Stearns County Board of Adjustment approves several lakeshore variances, denies impervious pavers at Cedar Island Lake

The Stearns County Board of Adjustment on Aug. 14 approved multiple variances affecting lakeshore properties and denied one request to increase impervious surface within a shore impact zone.

At the start of the meeting the board granted a variance to Trustee Pamela Larkicki that will attach an existing Quonset building to a 32.3-acre farm tract and reduce an adjoining lake lot to 29,117 square feet, a departure from Stearns County Land Use and Zoning Ordinance No. 439 minimums. Planning staff told the board the Quonset was constructed before shoreland rules and that the change is intended to correct a long-standing survey/title discrepancy. "The intent of this request is to attach the existing Quonset building to the farm site tract," staff said. The board answered the required findings in the affirmative and voted to grant the variance.

The board also approved a variance for Marine Blank to replace a failed septic tank and associated soil treatment area that would infringe on standard setbacks because of site topography and an unpermitted deck. Staff explained the drain field passed inspection but the tank failed and the proposed design places the new tank 5 feet from the house and the soil treatment area 3 feet from a deck; ordinance 422 requires 10 feet and 20 feet respectively. Staff offered the alternative of removing the illegal deck or replacing it with an allowed 4-foot walkway. Planning staff said if the board approved the variance the deck could be legalized with an after-the-fact construction site permit. The board voted to grant the septic-related variances so the owner can replace the failed component.

At Cedar Island Lake the board considered two separate petitions by Jeffrey and Michelle Bertram. Members denied the Bertrams’ request to add 375 square feet of impervious patio pavers in the shore impact zone — 162 square feet more than the 250-square-foot allowance — after several members concluded the proposal conflicted with shoreland protection policies. "We cannot approve based on the statute," the chair read after multiple finding-of-fact questions were answered negatively during the pavers review, and the board voted to deny the impervious-paver installation.

The board took a different approach to other Bertram requests. After reviewing permit history and technical alternatives, commissioners approved variances allowing a small garage fill-in adjacent to County Road 71 and a reduced-size replacement deck. Staff reported that the proposed work replaces or reduces existing nonconforming structures and that Wakefield Township provided correspondence indicating no road impact. The board granted those variances by majority vote.

The meeting also included a request from David Metz to replace and repair an existing deck that encroaches into a bluff-impact area on Cedar Island Lake. Staff noted portions of the deck trace to a 1988 permit predating bluff standards enacted in 1989; the owner said the deck is deteriorating and needs repair for safety. After discussion the board approved the variance to allow replacement within the existing footprint (staff: "The bluff impact zone extends 30 ft beyond the top of the bluff and encroaches into the northeast corner of the deck"), noting the replacement would be no larger than the existing structure.

In other business, staff reported on a prior enforcement matter involving excess impervious area at Lake Koronis (the Johnson case) where the county obtained summary judgment and the owner agreed to reduce excess impervious area to comply by Nov. 1. The board approved a correction to the June minutes to accurately record a letter submitted in that case.

All approvals include the conditions noted by planning staff (permitting, after-the-fact construction permits where required, and engineered solutions where specified). Several board members emphasized that many of these issues stem from earlier construction or incomplete final inspections: "[Previous owners] were just trying to clean it up," one member said, and staff noted shoreland permit checking increased in the 2000s.

The board set its next meeting for Sept. 11 and adjourned.

What happens next: property owners granted variances must follow county conditions — obtain required after-the-fact permits where applicable and comply with any engineering or mitigation measures required by staff before work proceeds.