The Morrison County Board of Adjustment approved a variance Dec. 23 allowing owners of 31522 Lakeview Drive to convert a porch into a main-floor bedroom, a move applicants said is needed to make the home accessible for an aging, handicapped parent.

Amy, Land Services staff, told the board the property sits within a bluff and that the relevant ordinance (Morrison County Land Use Ordinance, section 706.1, and bluff-impact provisions) requires a 30-foot setback from the top of the bluff. The applicant requested a 4-by-16-foot extension to an existing porch to create a main-floor bedroom; staff said the addition would be built on pier footings with no excavation and would not increase the impervious surface meaningfully.

The applicant, Steve Murky, said the family bought the property in 2019 and that converting the unused porch is the only practical way to create a main-floor bedroom because there is no existing single-level bedroom inside the home. “My mom is handicapped and with the stairs and all that stuff… by having a main floor bedroom, it just solves all our problems,” Murky said.

Board members weighed the statutory criteria for a variance, including whether the request was reasonable, the uniqueness of the lot due to the bluff, and whether the variance would maintain the essential character of the locality. Several members described the request as minimal and consistent with prior stewardship of the site; one member noted current ordinances would not allow the house to be built in its present form if proposed anew today.

Clint moved to approve the variance; George seconded. The chair recorded affirmative votes and announced the variance was approved as requested. The board directed the applicants to continue to coordinate with Land Services on permitting and implementation.

The approved addition is limited in footprint and, according to staff, is not expected to require excavation that would disturb the bluff. The board noted that any future work must comply with county setback and bluff-impact rules and that the applicant should follow Land Services’ guidance during construction.