Planning panel approves retaining-wall variance, tree replacement requirement for Lakewood Avenue property

The Detroit Lakes Planning Commission on a voice vote approved a variance that lets property owners Eric and Lisa Lawson replace deteriorated retaining walls and remove three trees at 1019 Lakewood Drive, city staff said.

City planning staff recommended approval, saying the project would restore the lakeshore, remove unsafe, deteriorated railroad ties and add rip-rap to minimize future erosion. The staff report noted an 8- to 10-foot grade change from the house to the lake and recommended the variance with a single condition: the owner must replace the three trees removed from the shore-impact zone.

Owner Eric Lawson told the commission the existing railroad-tie walls were rotten and likely leaching into the lake. "It will be a stone of some kind on the steps…we are replacing old railroad tie rotten wood that is probably leeching into the lake currently," Lawson said, describing the plan to use ledge stone and noting that Spirior Lakeside prepared the drawings and recommendations.

Commissioners asked about materials and permitting; staff said construction details and final materials would be reviewed during the building- and zoning-permit process by city staff. The commission approved the variance following a motion to accept staff findings and the tree-replacement condition.

The approval was a permitting decision at the planning-commission level; the project will proceed through standard building-permit review and any required agency permits were noted in the staff conditions. No public commenters objected during the hearing.