Saint Croix County BOA reviews streamlined rules, seeks clearer notice and appeals procedures

Jason Chieseth, Saint Croix County community development director, presented proposed edits to the Board of Adjustment rules at the Aug. 27 meeting, describing a streamlined document intended to remove redundancies and align hearing procedures with county ordinances.

Chieseth said the rules were condensed from a lengthy document: "right now they're about 23 pages long," he told members, adding the rewrite focuses on clarity and procedural efficiency while preserving the board's quasi-judicial independence. Key proposed changes discussed included clarifying member terms and the role of alternate members; striking group site visits from the formal hearing order while permitting individual site visits by members; and tightening application and appeal language to match ordinance timing. Chieseth noted that some items still require statutory notice windows — for example, Riverway and DNR notices — and recommended customizing notice to the application rather than enumerating every agency in the rules.

Board members debated notice timing for towns and agencies (30 versus 45 days), whether the rules should explicitly list agencies to notify (a suggestion met with a preference for a more generic "notify relevant agencies" approach), and adding a provision allowing the chair to reasonably limit public comment time when hearings attract many speakers. Chieseth said the package will go to the Community Development Committee on Sept. 10 and then to the full county board for final approval, with the BOA receiving a copy of the adopted rules.