A recent Minnesota Supreme Court ruling is making it much tougher to get variances approved for things like set-back requirements, distances of structures to lakeshore, etc.
"...a municipality does not have the authority to grant a variance unless the applicant can show that his/her property cannot be put to a reasonable use without the variance."
This recently played out in the September 7, 2010 Maple Grove City Council meeting where a resident was seeking a variance to extend their deck within the high water elevation of Rice Lake. Ordinarily, this request may have been approved thru common sense and reason. However, with the Supreme Court ruling, many municipalities will now likely have their hands tied and not be able to approve even simple variances.
Click here for the city minutes (scroll to page 10).
News article on the court decision
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