For the purpose of this chapter, certain words or phrases shall
have meanings that either vary somewhat from their customary dictionary
meanings or are intended to be interpreted to have a specific meaning.
Words used in the present tense include the future. The word "person"
includes a firm, association, partnership, trust, company, or corporation
as well as an individual. The word "shall" is mandatory, the word
"should" is advisory, and the word "may" is permissive. Any words
not defined in this article shall be presumed to have their customary
dictionary definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A use or structure customarily incidental to another use
or structure and on the same lot or parcel as the principal use or
structure.
Any portion of a parcel that is 33 feet or less in width.
As provided in § 91.01(2), Wis. Stats., any of
the following:
Any of the following activities conducted for the purpose of
producing an income or livelihood:
Crop or forage production.
Keeping livestock.
Beekeeping.
Nursery, sod, or Christmas tree production.
Floriculture.
Aquaculture.
Fur farming.
Forest management.
Enrolling land in a federal agricultural commodity payment program
or a federal or state agricultural land conservation payment program.
Any other use that the Department of Agriculture, Trade and
Consumer Protection, by rule, identifies as an agricultural use.
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 and 5,000
pounds of fish. 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)].
That portion of a dwelling below the first floor or ground
floor with its entire floor below average grade, including walkout
basements.
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.
Any structure designed for the purpose of protecting or storing
boats for noncommercial purposes. Boathouses do not involve human
habitation.
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.
A contiguous parcel of land upon which three or more recreational
vehicles are placed, located or parked.
Temporary recreational occupancy of a parcel for more than
24 hours utilizing a camping unit or recreational vehicle as a means
of shelter.
Includes recreational vehicles. The basic entities are: conventional
travel trailer, popup-type camping trailer, truck camper, motor home
and tent.
A lot on, or structure in, which motor vehicles are washed
or waxed, either by a patron or by others, using equipment or machinery
specially designed for the purpose.
All state and federal highways.
All County trunks.
All town roads, public streets and highways not otherwise
classified.
A place where doctors or dentists provide medical or dental
care to people on an outpatient basis.
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.
Uses which, because of their unique characteristics, cannot
be properly classified in any particular district or districts without
consideration in each case of the impact of these uses upon neighboring
land and of the public need for the particular uses in the particular
location.
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.
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.
A part or parts of the County for which the regulations of
this chapter are uniform.
Any animal typically or atypically kept as a pet not for
harvest of any sort.
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.
The date this chapter became effective in the particular
town.
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.
All land under common ownership primarily devoted to agricultural
use.
The combination of two or more farms to create a smaller
number of farms.
A business operated by the owner or operator, or resident
family member of the owner or operator, of a farm, that is not associated
with an agricultural use, that requires no buildings, structures,
or improvements other than those described in § 91.01(1)(a)
or (c), Wis. Stats., that employs no more than four full-time nonfamily
employees annually, and that does not impair or limit the current
or future agricultural use of the farm or of other protected farmland.
A single-family or duplex residence that is the only residential
structure on the farm or is occupied by any of the following:
A lot or facility used or proposed to be used for the confined
feeding or holding of animals, exceeding 25 animal units per acre,
for 30 or more continuous days per year on a twenty-four-hour per
day basis.
A barrier made of wood, iron, stone, or other materials.
The smallest dimension of a lot abutting a public street
measured along the street right-of-way line.
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.
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.
Any animal raised or held in captivity that is typically
raised for the purpose of harvesting the pelt, whether or not it is
the intent to harvest the particular pelt(s).
A structure, including carports, primarily intended and used
for the enclosed storage or shelter of the private motor vehicles
of the resident families.
Any garage other than a private garage.
The vertical distance from the highest point of a structure,
excepting any chimney or antenna on a building, to the average ground
level where the walls or other structural elements intersect the ground.
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.
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.
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.
Any activity involving the permanent or temporary keeping
or treatment of a greater number of domestic/pet animals than permitted
in any residential zoning district.
Any horse, bovine, sheep, llama or other ruminants, goat,
pig or domestic fowl, fish or other animal whether or not raised for
harvest of any sort, including fur-bearing animals and game fowl raised
in captivity.
An off-street space, on the same lot with the building or
group of buildings it serves, for the temporary parking of a commercial
vehicle while loading or unloading merchandise or materials.
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.
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.
A line marking a boundary of a lot.
A structure that is designed to be used as a dwelling with
or without a permanent foundation and that is certified by the Federal
Department of Housing and Urban Development as complying with the
standards established under 42 U.S.C. §§ 5401 to 5424,
and includes any additions, annexes, foundations and appurtenances.
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. It must be built to the
Federal HUD Code (24 CFR Part 3280). It must be installed in accordance
with Wisconsin Administrative Code, § 321.40. Beginning
6-19-2018, the following manufactured home requirements shall apply:
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.
A contiguous parcel of land upon which two or more manufactured
homes are placed, located or parked.
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.
The person who owns or has charge, care, or control of the
manufactured home park.
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.
A private way which affords principal means of access to
individual manufactured home or recreational vehicle lots or auxiliary
buildings.
Beginning 6-19-2018, mobile homes will no longer be allowed
to be placed. 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.
Any structure or component thereof which is intended for
use as a dwelling and:
Is of closed construction and fabricated or assembled on site
or off site in manufacturing facilities for installation, connection,
or assembly and installation at the building site; or
Is a building of open construction which is made or assembled
in manufacturing facilities away from the building site for installation,
connection, or assembly and installation on the building site and
for which certification is sought by the manufacturer.
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.
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.
An unreasonable activity or use of property that interferes
substantially with the comfortable enjoyment of life, health, or safety
of others.
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.
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.
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.
A structure or premises containing parking spaces open to
the public.
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. They require registration,
tags and insurance. 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 typically commercially
constructed, and the manufacturer certifies them compliant with ANSI
A119.5 standards for recreational park trailers. Park model trailers
are allowed only in licensed campgrounds.
Include all abutting property owners and all property owners
within 300 feet of the subject property boundary.
An area set aside, developed, and landscaped for sedentary
activities, hiking, walking, driving for pleasure, sightseeing nature
walks, fishing, and similar activities.
The floor area of a building for purposes of determining
required parking ratios, which area shall include only that portion
of the total floor area devoted to customer service, sales, and office
space and shall not include storage, utility, hallway, and other accessory
space which does not generate parking demand.
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.
A lot line which is located opposite of a front lot line
and which is not a front lot line.
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.
A contiguous parcel of land upon which three or more recreational
vehicles are placed, located or parked.
A recreational vehicle manufactured with water supply and
sewage holding tanks which are an integral part of the recreational
vehicle and having an overall length of 45 feet or less and a body
width of eight feet six inches 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: conventional travel trailer, popup-type camping
trailer, truck camper and motor home.
The sale of goods to end users, not for resale, but for use
and consumption by the purchaser.
The recorded strip of land over which highways and railroads
are constructed which includes the actual traveled way, ditches and
keep-clear areas.
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.
The required distance between a structure and any lot line
for the lot on which it is located.
Any lot line which is not a front or a rear lot line.
One whose depth is measured from the side lot line to the
nearest point of the principal structure.
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 detached structure designed for and exclusively occupied
by one family and containing a minimum of 720 square feet of 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 nonsectional
manufactured homes.
A public right-of-way providing access to abutting properties.
Any changes in the supporting members of a structure, such
as foundations, bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders.
Any erection or construction, such as buildings, building
additions and appurtenances, towers, masts, poles, fences, booms,
signs, decorations, machinery, equipment and ponds.
50% or more of the project is complete.
The renting or leasing of residential property for a period
of 30 continuous days or less.
A portable shelter structure built on a single chassis, mounted
on wheels and allowed to be transported on public roadways. No vehicle
registration, tags or insurance is required. Tiny homes are often
noncommercially constructed. Tiny homes are allowed only in licensed
campgrounds.
The gross floor area of a building, enclosed by walls and
roof, including all floor levels including the basement except for
crawl space floor.
A detached structure containing two separate living units
and designed for occupancy by not more than two families.
Any activity that meets all of the following conditions:
The activity will not convert land that has been devoted primarily
to agricultural use.
The activity will not limit the surrounding land's potential
for agricultural use.
The activity will not conflict with agricultural operations
on the land subject to a farmland preservation agreement.
The activity will not conflict with agricultural operations
on other properties.
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.
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.
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.
