township originally applied for a second access on June 24 and that a variance was granted by the board on Sept. 16 by a 4-1 vote. Staff said the driveway was later found to have been built before an approved permit was issued and that a motion to reconsider the variance was carried at the Oct. 7 meeting, bringing the matter back for today’s discussion.

The county described specific construction and permit issues discovered during a staff site visit on Oct. 14: discrepancies in culvert size and type, a required driveway profile that slopes away from the road and is about 0.5 foot lower than the shoulder at 20 feet from the shoulder, and a surfacing requirement of class 5 aggregate. Staff cited the Goodhue County Access Management Control…