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Board of Zoning Appeals flags repeated lake-district variance requests; debate over enforcement vs ordinance rewrite
Summary
Brown County planners reported a concentration of setback variance requests in lake districts; commissioners and BZA members discussed whether to enforce existing setbacks, create LR1/LR2 distinctions, or pursue a broader ordinance rewrite tied to the comprehensive planning process.
After the comprehensive plan discussion, the meeting turned to a recurring issue reported by the Board of Zoning Appeals: a steady stream of variance requests in the county’s lake districts. Staff provided a year-by-year count showing most variances were from lake areas, and officials described how precedent has influenced outcomes at the BZA.
"What we're facing... is they wanna build a house too big for a lot, and we're approving it, this rubber stamping," one participant said, criticizing how precedent and large setbacks have made some existing lots effectively unbuildable. Commissioners and BZA members debated two broad responses: strictly enforce current setbacks (which would risk denying many pending variance requests) or initiate an ordinance rewrite that could create finer-grained LR categories (for example, LR1 and LR2) tailored to local lakes’ density.
Attendees also discussed practical problems such as septic constraints, lot sizes and inconsistent platting from earlier decades. The board agreed to send the BZA’s concerns forward, consider targeted ordinance work and to plan public outreach to affected lake communities. Staff and commission members requested additional data and a future agenda item to consider next steps, including whether to begin ordinance revision or to strengthen enforcement practice.
