Fairmont drops bid to allow shoreline patio after Minnesota regulators sue

There will be no new patio perched on the shore of Hall Lake in Fairmont, Minn.

The southern Minnesota city dropped its attempt to let a bar and restaurant build a lake-front patio and deck after state regulators took the rare step of suing the City Council for ignoring its own shoreline development rules.

Rather than fight the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in court, the city agreed to withdraw the variance that would have allowed trees to be cleared, earth to be moved and the patio to be built.

"The city responded to the DNR's concerns and that's been resolved," said Jeff O'Neill, interim city administrator.

Both sides agreed to pay their own court costs.

The spat began in 2021, when the owner of Ambiance on Albion Taphouse and Grille asked for an exception to the city's shoreline development rules. The restaurant sits across a two-lane road from the eastern edge of Hall Lake, the largest in a chain of lakes that the city of 10,000 was built around. A narrow and steep stretch of tree-lined land lies between the lake and the road. A flight of steps leads down a bluff to a small dock on the property.

The city's shoreline rules ban the construction of any new structures within 50 feet of the lake's high water line and 30 feet from the top of any bluff, with few exceptions. The proposed patio would have been built at the water line, hanging over the lake and well within 30 feet of the top of the bluff.

In December 2021, the zoning board unanimously rejected the restaurant's request after city staff and the DNR objected to it, saying the project failed to meet any of the criteria needed for an exception to the rules. There were no special or unique differences between the restaurant's shoreline and other property owners around the lake, the board found. Tree removal and the increased potential for erosion or failure of the bluff would impair the welfare of other residents, it ruled.

The restaurant appealed the decision to the City Council. In April 2022, the council voted 3-2 to grant the variance despite a DNR official warning council members at the time that the agency might sue if they went through with it.

The lawsuit was filed in the spring.

The Minnesota DNR is satisfied with the outcome, Erik Evans, an agency spokesman, said.

It means the public waters involved in this matter will continue to be protected by the city's shoreline rules, he said.

Restaurant owner Troy Menke didn't return phone calls seeking comment. Court records show he was notified about the city's decision to settle the case.