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Brookings County Board of Adjustment approves setback variances for Volga property owner
Summary
The Board of Adjustment granted variance 2026-008 to allow a 10x16 covered porch and a 17x17.5 sunroom at 21499 458th Avenue in Volga, citing undue hardship and imposing conditions; the vote was 8–0.
The Brookings County Board of Adjustment voted to grant setback variances for a Volga homeowner, allowing a 10-by-16 covered porch and a 17-by-17.5-foot sunroom at 21499 458th Avenue.
Zoning staff Richard summarized the application (variance 2026-008), saying the porch would sit 138 feet from 458th Avenue — a 12-foot variance — and the sunroom would be 96 feet from the center of 215th Street (a 37-foot variance). Richard also noted mapping and descriptive materials showing a 62-foot measurement from the centerline of 215th Street in staff exhibits and that a prior variance for the residence had been granted on March 4, 2003. "After due notice, a public hearing has been held in the application on this June 2026," Richard read as he presented the board's findings and conditions.
Applicant Andrew Shontos, who spoke at the mic, said the road serving the house is a low-use dead-end and estimated, "about 3 vehicles a day" use, arguing the additions would not materially affect traffic. Board members raised editorial corrections to the staff packet (noting staff should correct references to 219th vs. 215th Street and the county highway number) and asked for technical clarifications about distances to right-of-way lines.
Following staff's findings that literal enforcement of the zoning ordinance would cause undue hardship and that granting the variance would not harm the character of the district, the chair called the roll. Eight board members voted in the affirmative — Kelly Vanderwall, Tim Paulson, Dale Storehaug, Darrell Kleinjohn, Justin De Groot, Mark Jornby, Neil Troyan and Chad Ford — and the motion passed. The variance is conditioned on the safeguards read into the record, compliance with the Brookings County Zoning Ordinance and a three-year expiration if unused.
The board instructed the zoning office to issue required building permits consistent with the variance terms and said the applicant would be mailed approved copies of the decision.
