It was a night for revisiting items tabled items for the Marshall County Board of Zoning Appeals with the main tabled item for a hedge or treeline depending on interpretation at Lake of the Woods.
Last month Peter and Vickie Peuquet of Lake of the Woods came before the board requesting a variance of standard for a front yard hedge.
Neighbors had complained to Marshall County Plan Director Ty Adley about a “hedge” on the Peuquet’s property that exceeded the height of three and one-half feet. The complainants stated that it took away their view of the lake and wanted it removed. They said that the current county ordinance stated that such hedges were to be no more than three-and-one-half feet tall and have a visibility rate of 75 percent of the surface area. That standard had been rewritten and added in 2007.
The contention of Peuquet, as stated by his lawyer Steve Snyder was that the “hedge” was planted by the property’s previous owner in 1984 and therefore should be considered a “non-conforming” legal use of the property or more commonly known as grandfathered use.
Snyder also provided information for the board that an independent arborist had stated that the “hedge” was not really a hedge at all but actually a row of trees. Adley confirmed that he also had consulted an arborist at Purdue University who stated that the plants were indeed considered trees and therefore not subject even to current zoning restrictions.
Adley went on to say that current zoning would also allow Peuquet to erect a privacy fence in the same location and that would be within the zoning allowances.
Snyder contended that the county couldn’t order the removal of what was in place before 1984.
Terry and Patty Holdermann, the complainants, stated that they wanted a view of the lake they had before the Peuquet’s ownership of the property and also contended that the hedge or trees are actually 15 feet into the public easement on the property.
Board President Jeff Gustafson told the board that he had been on the property earlier in the day and said that the actual view of the lake from the Holdermann’s property would be affected in a minor way by the hedge and noted a similar hedge on the property of their neighbors to the south and wondered why they hadn’t included them in their complaint.
Snyder reminded the board of the non-conforming but legal situation of the hedge and said that because of the complaint the Peuquets had asked for a variance to an ordinance that didn’t actually apply to them.
The board ruled accordingly granting the variance as a legal non-conforming use of the property.
In another action, the board granted approval for Garrett Tharp to build a home on the property of his grandmother allowing a second residence on a two-acre plat of ground.
Another tabled request for a one-day music festival on Olive Road was withdrawn.
