Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Brown County BZA members debate Lake District setback variances, consider planning commission referral
Summary
Board members expressed concern that repeated variances in the Lake District create a precedent inconsistent with the zoning ordinance’s hardship standard and asked a planning-commission appointee to take the issue back for review.
Board members used the April 29 meeting to air growing unease about repeated setback variances in the Lake District, saying the pattern risks turning zoning exceptions into de facto rules.
The chair said he was increasingly uncomfortable granting variances that do not meet the ordinance’s definition of hardship and that the usual pattern — granting variances because similar exceptions were granted earlier — was creating an unjustified precedent. He asked whether the planning commission might revisit lake-district setbacks so the county can decide whether the ordinance should be amended. One board member suggested that the planning commission could rethink setbacks for the specific area to avoid repeated variances and reduce the number of applications to the BZA.
Board members also discussed a recent instance in which a neighbor missed hearing notice in the mail and therefore did not appear; staff and members expressed sympathy and noted the neighbor’s missed opportunity to participate. Several members volunteered to take the setback concern back to the planning commission for consideration.
