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Applicant withdraws St. Joseph Riverway variance after DNR withholds written consent
Summary
David Swanson withdrew a request to expand and renovate a nonconforming dwelling in the Lower St. Croix Riverway after county staff disclosed a Wisconsin DNR letter saying the agency would not provide required written consent for variances under Wis. Stat. 30.27.
St. Croix County Zoning Board of Adjustment members heard a public hearing March 27 on David Swanson’s request to expand a nonconforming house in the Town of St. Joseph, then accepted Swanson’s request to withdraw the application after staff said the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources would not provide written consent required for the variances.
Land use administrator Mike Wozniak summarized the proposal and the county’s review. The application sought to enlarge a dwelling at 1466 Pine Tree Lane on a 7.15-acre parcel, increasing an existing footprint of about 1,232 square feet to 2,548 square feet—roughly 548.6 square feet beyond the 2,000-square-foot limit for nonconforming structures—and to reconstruct a deck that would extend roughly 9 feet into the slope-preservation zone. Wozniak told the board that the DNR’s recent comment letter concluded the application did not meet the criteria for conditional use or the bundled variances and had not provided the written consent referenced in NR 118 and Wis. Stat. 30.27.
"The DNR does not feel that either the criteria for conditional use permit or for any of the variances ... meet the applicable criteria," Wozniak said, and "they have not provided written consent on the variances, which is a requirement under NR 118 or statutes 30.27." Community development director Jason Chiesek read the statutory language aloud to the board, citing the line that no variance may be granted "without the written consent of the department."
Applicant David Swanson, speaking by phone, said the home was built in the 1950s and has limited interior functionality (no closets and a precarious spiral stair). He described the proposed work as intended to improve livability and provide a basement for mechanical systems and storm safety while minimizing visual impact from the river. Swanson explained he had considered alternatives the DNR suggested—building landward or raising a new house higher on the parcel—but said those options would require more clearing and infrastructure work.
Neighbor Bill Salp, whose property abuts the Swanson parcel, spoke in favor of the request. Salp said the Swansons were seeking a "sustainable" renovation and warned that moving the house could cause more environmental disturbance.
Board members asked whether the DNR’s lack of written consent legally prevented the county from approving variances. Chiesek and Wozniak pointed to Wis. Stat. 30.27 and the department’s letter; the applicants said they had only become aware of that position when the letter was provided shortly before the meeting.
After hearing the staff recommendation and the DNR correspondence, Swanson asked to withdraw his application to rework the plans. "I would like to make a formal request at this point in time to withdraw my application," he said. The chair acknowledged the request and declared the hearing ended. The board then moved to routine scheduling matters and adjourned at about 09:33.
The board recorded that it had one hearing and one business matter on the agenda that day; a conditional-use application for a lift in the Riverway is tentatively scheduled for the April 24 meeting. The Swanson application was withdrawn and no vote on the variances was taken.
