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Planning commission tables shoreland variance request after new site work raises impervious-surface questions
Summary
The Lindstrom Planning Commission tabled a request to exceed the shoreland impervious-surface threshold for a property at 12492 Menstru Veil after staff and commissioners identified recent site work that could change engineering calculations. Commissioners requested a survey, updated impervious/pervious-paver calculations and detailed landscaping and grading plans before reconsideration.
The Lindstrom Planning Commission voted to table a variance request for shoreland alterations at 12492 Menstru Veil after staff raised new information that may alter impervious-surface calculations.
City planner Kendra Ellinger told commissioners the lot already exceeds the city's 25% impervious-surface threshold under staff estimates (about 29%) and that the applicant proposes to increase coverage to roughly 32.1 percent while installing pervious pavers. Ellinger said the city engineer's preliminary review indicates additional pervious-paver area would be required and that no survey was on file, so the figures are staff estimates.
"We are recommending tabling this item for further information," Ellinger said, citing recent earthwork and a new boulder/retaining wall visible from the street that may lie in city right-of-way or on private property and could change the calculations. She asked the applicant to provide a survey, finalized pervious/impervious calculations and detailed landscaping and grading plans as part of the permitting process.
An applicant representative, Anthony Tamble of Spade Landscaping, said the work at the road is associated with utility work and a temporary staging area for materials to complete shore access improvements across three properties. Tamble said crews have put down gravel and placed boulders and that staging is necessary for tens of tons of material and for access to the shoreline.
Commissioners questioned whether retaining walls, new gravel or other disturbed areas should be counted as impervious surface and whether the city could attach conditions that prioritized natural-shoreline techniques. One commissioner said the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources encourages native buffers and alternatives to riprap to protect water quality and expressed reluctance to grant a variance that would not improve shoreline habitat.
The commission moved and approved a tabling motion; staff will notify the applicant of required follow-up materials and the item will return to the planning commission in May for reconsideration.
Next steps: staff will request a stamped survey or applicant-confirmed calculations, revised pervious-paver numbers and detailed landscaping/grading plans; encroachment documentation will be addressed if city right-of-way was altered.
