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Zoning board recommends approval of variance for pole barn at 52 Moline Street
Summary
The LaSalle County Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously recommended approval July 15 of a variance to reduce north and west setbacks from 10 feet to 3 feet so petitioner Wallace McClain can build a 30-by-40 pole barn at 52 Moline Street; the petition will go to the county board on Aug. 13.
The LaSalle County Zoning Board of Appeals on July 15 recommended that the LaSalle County Board approve a variance allowing Wallace McClain to reduce the north and west setbacks on his property at 52 Moline Street in Seneca’s Manlius Township from 10 feet to 3 feet to accommodate a 30-by-40 pole barn.
Chair Sandy Billard opened the petition (26-03) and asked Brian Giff, the county’s land use director, to summarize the application. Giff said mailed notices to adjacent property owners went out June 26 and public notice was published June 27.
Petitioner Wallace McClain testified under oath that the requested setback reduction is needed because a leach field limits placement on his lot and that the barn would allow him to store belongings indoors. McClain said he wants the structure to be tasteful and to match the house and told the board his fence is roughly three inches off the property line, his parcel was surveyed in 1996–97 and neighboring property owners to the north (Sharon Lewis and her family) do not object.
Board members questioned McClain about site details — confirming the road is a private dead-end with three or four neighboring properties, the location of fencing and gate, and the presence of survey stakes — before taking up the required findings of fact. Chair Billard read the Section 14.8-3 variation standards the board must apply, including whether the variance would be in harmony with the ordinance, injurious to the neighborhood, detrimental to public welfare, or in conflict with the county comprehensive plan.
Board members answered the standards in the affirmative as to compliance and, after completing findings of fact, moved to recommend approval. The motion passed on a unanimous voice vote. The board recorded support from its members present and declared the motion passed; no members voted against or abstained.
Giff told McClain the petition will be presented to the county board on Aug. 13, 2026, as the next procedural step.
Actions and next steps: The Zoning Board of Appeals recommended approval of petition 26-03; the county board will consider the petition at its August meeting. Public notice and the board’s finding of fact are in the record.
