Board postpones decision on Weber riverway variances after agencies request more information

Dave Peterson, chair of the Saint Croix County Board of Adjustment, opened a public hearing on Aug. 27 on a four-variance request from property owners Joseph and Natalie Weber for 1488 Twin Springs Road in the Town of Somerset.

Kevin Graybell, the county land use administrator, told the board the applicants seek variances under the Lower Saint Croix Riverway Overlay District and county zoning to rebuild and modify a principal structure and deck that sit within bluff and ordinary high-water setbacks. "Joseph and Natalie Weber request a variance in Lower Saint Croix Riverway Overlay District, to Saint Croix County Ordinance section 17.12 d 1 g to construct an addition to a nonconforming principal structure that is within the ordinary high water mark and bluff line setbacks," Graybell said during his presentation. He said the parcel is about 0.8 acres and that proposed work would expand impervious surface by roughly 296 square feet, with mitigation proposed via a rain garden.

Agency reviewers raised outstanding questions. Graybell said the National Park Service sent comments on Aug. 26 saying it did not have adequate information to make a determination and requested additional materials; the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources submitted comments on Aug. 19 calling the application incomplete but not opposed if the applicant supplies requested materials and the board attaches appropriate conditions. Doug Zahler, a land surveyor with Oth Consulting representing the applicants, said the team wants to revise plans to respond to those agency concerns and asked the board to postpone a decision so they can provide the requested details. "We do wanna address the issues that were raised by staff and by, the National Park Service and DNR," Zahler said.

Board members questioned how the site would be graded and whether reconstruction or removal of portions of a retaining wall could create runoff toward the river. Joe Miller, a board member, said, "grading it towards the river kinda concerns me a little bit," and staff replied that the board could attach conditions requiring on-site capture of any additional runoff. Graybell noted that rebuilding the prior dwelling footprint is allowed under an existing land use permit, but several of the requested modifications (deck reconstruction, footprint increases and right-of-way encroachment) require variance approval.

Given the outstanding agency questions and the applicants' request, Greg Tellegen moved to table the decision to the September meeting; Alicia Schneider seconded, and the motion passed by a unanimous voice vote. The board left the public hearing record open for the board's deliberation and scheduled the decision for its next meeting.

What happens next: staff and the applicants will supply the additional information requested by the National Park Service and the DNR; the board indicated it could condition any approval on mitigation measures (stormwater controls and visual screening), applicable permits, and unannounced site inspections to confirm compliance.