Board approves Mundinger shoreland-bluff variances with geotechnical and vegetation conditions despite split votes
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Summary
Ross and Shauna Mundinger received multiple variances for a proposed dwelling in a shoreland bluff area of Brownsville Township. The board approved variances for top-of-bluff, road, and side-yard setbacks and attached two DNR-recommended conditions, though two members voted No on key findings citing permit timing and consistency concerns.
The Houston County Board of Adjustment granted multiple variances for Ross and Shauna Mundinger to site a dwelling in an area the county determined to be a shoreland bluff, subject to two conditions recommended by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Staff told the board the parcel in Brownsville Township just exceeds the 25-foot elevation change threshold used to define a shoreline bluff, and DNR staff provided suggested conditions to address slope stability. The two conditions the board adopted require the applicant to provide a geotechnical report signed by a professional engineer, geologist or other qualified individual reviewing site stability in the bluff setback area, and to "establish and maintain a 20-foot permanent buffer between the home and the top of bluff that is preserved in perennial deep-rooted vegetation rather than mowed turf grass," using native-seed recommendations referenced in the staff memo.
The applicants said they relied on prior staff guidance when ordering a modular home and had proceeded with site work (well and driveway) before building placement. "Marty had told us that it was not Shoreland Bluff... and so it was not set to the Shoreland Bluff setbacks," one applicant said, describing reliance on earlier staff comments. County Commissioner Eric Johnson clarified the earlier conditional use permit approved only the use (allowing a nonfarm dwelling) and did not approve a specific house placement or building plans.
During findings, votes on several items were split and two members explicitly voted No on key findings, with Member Franklin Hahn stating, "The reason is that you should have had a building permit before you started all this." Despite dissent, a majority approved the motion to grant the variances (a 20-foot variance to meet a 40-foot top-of-bluff setback, a 30-foot variance to meet a 50-foot west property-line setback, and a 12-foot variance to meet a 65-foot setback to 210 Bluffs Drive) and attached the DNR-recommended conditions.
The board’s action allows the Mundingers to proceed with their proposed dwelling subject to the geotechnical review and vegetation buffer; staff noted ongoing obligations to meet minimum standards and follow the conditions attached to the approval.