City Hall
City of La Crosse, Wisconsin
400 La Crosse Street
La Crosse, WI 54601
Meeting Minutes - Final
Board of Zoning Appeals
Monday, December 15, 2025
4:00 PM
Council Chambers
City Hall, First Floor
Call to Order
Chair Cherf called the meeting to order and explained the meeting procedures.
Roll Call
4 - Andrew Sherman, Ben Stepanek, Douglas Farmer,James Cherf
Present:
Variance Appeals:
An appeal regarding the requirement to provide a rear yard setback of 15 feet
at 946 Division Street, La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Andy Berzinski, representing the Building and Inspections Department, was sworn in to
speak. Berzinski reviewed the three requirements to grant a variance: unnecessary
hardship, hardship due to unique property limitations, and no harm to public interest.
He stated that the applicants applied for a permit to construct a new foundation to
move an existing house to a property that does not meet the required minimum rear
yard setback. The proposed dwelling is setback 10 feet 6 inches from the rear yard
property line. Per Municipal Code Sec. 115-148(3) for the Washburn Neighborhood
Residential District, on every lot in the residence district, there shall be a rear yard
having a depth of not less than 20 percent of the depth of the lot, provided such rear
yard need not exceed 30 feet in depth and shall not in any case be less than 15 feet in
depth. A variance of 4 feet 6 inches would need to be granted for this project to
proceed as proposed. Berzinski showed an aerial view of the property, a site plan, a
foundation plan, and street view images of the house and property. Farmer asked for
clarification on the site plans. Berzinski confirmed which lines on the site plan show
the proposed house, setbacks, and property lines. Farmer asked if the house was
placed on the property rotated 90 degrees to face 10th Street South, it would fit the
setback requirements. Berzinski stated he thought that would be correct. Farmer
asked where the house was moved from and Berzinski stated it was from the corner of
Ferry Street and 10th Street South. Berzinski, considering the unnecessary hardship
requirement, stated that this is a self-created hardship as the owner knew the size of
the dwelling that would be moved and did not account for the size of the existing lot.
He stated that the hardship due to unique property limitations is that this is a half lot
and is smaller than most lots in the City. He stated that there is no harm to the public
interest as this would be moving an existing dwelling to a new location.
Kahya Fox, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of the Greater La Crosse
Region, 3181 Berlin Drive, was sworn in to speak. Fox stated that the purpose of
Habitat for Humanity is centered on the idea of affordable housing in the community,
so resources often come from various places. This house was donated by 360 Real