What You May Not Know About Building Or Remodeling On The St. Croix River

How zoning can impact property owners planning to build.
A blog series by Wayne Branum, AIA
INSTALLMENT 3

Over many years of practicing architecture in Minnesota and Wisconsin I have been surprised by how many property owners are not fully informed about the issues involved with building new or remodeling their properties, especially on bodies of water. In this blog series I plan to provide some basic information I hope will help and inform property owners who may be thinking about building in the future.

SALA Architect Wayne Branum St. Croix River

BUILDING ON THE ST CROIX RIVER

The St Croix is a National Scenic River Way was created in 1968 by congress led by members of congress from MN and WI. The goal is to keep the St Croix River as natural, clean and unaltered as possible. This involves limiting run off directly entering the river, which in turn limits the removal and alteration of plant materials in the river corridor. Relative to buildings, the basic goal is to not see them along the river as you travel on the river in the summer months while the foliage is out. Regulations of the building process limit the exposure of soils and the removal of trees and foliage, among other considerations involving slopes and wetlands etc.

Zoning ordinances were created in an attempt to achieve the broader goals established by congress. When you are thinking about building, it is the local ordinances that apply to your situation. As you may observe at times local and state ordinances, which are rather black and white, are not always successful at achieving the broader goals of the Federal Legistration. However, it is the local and state ordinances that are adhered to in the planning and building processes. In some limited situations where existing buildings and lots were created prior to the current ordinances it may be necessary to consider variances in order to achieve an owner’s desired goals for their property.

SALA Architect Wayne Branum St. Croix River

Now you are ready to begin thinking about what you can do within your zoning limitations. I thought case studies would be a good way for you to understand how the process can work. Here are two projects on located on the St Croix River.

Case study #1 Wisconsin Property

SALA Architect Wayne Branum St. Croix River

A property owner purchased an existing lot with two existing buildings that were not habitable at the time of purchase. The property was within a city limit, but still subject to the St Croix River Way over lay zoning district. The lot had some unusual topography consisting of a 20-25 foot high retaining wall about 2 feet from the existing building on the side of the building facing away from the river.

The owner’s goals suggested the space in the existing structure would require expansion. Given the condition of the existing structures (a garage and a house) it was going to be a better outcome if the existing buildings were razed and a new single structure built. The zoning allowed for the buildings to be rebuilt and expanded with a new foundation, but only if it was built in the exact footprint of the existing structures. Any expansion would have to be away from the river. Because of the existing retaining wall we knew a variance to expand the building to meet the owner’s desired goals would be required. In fact a variance was required to do any work on this property because it was non-conforming. 

Zoning language suggests we can never ask that a building be placed closer to the river than the existing building. We therefore created a design and requested our expansion be at the side facing away from the river. To do this we requested a portion of the retaining wall be taken down so we could reconstruct a new retaining wall away from the structure. We received the variances requested from the city variance board. Some members even praised the plan. One of our requests was to excavate in a very small isolated slope zone (land that slopes more than 12% in a 25 foot horizontal distance) at the top of our existing retaining wall.

All approved variances still have a 30-day period in which objections can be made. If this happens, there is a process for reacting to the objection. The process varies with the jurisdiction. Our project did have such an objection. It caused us to enter into a negotiation with the objecting body. After all options were considered the governing body objecting to the variances given agreed to our new structure being relocated closer to the river and outside of our original footprint in order to prevent the excavation of the retaining wall into the slope zone. (This process took 3-4 months) Part of the time was taken for small design changes that were part of the negotiation process to see if the desired compromise would indeed achieve the owner’s goals for the building. Once agreement was achieved it still required a local judge to approve the agreement. From this point forward the design work and building process became relatively normal again. The project was built.

The existing structures were never screened enough to not be partially seen from the river. Most of the houses in this city along this street can be seen to varying degrees from the river. Our project did not expose the building more than it was and due to new tree planting it will likely be less exposed in the future. The excavated land on the site was graded with engineering to create retention areas to limit direct run off into the river. Curbs were added to the street for the same purpose. Our goal was to leave the property in better condition than it was prior to the project.

Case Study #2 Minnesota Property

SALA Architect Wayne Branum St. Croix River

A property owner had an old family cabin. The site and cabin were non-conforming as the cabin was built too closeto the ordinary high water line and the building was built in the flood plane, with the main floor being approximately 3 feet under water in a 100-year event. The owners wished to improve the cabin extensively because it was extremely old and in poor condition. Use of the cabin was very limited due to the condition of the building.

Because of the non-conforming situation a variance was required to consider any improvements that changed the structure in any way. They were granted a variance, which allowed the building to be reconstructed with a new foundation as long as the new building was raised so that all habitable spaces were higher than the level of a 100-year event. The structure also needed to be constructed to meet all applicable FEMA standards for building in a flood plane. The old cabin was L shaped and the reconstructed cabin was allowed to fill in the L to create a rectangle because the inside of the L was away from the river. The height was allowed to be higher than the original cabin by the amount it took to raise the building out of the flood plane only. Within these basic parameters the cabin was reconstructed using as much of the old cabin as possible. I should add that very little earth was disturbed during construction and the site had numerous trees to screen the building from the river making it nearly impossible to see it from the river channel. I know where it is located and I have trouble spotting it even being very close to shore in a boat.

SALA Architect Wayne Branum St. Croix River

From a design point of view I feel this project was successful in achieving the overall goals of the ordinances in place and the exceptions that are allowed in the variance process were warranted given the results. However, it is a process involving many meetings and a great deal of care to find the best options for both the property owner and the public.

Remember it all starts with a good survey!!

SALA Architect Wayne Branum St. Croix River

SALA Architect Wayne Branum St. Croix River

SALA Architect Wayne Branum This post is the third in a series that Wayne has wrote on the impact of zoning ordinances in regards to building on water. With decades of award winning experience in architecture, Wayne has come across many obstacles with such projects and has plenty of advice on how to avoid them. If you're thinking of building or remodeling on water, go back and read his first post and second post on the topic! If you'd like to see more about Wayne, stop by his profile page!