Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting - June 8, 2026
Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting - June 8, 2026
The Board of Zoning Appeals for the City of Waukesha met on Monday, June 8, 2026, at 4:00 PM in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The meeting included a presentation by the City Attorney on variance standards, the approval of previous minutes, and three appeals for dimensional variances. Two appeals were denied, and one was approved.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes of May 11, 2026 (ID#26-03578): Approved by a vote of 4–0–1 (Kevin Reilly motion, Timothy Retic second; Christine D'Angelo abstained for not attending the prior meeting).
Presentation: Variance Approval Standards
- City Attorney Brian Running provided a detailed overview of the legal standards for granting variances. He explained the distinction between use variances (extremely strict, requiring a showing that the property would have no use at all) and area/dimensional variances (less strict but requiring an unnecessary hardship, a unique property condition, and no harm to the public interest). He emphasized that self-imposed hardships, economic considerations, and personal opinions about the zoning code are not valid grounds for granting a variance. The board was encouraged to refer to resources from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point.
Discussion Items
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Appeal of Eyrekr and Clifford Wiemer (ID#26-03579): Request for a dimensional variance to build a 192-square-foot garden shed at 2219 Northview Rd. (code: 150 sq. ft. max for properties with attached garage). The property is nearly one acre, but the existing 120 sq. ft. shed is old and too small for a riding mower. The board noted the lot size is not unique, the shed has functioned for 22 years, and new zoning code updates may allow larger sheds as early as September 2026. The variance was denied 4–1 (Tim Nekich dissenting).
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Appeal of Jeff Trost (ID#26-03711): Request for a dimensional variance to build a 10×15 shed in the street yard at 3100 Engler Dr. (code: sheds only in rear yards). The property is a corner lot with a steep slope and drainage issues in the rear, making rear-yard construction costly ($23,000 vs. $10,000 in the street yard). The board found the hardship was not unique (other properties have similar topography) and that the street yard restriction is intended to preserve aesthetics. The variance was denied 5–0.
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Appeal of Brett Stegerwald (ID#26-03712): Request for a dimensional variance to build a solid fence in the street yard at 240 Douglass Ave. (code: solid fences only in side/rear yards on lots with two street frontages). The property is unusually oriented: the entrance faces Douglas Avenue (the address), but the functional rear yard faces Grand Avenue. A neighbor across the street with a different address orientation had a similar fence without a variance. The board found this unique orientation created an exceptional hardship. The variance was approved 5–0, with the condition that the fence include a required vision triangle.
Key Outcomes
- Denied: Appeal for 2219 Northview Rd. (garden shed size) – 4–1 vote.
- Denied: Appeal for 3100 Engler Dr. (shed in street yard) – 5–0 vote.
- Approved: Appeal for 240 Douglass Ave. (fence in street yard) – 5–0 vote, conditioned on vision triangle.
- Adjourned at approximately 5:10 PM via unanimous motion.
Note: The agenda and minutes list the address for the third appeal as "240 Douglass Ave.," but the transcript and supporting materials consistently refer to "240 Douglas Avenue." The board noted this discrepancy but proceeded without change.
Meeting Transcript
Ready, the meeting for the Board of Zoning Appeals for June 8th, 2026. It is 401, so we're a minute late, sorry. Um I will do a roll call. I'll start on my right. Uh Eric Dunst. Christine D'Angelo. Timothy Reddick. Kevin Riley. Timish. Is there any public comment from anyone that is not related to one of the appeals that is before the board this afternoon? Seeing none, thank you. Um, then the next item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes from the May 11, 2026 meeting. Um motion to approve. Kevin Rayleigh makes a motion to approve the minutes of May 11th. Tim Reddick seconds the motion to approve the minutes of May 11th. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any nose? I'm going to abstain since I was not at the meeting. I don't, I can't attest to the completeness of the minutes. All right, new business. So for those of you that are here today for the appeals that are before the Board of Zoning Appeals, um, actually we're gonna start with ID number 26-03743, a presentation by the city attorney's office on the standards for variance approval. You wanted to. Thank you. Uh that's what it is. A little refresher course on variances, as you probably know already. Uh this board has got two main functions. One is to hear appeals from decisions of the zoning administrator, and the other is to consider applications for variances and uh to grant or deny them. So it's important that you follow the legal standards for granting variances. So we're just gonna shoot through this memo and some of the other materials that I attach to it quickly. Um zoning has been around since about the 1920s, roughly. It was in the 20s that Wisconsin adopted zoning laws, and they derive from a body of law from the common law called nuisance. And a nuisance is when somebody uses their property in such a way that it prevents you from getting the full use and enjoyment of your property. If uh one of your neighbors does something uh is uh burning garbage or whatever, and the smoke is continually blowing across your yard and preventing you from being able to use your property, that's a nuisance, and you could go to court and get an injunction to have that stopped. The idea behind zoning law is to codify nuisance law by creating zones to try to separate uses that would cause a nuisance. So that's the whole basis really of zoning law. It's the uses that are the most important. Um there are two types of variances. One is a use variance, and the other is called an area variance, or it's sometimes called a dimensional variance. And uh a use variance is where if an applicant shows sufficient grounds, you can grant an exception to the zoning law to allow a use that would not otherwise be allowable. And because the uses and the conflicting uses that could cause a nuisance is really the heart and soul of zoning law. The standards for granting a use variance are much stricter than an area variance. And an area variance is essentially where on a property you can do a permitted use. Um the idea being to keep some distance between things so once again they don't create a nuisance for neighboring property owners. So let's talk about uh the process for granting a variance, either a use or an area variance. The applicant has to show three things every time. An unnecessary hardship, a unique property condition that's causing the hardship. It has to be the hardship that the property owner is experiencing has to be as a result of a property condition. And not just because of desires or uh you know wishes or uh my neighbor is able to do this, that sort of thing.
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