The Fillmore County Planning Commission met for the first time since July 2016. Public hearings were held for two separate variance requests to build a new dwelling on land with a crop equivalency rating (CER) greater than 65 or a variance from Section 604.05 (9) of the county’s zoning ordinance.
Since this was the first meeting in 2017, officers were elected. Brad Erickson will serve as chairman and Steve Duxbury as vice-chairman.
Keith and Anita Brown requested a variance to construct a new home on land with a CER greater than 65 in Section 9, Arendahl Township. Mr. Brown explained his son will be moving into their current home, so they are looking for another place to live. There were no comments from the public or township officers.
Zoning Administrator Cristal Adkins noted that the parcel in question is 76 acres. Had the parcel been at least 80 acres the variance would not have been necessary. She said the only other potential building spot would be within the setback required from a quarry. Adkins said there was no need for conditions to be added to the variance. The variance was approved with no conditions.
A variance was requested by the Barbara Nelson family to construct a new dwelling on land with a CER greater than 65 in Section 5, Amherst Township. They would like to build a new home on land being used as pasture, using about three acres, keeping the rest of the 13 acres in pasture for their beef herd. Matthew explained they want to build the house about 300-400 yards from the road. There were no comments from the public or township officers.
The family would like to have a driveway access to County Road 21. Adkins said the requested access was approved by the county engineer. She added that they may be able to keep the current field access. Matthew explained other possible locations would require a lot of driveway construction or be in an area too wet for building a home; a spring is located north of this parcel. The variance request was approved with no conditions.