#10 - Chavez Variance - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

is critical for properly evaluating the facts against the practical difficulties criteria whether the Board of Adjustment is deciding, or a district court is reviewing such a decision on appeal. Analysis of Facts and Recommendation The Board of Adjustment should deny this variance because: The property owner DOES NOT propose to use the property in a reasonable manner given the purpose of the bluff and OHWL setback requirements. This criterion is about what is reasonable given the purpose of the ordinance, NOT what is reasonable to the property owner. Variance requests should only be the minimum necessary to achieve the purposes of the ordinance. The purpose of the bluff setback standard is to keep land alterations, impervious surface, and vegetation removal out of the sensitive bluff impact zone (BIZ). Home construction typically requires grading and vegetation removal within 10 feet of the foundation and a 30-foot top of bluff setback helps to ensure that grading and tree removal do not occur in the bluff impact zone. Vegetation removal is prohibited in the BIZ. Given the steepness of the slope, the BIZ is particularly vulnerable to erosion and potential slumping, especially when vegetation is removed. Increasing precipitation and more frequent intense rain events increase the risk of slope failure, and slopes without protective vegetation are at even greater risk. Soil erosion carries phosphorus nutrients into lakes which causes algae to grow and with Minnesota’s warming lake waters, any additional phosphorus further accelerates algae growth. Setbacks from the top of the bluff also protect scenic views from the lake. The purpose of the ordinary high water setback standard is to keep land alterations and vegetation removal at a safe distance from the water to protect water quality, near-shore habitat, and visual character of the shoreland. The potential for soil erosion is more significant given the fact that Sunfish Lake is listed as an impaired waterbody by the MPCA due to excessive nutrients. Fortunately, water quality monitoring by Valley Branch Watershed District in the most recent 10-year period shows statistically significant trends of improving water quality, including chlorophyll and transparency. The proposed variance request runs counter to the city’s ongoing efforts to improve the water quality of Sunfish Lake. The applicant has not demonstrated why it is necessary to build so excessively large a home (2,437 sq. ft. footprint) on the face of the bluff and within the OHWL setback, a significant deviation from the regulations, when they have alternatives that would minimize impacts, such as a home with a smaller footprint and a home located closer to the northeast lot corner, furthest from the lake. The variance appears to be driven by the design preferences of the property owner, and not by what is reasonable given the purpose of the ordinance to protect this highly sensitive area. The variance WILL ALTER the essential character of the area. Essential character is about how the resulting structure, improvement, and disturbance will alter the hydrology, nutrient flow into waters, soil stability, vegetation, habitat, shoreland character, or be out of scale with the capacity of the land and water resource to tolerate the impacts. The proposed variance would allow construction of a home, land alteration, and vegetation removal in a sensitive bluff impact zone (BIZ). Removing the vegetation in the BIZ and adding impervious surfaces within the BIZ reduces the ability of vegetation to slow and filter runoff, thus accelerating potential for slope erosion, sedimentation, and flow of phosphorus into the lake. This increases the risk of algae growth affecting the quality and character of the lake. The vast majority of the near-shore area of Sunfish Lake, including the entirety of the north and east sides of the lake, is characterized by densely wooded, steep bluffs. Without this vegetation, the water quality of Sunfish Lake is put at risk of degradation. Recent development on the north and east sides of the lake, including Northstar, Hamlet on Sunfish Lake, and Tapestry at Charlotte’s Grove have been designed with residential lot lines drawn outside of the bluff impact zone, and with the sensitive bluff area set aside for permanent protection. Such designs protect the hydrology, scenic values,