DC Board of Adjustment approves wedding barn near Knapp
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Zoning Board of Adjustment has approved a special exception to operate an agriculture-entertainment venue just west of Knapp.
The BOA granted the special exception to Timothy Stauffer of E681 751st Avenue, Knapp, in the Town of Stanton, following a public hearing February 15.
No members of the public attended the Zoom meeting to speak either for or against the request for a special exception.
Stauffer plans to use the barn on the property as a wedding barn and as a venue for other entertainment, said Bob Colson, Dunn County zoning administrator.
The venue is located about two and a half miles west of Knapp, and notices were mailed to neighbors far beyond what is required, he said.
Under different circumstances, this kind of venture would be considered a commercial undertaking and would require bathrooms and a fire suppression system. But the requirements for a commercial business are not feasible for an agriculture-entertainment business, Colson said.
The state has a provision for ag-entertainment businesses and issues a temporary use permit through the Department of Public Services that covers 180 calendar days in a year and must be renewed annually. A temporary use permit is granted after the local fire department has inspected the premises and has signed off, Colson said.
Land use plan
The county’s zoning ordinance allows ag-entertainment with a special exception, Colson said.
Ag-entertainment is consistent with the comprehensive land use plan because Dunn County is mostly zoned agriculture, and Stauffer’s property is zoned general ag, he said.
The county’s shoreland ordinance will apply because there are some wetlands and an intermittent stream that will have to be crossed to reach the proposed parking area, but the property is not in a flood plain, Colson said, adding that the state Department of Natural Resources will require Stauffer to have a permit for crossing the stream to reach the parking area.
A special exception is good for one year, and improvements to the property must be finished before the year is up, although the deadline for finishing improvements could be extended if necessary, he said.
Stauffer will be required to have a shoreland permit after one year and also will need a county sanitation permit and approval from the state Department of Transportation, or at least notification to the DOT, since the venue will be located off state Highway 12, Colson said.
Two residences might be within earshot of music played at weddings, although one is a seasonal home while the other is a full-time residence. Noise from the venue is not expected to be a nuisance for the neighbors, he said.
The barn is situated in a valley with steep topography surrounding the area, Colson noted.
Parking
Colson said the zoning office would work with the Town of Stanton and with Stauffer to make sure there would be no parking on the town road.
The off-street parking west of the barn will have room for 123 spaces, and overflow parking south of the barn will have room for 70 parking spaces, he said.
The driveway that serves the neighbor and Stauffer’s barn and parking area is a private road that extends west from the town road, Colson said.
If traffic congestion is a concern, the Board of Adjustment has asked for a parking plan in the past that would include signs, such as a sign indicating which way is back to Knapp, so people can get back to the state highway, he said.
The proposed hours of operation would be 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. with no music after 11 p.m., Colson said.
“Usually when the music dies down, people go home,” he said.
BOA member Barbara Lyon asked how people would get from the overflow parking to the barn.
There will be a footpath, but there also will be a tractor and wagon and golf carts to take people from both of the parking areas to the barn, Stauffer said.
Decibels
In the past, the Board of Adjustment has set a decibel limit to help monitor if a noise complaint is valid, Colson said.
Noise complaints are forwarded to the sheriff’s department, and the sheriff’s department has a machine to measure decibels, he said.
The standard is generally 70 decibels, either a certain distance from the source or at the property line, Colson said.
Overnight camping is not allowed. In the past, the BOA has approved up to 225 guests, although Stauffer has indicated he would like to have as many as 300 guests at the venue, he said.
Event plan
Stauffer must file an event plan with the zoning office, Colson said.
The event plan must include a calendar with the dates and times of events that are booked for the year, the number of guests expected, emergency contacts, a parking plan, provisions for sanitation, a source for potable water since there is no well on the site, and plans for food preparation, although most ag-entertainment events are catered, he said.
The Town of Stanton is a “dry” town, so alcoholic beverages could not be sold at the venue although the people renting the venue can bring their own alcoholic beverages to serve to their guests, Colson said.
Stauffer must also have plans for emergency vehicles to be able to get in and out of the property and must make sure there is a clear driving aisle in the parking area to allow ingress and egress for emergency vehicles, he said.
Easement
Mark Dietsche, who serves as chair of the Town of Grant and is chair of the Board of Adjustment, asked whether there was a formal easement from the town road to the Stauffer property.
Stauffer explained that the town road ends at the neighbor’s property, and the neighbor maintains the road past his property, and Stauffer maintains the road the rest of the way.
The road pavement ends about 200 feet from the barn, although the part of the road maintained by the Town of Stanton is a considerable distance from the end of the pavement, he said.
Usually a dead-end town road will go all the way to a property, so it would be beneficial to know exactly where the town road is, Dietsche said.
Colson suggested it would be prudent to find out where the town road ends, and if there is no formal easement in place, securing a formal easement would be in everyone’s best interest.
Stream
Stauffer said he has owned the property for seven years, and in the last three years, the water table has come up and the stream has started running.
The stream is about six inches wide now, but the water table could go down, and then the stream would dry up again, he said.
Stauffer said he must cross the stream to reach his farm fields, so he will have to do whatever the DNR approves because he needs access “no matter what.”
Dunn County’s shoreland ordinance regulates intermittent streams, so the county will regulate it as a navigable stream, Colson said.
The DNR will have to stipulate the stream crossing, and zoning will do whatever is necessary to work with Stauffer and the DNR, he said.
Railroad crossing
Tim Lienau, county board supervisor from Menomonie and a member of the BOA, noted the town road crosses the railroad tracks.
The road actually goes under the railroad trestle. Because of the 20-foot high railroad bed, the property cannot be seen from Highway 12, Stauffer said.
BOA member Jill Noreen said she lives near Knapp and had driven out to look at the site.
Noreen said she never knew the place was there and described it as “very secluded.”
Frequency
Stauffer indicated in his application that he planned to have events at the venue three times per week, but the BOA has allowed three events per month for other venues, said BOA member Crystal Halvorson
Dunn County already has four operating venue barns, she noted.
Stauffer said he wanted much more flexibility than three times per month for events.
Some venues have other smaller events and have three large events per month with 200 or more guests, Colson said.
No one has complained there have been too many events at the other venues, and Dunn County does not have the staff to go out and physically check each of the events, he said.
Several BOA members said they were of the opinion that three events per month would not be enough to successfully run a business.
Putting on a large wedding is a lot of work, and Stauffer may not want more than three events per month, Halvorson said.
BOA member Patrick McCoy said he agreed that Stauffer should not be limited on the number of events.
How well the business is run will dictate how many and what kinds of events will be held, and as long as there are no complaints, the number of events should not be restricted, he said.
Colson recommended that if the BOA did not limit the number of events, the other ag-entertainment special exception venues should be allowed to come before the board to ask for no limit.
Conditions
The motion to grant the special exception for the Stauffer property included the following conditions: no more than 65 decibels for music at the closest property line and no music after 11 p.m.; no overnight guests; one toilet for every 75 guests; no more than 300 guests at an event; any lighting improvements that are installed will be down-lit; an event plan must be submitted to the zoning office at the beginning of the season.
The conditions also included that the applicant will receive a temporary use permit from the state annually; the applicant must prove ownership or an easement for the part of the driveway that is not on the Stauffer property; approval from the DOT must be received; the appropriate DNR permits must be received; no parking on the town road; if alcohol is served, it must be served by a licensed bartender.
In addition, the conditions included events the are planned for more than 50 people must be on the event plan.
Stauffer said he would prefer that the condition refer to no overnight camping rather than no overnight guests in case he wanted to have friends and family stay at his house.
Anyone can stay at your house at any time, but there will be no overnight camping at the venue or guests staying in the barn, Colson said.
The Dunn County Zoning Board of Adjustment unanimously approved the special exception for the agricultural-entertainment venue with the conditions that were listed.
