Buffalo City board approves 11-foot side-yard variance for Naal to build attached garage

The Buffalo City Board of Appeals on Oct. 24 unanimously approved an 11-foot side-yard variance allowing property owner Germaine Englerth Naal to build an attached garage on an unusually shaped lot.

The board convened at 6:35 p.m. at the Buffalo City Municipal Building. Chair Jerilyn Baures presented Naal’s request and said the property consists of a 20-by-100-foot parcel plus an additional triangular parcel near the river, together about 50 by 100 feet. Naal told the board she has lived on the property for 12 years and needs a garage because winter ice makes it “very difficult” to walk from her car to the house and because squirrels and mice have damaged her vehicle.

Board members discussed the constraints on siting a garage. Don Blank and others noted the lot’s small size and that the existing septic system occupies the only practical location for a garage. Baures said the city recently amended its zoning ordinance to allow the Board of Appeals to consider small-lot septic placement as a hardship when evaluating variance requests. Dan Arendt expressed concern that the board has not been fully consistent in treating garages as hardship cases in the past; Baures replied that the prior garage variance involved several other lots and was not comparable.

Don Blank moved to approve the 11-foot side-yard variance; Keith Fetting seconded. The minutes record the vote as “all yes,” and the motion carried. The board then voted to adjourn.

The meeting minutes were recorded by Clerk/Treasurer Jenny Ehlenfeldt. No public objections to the proposal were reported in the record.