Agritourism venue variance no longer on table

By not bringing a discussion regarding a requested variance off the “table,” members of the Waseca County Board of Adjustment have set back by at least one year plans to have an “agritourism” business at Calonett Venues LLC, just east of Kiesler’s Campground along Old Highway 13.

 

Calonett Venues applied in January for a setback variance that would have been the first permitting matter toward making it possible for owners Walter and Cheryl Mishek to operate a concert and special event venue on the premises. Preliminary plans included setting up a stage with a powerful sound system and hosting gatherings with up to 280 people an average of once a week or so.

 

As is the procedure for nearly all variances, neighbors were notified of the upcoming consideration on the Board of Adjustment (BOA) agenda for its April 9 meeting; some neighbors appeared at the meeting to express concerns regarding noise levels, hours of operation, and more.

 

After hearing concerns, BOA members chose to table consideration of the variance to their next scheduled meeting, May 7. They requested additional information be acquired in the intervening weeks.

 

The Misheks were contacted and asked for numerous pieces of information including potential crowd sizes, intended hours of operation, parking lot capacity, and more, with a requested submission date of April 20. The Misheks responded with a request for an extension, including that the matter be moved to the June meeting to give them more time. The matter remained on the May listing.

 

When BOA members met on May 7, Wilson informed them Roberts Rules of Order stipulate that a board member must speak to bring a tabled item off the table and onto the agenda. If no one takes that initiative, the item is regarded as having failed, in which case it would be one year before the Planning and Zoning department would accept any new variance application from Calonett.

 

As agenda items were addressed during the May 7 meeting, no BOA member spoke to the matter, leading to the one-year delay.