DC Zoning Board of Adjustment approves road setback variance for Denmark Dairy

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE  — The Dunn County Zoning Board of Adjustment has approved a setback variance of 52 feet from the county highway for Denmark Dairy south of Colfax on county Highway B.

The county’s variance for a public right-of-way setback for a livestock facility with more than 1,000 animal units is 150 feet, but Denmark Dairy is asking for 45 feet, explained Ben Bublitz, a zoning enforcement officer and planner with Dunn County.

Denmark Dairy is planning an expansion, and the new milking parlor would be located 45 feet from the road, he said.

Denmark Dairy, located in the Town of Tainter, currently houses about 2,100 animal units and has an approved Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Elimination System permit from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources that allows for the expansion of up to 3,135 animal units.

A dairy cow is 1.4 animal units.

The Denmark Dairy WPDES permit is valid through 2020.

The parcel contains several animal barns, a milking parlor, a feed storage area and a manure storage area, Bublitz said.

The reduced setback from the road would allow the new milking parlor to be close to the barns and would make moving the dairy cows from the barns to the milking parlor easier, he said.

The location of shallow bedrock farther back on the property to the north would make it difficult to build a structure in a different location, Bublitz said.

The variance is for Phase 2 of the project. Phase 1 is the expansion of the cow herd, he noted.

Rezone

The entire Denmark Dairy project would need two additional approvals before it could move forward: a rezone and a special exception, Bublitz said.

A rezone is required because part of the expansion would be built on an adjoining 40-acre parcel that is currently zoned general agriculture. The 80-acre parcel where Denmark Dairy is located is zoned exclusive agriculture, which is required for a herd of this size, he said.

The additional 40 acres would have to be rezoned to exclusive agriculture, Bublitz said.

In the rezone process, first the Town of Tainter would have to indicate support, then the Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development committee would have to review the proposal and make a recommendation to the Dunn County Board. Then the county board would have to consider whether to approve or deny the rezone, he said.

Denmark Dairy also would have to come back to the Board of Adjustment for a special exception for expanding the cow herd, Bublitz said.

Right-of-way

Jesse Rintala, director of public works and the Dunn County highway commissioner, said his only concern about the reduced setback was related to county highway right-of-way.

If the Denmark Dairy expansion results in more trucks entering the property, and the additional traffic created a need for a turn lane into Denmark Dairy, how much additional right-of-way would be needed, Rintala asked.

Reduction of the setback would have no impact on the existing roadway, he said.

Forty-five feet will not impact the existing roadway, but a turn lane uses 15 to 20 feet, and in that case, the milking parlor would have a 25-foot setback, Rintala noted.

No options

Dave McDaniel of Auth Consulting said the existing barns are 200 feet from the county road right-of-way.

The main obstacle to putting the new buildings back farther on the site was the bedrock, he said.

The milking parlor is the only part of the expansion that would be in the setback, McDaniel said.

Keeping the big barns farther back from the road minimizes the odor of a large number of cows, he said.

The original plan was to place the barn closer to the road, McDaniel said.

BOA member Crystal Halvorson asked about putting the new buildings to the east of the existing barn.

The machine shop and the office already are located to the east of the barns, and the area east of the machine shop and the office is part of the drainage area for the feed pad, he said.

Moving the new facilities to a different location would require a 25-foot blast of rock to adjust the grade, McDaniel said.

The other options did not seem viable, he said.

Bob Colson, Dunn County zoning administrator, asked about reducing the length of the corridor through which the cattle will move from the barn to the milking parlor.

A certain number of square feet is required to accommodate the number of cows traveling through the corridor, McDaniel said.    

Staff report

Based on the requirements for variances, Dunn County zoning staff recommended approval of the reduced setback.

Enforcement of the Dunn County zoning ordinance would result in unnecessary hardship to the applicant. The proposed structure would be situated in the only location that does not require existing structures to be relocated and does not require excessive excavation because of the bedrock, according to the report.

The unique characteristics of the property prevent compliance with the ordinance. The layout of the existing barns prevents the proposed milking parlor from meeting the setback of 150 feet while still being close to the cows, the report states.

Granting the variance would not harm the public interest. The setbacks for facilities with more than 1,000 animal units are intended to protect neighboring properties from offensive odors and noise. The nearest neighbor is 500 feet away from the proposed project, and the second nearest residence is more than 1,000 feet from the variance, according to the report.

Denmark Dairy

Denmark Dairy is a 110 year old family farm, said Karl Kragness, co-owner and manager of the dairy farm.

The name Denmark Dairy comes from the combination of Dennis (Den) and Mary (Mar) Kragness (K), Karl’s parents.

The additional barn will be built now, and the new milking parlor will be built in two years, Kragness said.

The existing milking parlor is undersized for additional cows so once the herd is expanded, with the existing parlor, some cows would only be milked two times a day, he said.

The future of the dairy industry is to recycle all of the water that is used, Kragness said.

“I want to be proud of what we have and do things in the right way,” he said.

Modification

BOA member Patrick McCoy wondered about changing the setback request by five to 10 feet.

Making the setback farther from the road would provide better options for the highway department, he said.

Increasing the setback would increase flexibility for the road right-of-way, Halvorson said.

The Dunn County Zoning Board of Adjustment voted unanimously to grant the variance for the setback but to increase the setback from 45 feet to 52 feet.

Voting in favor were McCoy (second alternate), Halvorson, Larry Glynn (first alternate), Tim Lienau (chair), and Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt.

Phil Steans and Mark Dietsche also serve on the Board of Adjustment but were unable to attend the July 17 meeting.