Autumn gone to seed

I was walking out of Gateway Gourmet w/ my latte when Town Supervisor Roger stopped me.  One of the permit requestors the Town Planning Commission had OK'd last week had asked him if they could get started on the foundation before the Town Board gave their official okey-dokey to the permit.  Nights are regularly below freezing now and the ground will soon freeze.  If would be easier to break ground now.  He'd given them a go-ahead and just wanted me to know in case I noticed work had begun before the permit was signed.  There had been no concerns w/ the permit so it seemed like a good call on Roger's part.  "Besides" I smiled, "the board will OK it even if we denied it."  I was referring to the permit the commission had denied but the town board had OK'd recently.  Roger took the comment well and replied, "We deserved that one."  Made a mental note that I had made my point and not to belabor that issue anymore.  I was on my way to the County Seat to the first meeting of the County Board of Adjustment as a newly appointed member - albeit as an alternate member.  Besides the board, the clerks office had sent someone to take the minutes, a County Zoning rep, a DNR rep, and someone from the lawyer firm representing the County.  The land owner presented his case for why he should be allowed to bring in a pre-built shed and put it less than 75' from the high water mark of the lake.  His presentation was complete and concise.  Zoning provided an excellent map of the area w/ lot lines drawn in along w/ where the shed would be located.  Zoning went on to suggest approving the variance.  The DNR merely pointed out that the shed would be within 50 feet of the high water mark and didn't comment on if the variance should be given.   Since the whole board was able to vote on the matter, I wasn't called on as part of the decision making.  This one I'll have to think about.  Personally I don't know why a new shed is a requirement to usage of the land.  Pragmatically, the houses up and down the peninsula are closer to the water than this new shed will be.  Privately, I wonder how the landowners think a fire engine and ambulance will be able to quickly maneuver the one lane private road w/ no setback rules.