For the purpose of administering and enforcing this chapter, the terms or words used herein shall be interpreted as follows: words used in the present tense include the future; words in the singular number include the plural number; and words in the plural number include the singular number. The word "shall" is mandatory, not permissive. All distances unless otherwise specified shall be measured horizontally. Any word not defined below shall be presumed to have its customary dictionary definition.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ACCESS AND VIEWING CORRIDOR
A strip of vegetated land that allows safe pedestrian access to the shore through the vegetative buffer zone.
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE
A structure customarily incidental to another use or structure and on the same lot or parcel as the principal use or structure.
ACCESSORY USE
A use incidental to the principal use of a building. In buildings restricted to residential use, professional home offices, customary home occupations and workshops not conducted for compensation shall be deemed accessory uses.[1]
ACCESS STRIP
Any portion of a parcel that is 66 feet or less in width.
AGRICULTURAL USE [as provided in § 91.01(2), Wis. Stats.]
Beekeeping; commercial feed lots; dairying; egg production; floriculture; fish or fur farming; forest and game management; grazing; livestock raising; orchards; plant greenhouses and nurseries; poultry raising; raising of grain, grass, mint, and seed crops; raising of fruits, nuts, and berries; sod farming; placing land in federal programs in return for payments in kind; owning land, at least 35 acres of which is enrolled in the conservation reserve program under 16 U.S.C. §§ 3831 to 3836; participating in the milk conservation reserve program under 7 U.S.C. § 1446(d); and vegetable raising.
ANIMAL UNIT
One animal unit is equivalent to one cow, steer, horse, swine, llama, alpaca, deer, elk, buffalo and other animals similar by size and weight or two sheep or goats or five dogs, cats or other similar animals or 20 mink, rabbits, chickens, or similar animals. For young stock, divide the type of animals by two to determine animal unit equivalents [for example: two calves divided by two equals one cow (one cow equals one animal unit)].
BOARDINGHOUSE
A building, other than a hotel, restaurant or a community-based residential facility, where meals or lodging is regularly furnished for compensation for three or more persons not members of a family, but not exceeding 12 persons and not open to transient customers.
BOATHOUSE
A permanent structure used for the storage of watercraft and associated materials and includes all structures which are totally enclosed, have roofs or walls or any combination of these structural parts.
BUILDABLE AREA
Land area not encumbered for construction of primary and accessory residential, commercial or industrial structures including on-site sanitary systems. Encumbrances include floodplain, wetland and other unbuildable site conditions.
BUILDING
Any structure, either temporary or permanent, having a roof or other covering and designed or used for the shelter or enclosure of any person, animal, equipment, machinery, materials, or property of any kind.
BUILDING ENVELOPE
The three-dimensional space within which a structure is built.
CAMPGROUND
A. 
Any premises established for overnight habitation by persons using equipment designed for the purpose of temporary camping and for which a fee of any sort is charged or exchanged.
B. 
A contiguous parcel of land upon which three or more recreational vehicles are placed, located or parked.
CAMPING
Temporary recreational occupancy of a parcel for more than 24 hours utilizing a camping unit or recreational vehicle as a means of shelter.
CAMPING UNIT
Includes recreational vehicles; the basic entities are: conventional travel trailer, popup-type camping trailer, truck camper, motor home and tent.
CLINIC
A place where doctors or dentists provide medical or dental care to people on an outpatient basis.
COMMUNITY-BASED RESIDENTIAL FACILITY (CBRF)
A place where three or more unrelated adults reside in which care, treatment or services above the level of room and board are provided to persons residing in the facility, but not including nursing home.
CORNER LOT
A lot abutting two or more streets at their intersection where the interior angle formed by the street intersection is less than 135°. Any such lot shall be considered to have two front yards.
COUNTY ZONING AGENCY
The Planning and Zoning Committee created by the County Board under § 59.69(2)(a), Wis. Stats., to act in all designated matters pertaining to County planning and zoning.
CRITICAL HABITAT
Areas of aquatic vegetation identified as offering critical or unique fish and wildlife habitat or offering water quality or erosion control benefits to the body of water.
DAY-CARE CENTER
A licensed facility where a person, other than relative or guardian, provides care and supervision for four or more children under seven years of age, for less than 24 hours a day and for compensation.
DEPARTMENT
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
DISTRICT
A part or parts of the County for which the regulations of this chapter are uniform.
DOMESTIC ANIMAL
Any animal typically or atypically kept as a pet not for harvest of any sort.
DRAINAGE SYSTEM
One or more artificial ditches, tile drains or similar devices which collect surface runoff or groundwater and convey it to a point of discharge.
DRIVE-IN ESTABLISHMENT
A business establishment whose principal retail or service character depends upon providing a driveway approach or motor vehicle parking space to serve patrons while in their motor vehicles or to permit in-vehicle consumption of food or beverage obtained from the business establishment by the patron.
DUPLEX/TWO-FAMILY DWELLING
A detached structure containing two separate living units and designed for occupancy by not more than two families is a two-family dwelling.
EFFECTIVE DATE
The date this chapter became effective in the particular town.
EROSION CONTROL DEVICE/STRUCTURE
Any material placed at a slope of 2:1 or flatter intended to retard or eliminate the movement of soil resulting from the overland flow of water.
ESSENTIAL SERVICES
Services provided by public and private utilities, necessary for the exercise of a principal use or service of the principal structure. These services include underground, surface, or overhead gas, electrical, steam, water, sanitary sewerage, stormwater drainage, and communication systems. Accessories, such as poles, towers, wires, mains, drains, vaults, culverts, laterals, sewers, pipes, catch basins, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, pumps, lift stations, and hydrants, but not including buildings greater than 150 square feet in area, are also included.
EXISTING DEVELOPMENT PATTERN
Principal structures exist within 250 feet of a proposed principal structure in both directions along the shoreline.
FENCE
A barrier made of wood, iron, stone, or other materials.
FLOODPLAIN
That land which has been or may be hereafter covered by floodwater during the regional flood, as indicated by Chapter 370, Floodplain Zoning, of the County Code. The floodplain includes the floodway and the flood-fringe as those terms are defined in Ch. NR 116, Wis. Adm. Code.
GENERALLY ACCEPTED FORESTRY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Forestry management practices that promote sound management of a forest. Generally accepted forestry management practices include those practices contained in the most recent version of the Department publication known as "Wisconsin Forest Management Guidelines" and identified as PUB FR-226.
HAND TOOL
An unpowered tool; a device for doing a particular job that does not use a motor, but is powered solely by the person using it.
HEIGHT OF A STRUCTURE
The average height measurement of all existing adjacent grade.
HIGHWAY - CLASS A
All state and federal highways.
HIGHWAY - CLASS B
All County trunks.
HIGHWAY - CLASS C
All town roads, public streets and highways not otherwise classified.
HOME OCCUPATION
Any occupation for gain or support conducted entirely within a residential structure by its occupant. The use is incidental to the principal use of the premises, does not exceed 20% of the total floor area, employs no more than one nonresident employee, uses only household equipment, and does not keep or sell stock-in-trade except that made on the premises. A home occupation includes uses such as, but not limited to, baby-sitting, millinery, dressmaking, canning, laundering, music teaching to not more than two pupils at one time, and crafts, but does not include the display of any goods visible from the street nor such use as barber or beauty shops, dance schools, real estate brokerage, or photographic studios.
HOTEL
A structure designed, used, or offered for residential occupancy for any period less than one month, including tourist homes and motels but not including hospitals or nursing homes.
IMPERVIOUS SURFACE
An area that releases as runoff all or a majority of the precipitation that falls on it. "Impervious surface" excludes frozen soil but includes rooftops, sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, and streets unless specifically designed, constructed, and maintained to be pervious. Roadways as defined in § 340.01(54), Wis. Stats., or sidewalks as defined in § 340.01(58), Wis. Stats., are not considered impervious surfaces.
INCONSPICUOUSLY COLORED
Not readily noticeable or prominent.
JUNKYARD
An area consisting of buildings, structures, or premises where junk waste or discarded or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, stored, baled, packed, disassembled, or handled, including house wrecking and structural steel materials, and equipment yards, but not including auto salvage yards.
KENNEL
Any activity involving the permanent or temporary keeping or treatment of a greater number of animals of any type than permitted in any district.
LAGOON
An artificial enlargement of a waterway.
LIVESTOCK
Any horse, bovine, sheep, llama or other ruminants, goat, pig or domestic fowl or other animal whether or not raised for harvest of any sort, including fur-bearing animals and game fowl raised in captivity.
LOT
A parcel of land having frontage on a public street, occupied or intended to be occupied by a principal structure or use and sufficient in size to meet the lot width, lot frontage, lot area, yard, parking area, and other open space provisions of this chapter.
LOT AREA
The total area within the lot lines of the lot or parcel, except that any portion of a lot less than 33 feet wide shall not be used in computing lot area.
LOT LINE
A line marking a boundary of a lot or parcel of land.
LOT LINE, FRONT
A line dividing a lot from any public highway or street, except a limited or controlled access highway to which the lot has no access.[2]
LOT LINE, REAR
A lot line which is located opposite of a front lot line and which is not a front lot line.
LOT LINE, SIDE
Any lot line which is not a front or a rear lot line.
MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR
Includes such activities as interior remodeling, painting, decorating, paneling, plumbing, insulation, and replacement of windows, doors, wiring, siding, roof and other nonstructural components, and the repair of cracks in foundations, sidewalks, and walkways and the application of waterproof coatings to foundations.
MANUFACTURED HOME
A HUD-inspected factory-constructed portable dwelling unit assembled on or after June 15, 1976, and having a minimum width of 14 feet and a minimum 720 square feet of living area and having an overall length in excess of 45 feet designed to be towed on its chassis (comprised of frame and wheels) as a single unit or in sections upon a highway by a motor vehicle and equipped and used or intended to be used for residential occupancy and designed to be connected to utilities; excluding, however, recreational vehicles.
MANUFACTURED HOME LOT
A designated parcel of land in a manufactured home park designed for the long-term accommodation of one manufactured home, its accessory buildings or structures, and accessory equipment for the exclusive use of the occupants.[3]
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK
A contiguous parcel of land upon which two or more manufactured homes are placed, located or parked.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK ACCESSORY BUILDING OR STRUCTURE
A building or structure which is in addition to or supplements the facilities provided a manufactured home. It is not a self-contained, separate, habitable building or structure. Examples are awnings, cabanas, ramadas, storage structures, carports, fences, windbreaks, or porches.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK MANAGEMENT
The person who owns or has charge, care, or control of the manufactured home park.[4]
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK STORAGE STRUCTURE
A structure located in a manufactured home park which is designed and used solely for the storage and use of personal equipment and possessions of the manufactured home occupants.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK STREET
A private way which affords principal means of access to individual manufactured home or recreational vehicle lots or auxiliary buildings.
MEANDER LINE
A usually irregular surveyed line following the outline of a body of water that is used to measure abutting property and is not a boundary line.
MITIGATION
Balancing measures that are designed, implemented and function to restore natural functions and values that are otherwise lost through development and human activities.
MOBILE HOME
A portable dwelling unit constructed prior to June 15, 1976, having an overall length in excess of 27 feet or a body width of more than eight feet designed to be towed on its own chassis (comprised of frame and wheels) as a single unit upon a highway by a motor vehicle and equipped and used or intended to be used for residential occupancy and designed to be connected to utilities; excluding, however, recreational vehicles. Any such vehicle or structure shall be deemed a mobile home whether or not the frame and/or wheels have been removed therefrom and whether or not resting upon a temporary or permanent foundation. Such units brought into Adams County after adoption of this amendment shall meet the factory inspection standards of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which became effective June 15, 1976, and have a livable floor area width of no less than 14 feet as originally inspected and certified by HUD.
MULTIPLE-FAMILY DWELLING
A residential structure designed for or occupied by three or more families. The number of families in residence may not exceed the number of dwelling units provided.
NAVIGABLE WATERS
Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, all natural inland lakes within Wisconsin and all streams, ponds, sloughs, flowages and other waters within the territorial limits of this state, including the Wisconsin portion of boundary waters, which are navigable under the laws of this state. Under § 281.31(2)(d), Wis. Stats., notwithstanding any other provision of law or administrative rule promulgated thereunder, shoreland ordinances required under § 59.692, Wis. Stats., and Ch. NR 115, Wis. Adm. Code, do not apply to lands adjacent to:
A. 
Farm drainage ditches where such lands are not adjacent to a natural navigable stream or river and such lands were not navigable streams before ditching; and
B. 
Artificially constructed drainage ditches, ponds or stormwater retention basins that are not hydrologically connected to a natural navigable water body.
NOTE: Wisconsin's Supreme Court has declared navigable bodies of water that have a bed differentiated from adjacent uplands and levels of flow sufficient to support navigation by a recreational craft of the shallowest draft on an annually recurring basis [Muench v. Public Service Service Commission, 261 Wis. 2d 492 (1952), and DeGaynor and Co., Inc. v. Department of Natural Resources, 70 Wis. 2d 936 (1975)]. For example, a stream which is navigable by a skiff or canoe during normal spring high water is navigable, in fact, under the laws of this state though it may be dry during other seasons.
NONCONFORMING USES, LOTS OR STRUCTURES
Those which do not conform to a provision or requirement of this chapter but which were lawfully established prior to the effective date of this chapter or of an amendment to this chapter. A use that does not conform to the use regulations of the district in which it is located is a nonconforming use. Any structure conforming in respect to use but not in respect to frontage, width, height, area, yard, parking, loading, or setback requirements is a nonconforming structure and not a nonconforming use. A lot of record that does not conform to the minimum lot width or area requirements of the district in which it is located is a nonconforming lot.[5]
NUISANCE
A. 
An unreasonable activity or use of property that interferes substantially with the comfortable enjoyment of life, health, or safety of others.
B. 
A substance or condition that is known to have the potential to cause acute or chronic illness or death if exposure to the substance, activity or condition is not abated.
NURSING HOME
A place which provides twenty-four-hour services including board and room to three or more unrelated residents who because of their mental or physical condition require nursing care or personal care in excess of seven hours a week, unless the facility has been designated as a community-based residential facility.
ORDINARY HIGH-WATER MARK
The point on the bank or shore up to which the presence and action of surface water is so continuous as to leave a distinctive mark such as by erosion, destruction or prevention of terrestrial vegetation, predominance of aquatic vegetation or other easily recognized characteristics.
PARK MODEL TRAILER
Recreation vehicles primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreation, camping or seasonal use. They are built on a single chassis, mounted on wheels and have a gross trailer area not exceeding 400 square feet in the setup mode. Two different types of park model trailers are offered. One type is less than eight feet six inches in width and is designed for frequent travel on highways while the other and more popular type is wider than eight feet (usually 12 feet in width) and must be transported with special movement permits from the State Department of Transportation. Park model trailers are allowed only in licensed campgrounds.[6]
PARTIES IN INTEREST
Include all abutting property owners and all property owners within 300 feet of the subject property boundary.
PATIO
A flat exterior-constructed surface, no higher than six inches above original grade, made of concrete, wood, brick or a combination thereof. A patio shall not include affixed appendages, such as benches, tables, walls, roofs or any other structural component, which extend above the six-inch height limitation. Railings are permitted only where required by safety concerns.
PROFESSIONAL HOME OFFICES
Residences used to conduct the professions of doctors of medicine, dentists, nurse practitioners, clergymen, architects, landscape architects, professional engineers, professional land surveyors, lawyers, artists, teachers, authors, musicians, or other recognized professions. The office shall not exceed 20% of the total floor area of any one story of the residence and only one nonresident person may be employed.[7]
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
A vehicle having an overall length of 45 feet or less and a body width of eight feet or less primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use, which either has its own motive power or is mounted on or drawn by another vehicle. The basic entities are: travel trailer, camping trailer, truck camper and motor home.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARK
A contiguous parcel of land upon which three or more recreational vehicles are placed, located or parked.
REGIONAL FLOOD
A flood determined to be representative of large floods known to have generally occurred in Wisconsin and which may be expected to occur on a particular stream because of like physical characteristics once in every 100 years.
RETAINING WALL
Any material intended to stabilize the soil and placed at a slope steeper than 2:1.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
The recorded strip of land over which highways and railroads are constructed which includes the actual traveled way, ditches and keep-clear areas.
ROUTINE MAINTENANCE OF VEGETATION
Normally accepted horticultural practices, including mowing, that do not result in the loss of any existing vegetation and do not require earth disturbance.
SAFETY CONCERNS
Circumstances or conditions presenting significant risk to human welfare.
SALVAGE YARD
Any place which is owned, maintained, operated or used for storing, keeping, processing, buying or selling junk vehicles or vehicle parts, including vehicle graveyards, vehicle wrecking yards, vehicle recycling yards, used vehicle parts yards and temporary storage of vehicle bodies or parts awaiting disposal as a normal part of a business operation when the business will continually have like materials located on the premises. Keeping or storing of two or more unlicensed or unregistered, as appropriate, vehicles on a single parcel of land shall be considered a vehicle salvage yard.
SELF-CONTAINED RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
A recreational vehicle manufactured with water supply and sewage holding tanks which are an integral part of the recreational vehicle.
SETBACK
The minimum horizontal distance from the center line of a highway or its right-of-way line, the ordinary high-water mark of a navigable water or a lot line to the nearest part of a structure, measured at right angles to the center line, right-of-way line, ordinary high-water mark or lot line.
SHORELAND ORDINANCE/SHORELAND ZONING ORDINANCE
The Adams County Shoreland, Wetland and Habitat Protection Ordinance.
SHORELANDS
Lands within the following distances from the ordinary high-water mark of navigable waters: 1,000 feet from a lake, pond or flowage and 300 feet from a river or stream or to the landward side of the floodplain, whichever is greater, and other areas as defined in § 396-4.
SHORELAND SETBACK
An area in a shoreland that is within a certain distance of the ordinary high-water mark in which the construction or placement of buildings or structures has been limited or prohibited under an ordinance enacted under § 59.692, Wis. Stats.
SIGN
Any words, letters, figures, numerals, phrases, sentences, emblems, devices, designs, trade names, or trademarks by which anything is made known, which are used to advertise or promote an individual, firm, association, corporation, profession, business, commodity, or product, and which are visible from any public street or highway.
A. 
AWNING SIGNA sign affixed flat to the surface of an awning and not extending beyond the limits of the awning.
B. 
GROUND SIGNA sign attached to the ground independent of any buildings.
C. 
PORTABLE SIGNA sign which is not designed to be permanently attached to the ground or a building.
D. 
PROJECTING SIGNA sign other than a wall or roof sign, attached to or supported by a building or structure and projecting more than 12 inches from the face of the building or structure.
E. 
ROOF SIGNA sign erected on or over the roof of a building.
F. 
WALL SIGNA sign which is attached to a wall of a building and projects not more than 12 inches from such wall and does not extend above the ceiling line of the top floor of the building.
G. 
WINDOW SIGNA sign painted or affixed to a window.
SILVICULTURE
The art by which forests are tended, developed, harvested and regenerated using various management options.
SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLING
A detached structure designed for and exclusively occupied by one family and containing a minimum width of at least 24 feet and 720 square feet of minimum livable floor area, with at least one portion able to contain a square 24 feet on a side. Single-family dwellings include manufactured dwellings, conventional site-constructed dwellings, site-assembled panel constructed dwellings and sectional manufactured homes. Single-family dwellings do not include rooming or boarding houses, community-based residential facilities, fraternity or sorority homes, or similar uses, or mobile homes or nonsectional manufactured homes.
SPECIAL EXCEPTION (CONDITIONAL USE)
A use which is permitted by this chapter provided that certain conditions specified in this chapter are met and that a permit is granted by the Board of Adjustment or, where appropriate, the Planning and Zoning Committee or the County Board.
SPECIAL ZONING PERMISSION
The issuance of a conditional zoning permit; other permits may also be required.
STREET
A public right-of-way providing access to abutting properties.
STRUCTURAL ALTERATION
The altering or modifying of any structural support system or component.
STRUCTURE
A principal structure or any accessory structure, including a garage, shed, boathouse, sidewalk, walkway, patio, deck, retaining wall, porch or fire pit.
TEMPORARY RENT OR LEASE
The renting or leasing of residential property for a period of 30 continuous days or less.
UNNECESSARY HARDSHIP
A circumstance where special conditions, which were not self-created, affect a particular property and make strict conformity with restrictions governing area, setbacks, frontage, height or density unnecessarily burdensome or unreasonable in light of the purposes of this chapter. [See also § 396-85B(4) of this chapter.]
USE CONSISTENT WITH AGRICULTURAL USE
Any activity that meets all of the following conditions:
A. 
The activity will not convert land that has been devoted primarily to agricultural use.
B. 
The activity will not limit the surrounding land's potential for agricultural use.
C. 
The activity will not conflict with agricultural operations on the land subject to a farmland preservation agreement.
D. 
The activity will not conflict with agricultural operations on other properties.
UTILITIES
Include public and private utility uses such as water wells, water and sewage pumping stations, water storage tanks, power and communication transmission lines, booster stations, electrical power substations, static transformer stations, telephone and telegraph exchanges, microwave radio relays, and gas regulation stations, but not including wastewater treatment plants or municipal incinerators, warehouses, shops, and storage yards.
VARIANCE
An authorization granted by the Board of Adjustment to construct, alter or use a building or structure in a manner that deviates from the requirements of this chapter.
VEHICLE
A self-propelled mode of transportation; basic entities include but are not necessarily limited to automobile, truck, van, motor home, motorcycle, boat, all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and snowmobile.
WATERFRONT MINIMUM WIDTH
Lot width as measured in a straight line from the points of intersection of the ordinary high-water mark and the lot lines.
WETLANDS
Those areas where water is at, near or above the land surface long enough to be capable of supporting aquatic or hydrophytic vegetation and which have soils indicative of wet conditions.
YARD
An open space which is unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except for vegetation, and is on the same lot or parcel with a structure. The front and rear yards extend the full width of the lot.
YARD, FRONT
A front yard extends across the full width of the lot, the depth of which is measured at right angles from the existing or proposed street or highway right-of-way line to the nearest point of the principal structure.
YARD, REAR
The yard extending across the full width of the lot whose depth is measured from the rear lot line to the nearest point of the principal structure. This yard shall be opposite the front yard or one of the front yards on a corner lot.
YARD, SIDE
A side yard is one whose depth is measured from the side lot line to the nearest point of the principal structure.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
[2]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
[3]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
[4]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
[5]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
[6]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
[7]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).