Portage County board approves expanded greenhouse and roadside-stand plan at Riverview Drive with conditions

The Portage County Board of Adjustment on Sept. 15 approved a special‑exception petition from Ramsey White to operate a home-occupation greenhouse and roadside vegetable stand at 1507 Riverview Drive, subject to a package of conditions intended to limit visual impacts, traffic and unauthorized parking.

The board voted to allow the petitioner additional accessory and storage buildings but set conditions that include obtaining a Portage County zoning permit and driveway permit from the county highway department, downcast exterior lighting, a sign not to exceed 32 square feet, a limit on nonfamily employees, landscaping/screening, floodplain elevation verification for accessory buildings, and a clause barring parking on Riverview Drive and County Road HH. The board’s adopted condition also states the total accessory‑building space on the property cannot exceed 20,000 square feet.

Why it matters: town officials from the Town of Carson had sent a Sept. 10 letter recommending a more restrictive cap — 10,000 square feet — saying existing greenhouse structures were acceptable but that additional greenhouses should be opposed. Board members and staff said that letter contained contradictory language and lacked precise measurements, and they debated whether to impose a numeric cap or to list specific buildings in the conditions to make enforcement clearer.

Staff read the petition into the record, identifying the owner as Ramsey White and describing the request as multiple special exceptions under the Portage County zoning ordinance for accessory‑building area, length‑to‑width ratios, employee limits and related standards. At the hearing, White told the board he had consent forms from immediate neighbors and estimated his current detached garage and existing hoop houses total about 8,900 to 9,000 square feet; he said the proposed additions would raise the property toward roughly 18,000 square feet. "I don't get it," White said of the town’s position limiting greenhouses, adding that larger greenhouses would allow him to capitalize on USDA grants and expand sales to restaurants and CSA members.

Board members pressed White on operations and parking: whether a roadside stand would sit on Riverview or be set back with internal parking, how school buses or tour groups would be handled, and the assurance that greenhouses would be maintained so coverings would not become an eyesore. White said he planned a stand set back from the road with internal parking and that he would maintain or replace greenhouse coverings as needed.

Board deliberations focused on enforceability. Staff and members recalculated accessory‑space totals and noted the property may currently exceed the 3,200‑square‑foot baseline for accessory structures without a special exemption. Several members recommended a clearly enforceable condition; one motion modified the staff-recommended condition to allow more accessory space than the town suggested and to name explicit permitting and parking requirements.

A motion to approve the petition with the enumerated conditions carried by roll call. The board warned the petitioner that a judicial appeal to Portage County Circuit Court may be filed within 30 days and that acting on the approval before the appeal period carries financial risk.

What happens next: The decision will be filed in the planning and zoning office, subject to the 30‑day appeal window. The conditions require the petitioner to secure the listed permits and meet any floodplain or stormwater requirements before issuance of a zoning permit.