For the purpose of administering and enforcing this chapter, the terms or words used herein shall be interpreted as follows:
A. 
Words used in the present tense include the future.
B. 
Words in the singular number include the plural number.
C. 
Words in the plural number include the singular number.
D. 
The word "shall" is mandatory, not permissive.
E. 
The word "building" includes the word "structure."
F. 
All distances, unless otherwise specified, shall be measured horizontally.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ACCESSORY BUILDING, STRUCTURE OR USE
A detached subordinate building, portion of a building, structure, or a use which is clearly incidental to and customarily found in connection with, the principal structure or use to which it is related and which is located on the same lot as that of the permitted principal structure or use.
AGRICULTURAL USE
Agricultural uses include farming, dairying, pasturage, agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, and animal and poultry husbandry, and the necessary accessory uses for packing, treating, or storing the produce; provided, however, that the operation of any such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of the normal agricultural activities.
ALLEY
A street or thoroughfare affording only secondary access to abutting property.
BASEMENT
That portion of any structure located partly below the average adjoining lot grade.
BED-AND-BREAKFAST AGENT
The person designated by the owner as the person in charge of such establishment and whose identity shall be filed, in writing, with the zoning official at least five days prior to a designated agent taking charge.
BED-AND-BREAKFAST ESTABLISHMENT
Any place of lodging that satisfies all of the following:
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
A. 
Provides eight or fewer rooms for rent to no more than a total of 20 tourists or transients.
B. 
Provides no meals other than breakfast and provides the breakfast only to renters of the place.
C. 
Is the owner’s personal residence.
D. 
Is occupied by the owner at a time of rental.
E. 
Was originally built and occupied as a single-family residence or, prior to use as a place of lodging, was converted to use occupied as a single-family residence.
BOATHOUSE
As defined in § 30.01(1d), Wis. Stats., means a structure with one or more walls or sides that has been used for one or more years for the storage of watercraft and associated materials, regardless of the current use of the structure.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
BUILDING
Any structure used, designed, or intended for the protection, shelter, enclosure or support of persons or property.
BUILDING, HEIGHT OF
The vertical distance from the average curb level in front of the lot or the finished grade at the building line, whichever is higher, to the highest point of the roof.
BULKHEAD LINE
A geographic line along a reach of navigable water that has been adopted by a municipal ordinance and approved by the Department of Natural Resources pursuant to § 30.11, Wis. Stats., and which allows limited filling between this bulkhead line and the original ordinary high-water mark, except where such filling is prohibited by the floodway provisions of this chapter and Chapters 546 and 559 of this Code.
CAMPER
Any vehicle designed, used, or so constructed as to permit its being used as a conveyance upon the public streets or highways and constructed in such a manner that will permit occupancy thereof as a residence or sleeping place for one or more persons.
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
A certification issued by the Zoning Administrator stating that the construction and the use of land or a building, the elevation of fill or the lowest floor of a structure is in compliance with all of the provisions of this chapter and Chapters 546 and 559 of this Code.
CHANNEL
A natural or artificial watercourse with definite bed and banks to confine and conduct the normal flow of water.
CLASS 1 PUBLIC NOTICE
Publication of a public hearing notice under Chapter 985, Wis. Stats., in a newspaper of circulation in the affected area; publication being required for one week at least seven days prior to the hearing.
CLASS 2 PUBLIC NOTICE
Publication of a public hearing notice under Chapter 985, Wis. Stats., in a newspaper of circulation in the affected area; publication being required on two consecutive weeks, the last at least seven days prior to the hearing.
CONDITIONAL USE
A use of land, water, or building which is allowable only after the issuance of a special permit by the Plan Commission under conditions specified in the Village Ordinance.
CORNER LOT
A lot abutting two or more streets at their intersection.
CRAWLWAYS or CRAWL SPACE
An enclosed area below the first usable floor of a building, generally less than five feet in height, used for limited access to plumbing and electrical utilities.
DAY CARE
Family day care: A place where regular day care is provided to not more than eight children and is licensed pursuant to Chapter 48, Wis. Stats. Group day care: A place where regular day care is provided to nine or more children and is licensed pursuant to Chapter 48, Wis. Stats.
DENSITY
Number of living units per acre allowable under the schedule of district regulations.
DEPARTMENT
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
DETACHED STRUCTURE
A structure surrounded by open space on the same lot.
DEVELOPMENT
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, the construction of buildings, structures or accessory structures; the construction of additions or substantial alterations to buildings, structures or accessory structures; the placement of buildings or structures; ditching, lagooning, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations; and the deposition or extraction of earthen materials.
DRAINAGE SYSTEM
One or more artificial ditches, tile drains, pipes, or similar devices which collect surface runoff or groundwater and convey it to a point of discharge.
DRY LAND ACCESS
A vehicular access route which is above the regional flood elevation and which connects land located in the floodplain to land outside the floodplain, such as a road with its surface above regional flood elevation and wide enough for wheeled rescue and relief vehicles.
DWELLING, MULTIFAMILY
A building or portion thereof designed for and occupied by two or more families.
DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY
A detached building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family. Excludes mobile home units.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
A building or portion thereof designed for and occupied by two families.
ENCROACHMENT
Any fill, structure, building, use or development in the floodway.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL FACILITY
Any facility, temporary or permanent, which is reasonably expected to abate, reduce or aid in the prevention, measurement, control or monitoring of noises, air or water pollutants, solid waste and thermal pollution, radiation or other pollutants, including facilities installed principally to supplement or to replace existing property or equipment not meeting or allegedly not meeting acceptable pollution control standards or which are to be supplemented or replaced by other pollution control facilities.
FAMILY
A group of persons related by blood or marriage or not to exceed four persons not so related, living together in one dwelling as a single housekeeping entity.
FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA)
The federal agency that administers the National Flood Insurance Program. This agency was previously known as the "Federal Insurance Administration (FIA)" or the "Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)."
FIXED HOUSEBOAT
Defined in § 30.01(1r), Wis. Stats., it is a structure not actually used for navigation which extends beyond the ordinary high-water mark of a navigable waterway and is retained in place either by cables to the shoreline or by anchors or spudpoles attached to the bed of the waterway.
FLOOD FREQUENCY
The probability of a flood occurrence. A flood frequency is generally determined from statistical analyses. The frequency of a particular flood event is usually expressed as occurring, on the average, once in a specified number of years or as a percent chance of occurring in any given year.
FLOOD FRINGE
That portion of the floodplain outside of the floodway which is covered by floodwaters during the regional flood, and generally associated with standing water rather than flowing water.
FLOOD HAZARD BOUNDARY MAP
A map prepared by FEMA designating approximate flood hazard areas. Flood hazard areas are designated as unnumbered A Zones and do not contain floodway lines or regional flood elevations. Said map forms the basis for both the regulatory and insurance aspects of the National Flood Insurance Program.
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY
A technical engineering examination, evaluation and determination of the municipal flood hazard areas. It provides maps designating those areas affected by the regional flood and provides both flood insurance rate zones and regional flood elevations and may provide floodway lines. The flood hazard areas are designated as unnumbered and numbered A Zones. Flood Insurance Study Maps form the basis for both the regulatory and the insurance aspects of the National Flood Insurance Program.
FLOOD or FLOODING
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas caused by:
A. 
The overflow or rise of inland waters;
B. 
The rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source;
C. 
The inundation caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels along the shore of Lake Michigan or Lake Superior; and
D. 
The sudden increase caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water, accompanied by a severe storm, or by an unanticipated force of nature, such as a seiche, or by some similarly unusual event.
FLOOD PROFILE
A graph or a longitudinal profile line showing the relationship of the water surface elevation of a flood event to locations of land surface elevations along a stream or river.
FLOODPROOFING
Any combination of structural provisions, changes or adjustments to properties and structures, water and sanitary facilities and contents of buildings subject to flooding for the purpose of reducing or eliminating flood damage.
FLOOD PROTECTION ELEVATION
An elevation two feet of freeboard above the water surface profile associated with the regional flood. (See also "freeboard.")
FLOOD STORAGE
Those floodplain areas where storage of floodwaters has been taken into account in reducing the regional flood discharge.
FLOODPLAIN
That land which has been or may be hereafter covered by floodwater during the regional flood. The floodplain includes the floodway and the flood fringe and may include other designated floodplain areas for regulatory purposes.
FLOODPLAIN ISLAND
A natural geologic land formation within the floodplain that is surrounded, but not covered, by floodwater during the regional flood.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT
The full range of public policy and action for ensuring wise use of floodplains. It includes everything from the collection and dissemination of flood data to the acquisition of floodplain lands and the enactment and administration of codes, ordinances and statutes for land use in the floodplain.
FLOODWAY
The channel of a stream and such adjacent portions of the floodplain as are required to accommodate flood flows.
FLOOR AREA
Area in square feet of all floors in all buildings, including elevators and stairways. Measured from outside of exterior wall to outside of exterior wall and multiplied by the number of floors. Includes basements which are used in the primary function of the building.
FLOOR AREA RATIO
The square footage of floor area on all floors for each square foot of lot area.
FREEBOARD
A flood protection elevation requirement designed as a safety factor which is usually expressed in terms of a specified amount of feet above a calculated flood level. Freeboard compensates for the many unknown factors that contribute to flood heights greater than the height calculated. These factors include, but are not limited to, ice jams, debris accumulation, wave action, obstruction of bridge openings and floodways, the effects of urbanization on the hydrology of the watershed, loss of flood storage areas due to development and aggradation of the river or stream bed.
FRONTAGE
The smallest dimension of a lot abutting a public street measured along the street line.
GARAGE, PRIVATE
An accessory building or space for the storage only of not more than three noncommercial vehicles per dwelling.
GARAGE, PUBLIC
Any building or premises, other than a private or storage garage, where motor driven vehicles are equipped, repaired, serviced, hired, sold or stored.
GARAGE, STORAGE
Any building or premises used for storage of motor driven vehicles and where no vehicles are serviced, repaired, hired or sold.
GROUP HOME (LARGE)
A community living arrangement for children with a capacity for 15 or fewer persons and is licensed pursuant to § 48.743, Wis. Stats.
GROUP HOME (SMALL)
A community living arrangement for children with a capacity for eight or fewer persons and is licensed pursuant to § 48.743, Wis. Stats.
HABITABLE BUILDINGS
Any building, or portion thereof, used for human habitation.
HIGH FLOOD DAMAGE POTENTIAL
Damage that could result from flooding that includes any danger to life or health or any significant economic loss to a structure or building and its contents.
HISTORIC STRUCTURE
Any structure that is:
A. 
Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register;
B. 
Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
C. 
Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior; or
D. 
Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either by an approved state program, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior; or directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.
HOME OCCUPATION
Any gainful occupation or profession conducted by a resident of the principal structure within a dwelling or accessory building on the parcel (home-based occupation).
HOTEL-MOTEL
A building in which lodging, with or without meals, is offered to transient guests for compensation.
HUMAN HABITATION
A human residence or dwelling.
INCREASE IN REGIONAL FLOOD HEIGHT
A calculated upward rise in the regional flood elevation, equal to or greater than 0.01 foot, resulting from comparison of existing conditions and proposed conditions, which is directly attributable to development in the floodplain but not attributable to manipulation of mathematical variables such as roughness factors, expansion and contraction coefficients and discharge.
LAND USE
Any nonstructural use made of unimproved or improved real estate. (See also "development.")
LIVING SPACE RATIO
The square footage of open space, less the space used for vehicular movement, that exists for each square foot of building floor area.
LOADING AREA
A completely off-street space or berth on the same lot for the loading or unloading of freight carriers, having adequate ingress and egress to a public street or alley.
LOT
A parcel of land having a width and depth sufficient to provide the space necessary for one main building and its accessory building together with the open space as required by this chapter and on a public street.
LOT LINES
The lines bounding lots as defined herein.
LOT WIDTH
The shortest distance between side lot lines measured at the building setback line.
LOT, DEPTH OF
The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
MINOR STRUCTURES
Any small, movable accessory erection or construction such as birdhouses, tool houses, pethouses, play equipment, arbors, and walls and fences under four feet in height.
MOBILE HOME or MANUFACTURED HOME
A structure transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. For the purpose of this chapter, it does not include recreational vehicles or travel trailers.
MUNICIPALITY or MUNICIPAL
The Village governmental units enacting, administering and enforcing the zoning chapters of this Code.
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(2m), Wis. Stats., notwithstanding any other provision of law or administrative rule promulgated thereunder, shoreland ordinances required under § 61.351 or 62.231, Wis. Stats., and Chapter NR 117, Wis. Adm. Code, do not apply to lands adjacent to farm drainage ditches, if:
A. 
Such lands are not adjacent to a natural navigable stream or river;
B. 
Those parts of such drainage ditches adjacent to such lands were not navigable streams before ditching; and
C. 
Such lands are maintained in nonstructural agricultural use.
D. 
"Wisconsin's Supreme Court has declared navigable bodies of water that have a bed differentiated from adjacent uplands and levels or flow sufficient to support navigation by a recreational craft of the shallowest draft on an annually recurring basis [Muench v. Public Service Commission, 261 Wis. 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 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."
NGVD or NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM
Elevations referenced to mean sea level datum, 1929 adjustment.
NONCONFORMING USE
A building or premises lawfully used or occupied at the time of the passage of this chapter or amendments thereto, which use of occupancy does not conform to the regulations of this chapter or any amendments thereto.
OBSTRUCTION TO FLOW
Any development which physically blocks the conveyance of floodwaters such that this development by itself or in conjunction with any future similar development will cause an increase in regional flood height.
OFFICIAL FLOODPLAIN ZONING MAP
That map adopted and made part of this Code, which has been approved by the Department of Natural Resources and FEMA.
OPEN SPACE USE
Those uses having a relatively low flood damage potential and not involving structures.
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, off-season staining of permanent structures, or other easily recognized characteristic.
PERSON
An individual or group of individuals, corporation, partnership, association, municipality or state agency.
PLANNING AGENCY
The Village Plan Commission created under § 62.23(1), Wis. Stats., a board of public land commissioners or a committee of the municipality's governing body which acts on matters pertaining to planning and zoning.
PRINCIPAL BUILDING
The building on a lot in which the principal use is permitted on such lot by the regulations of the district in which it is located.
PRIVATE SEWAGE SYSTEM
A sewage treatment and disposal system serving a single structure with a septic tank and soil absorption field located on the same parcel as the structure. This term also means an alternative sewage system approved by the Department of Safety and Professional Services, including a substitute for the septic tank or soil absorption field, a holding tank, a system serving more than one structure or a system located on a different parcel than the structure.
PUBLIC UTILITIES
Those utilities using underground or overhead transmission lines such as electric telephone and telegraph, arid distribution and collection systems such as water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer.
REGIONAL FLOOD
A flood determined to be representative of large floods known to have occurred in Wisconsin or which may be expected to occur on a particular lake, river or stream once in every 100 years.
SETBACK
The minimum horizontal distance between the street line and the nearest point of a building or any projection thereto.
SHORELAND-WETLAND DISTRICT
The zoning district created in Chapter 559, Shoreland-Wetland Zoning, comprised of shorelands that are designated as wetlands on the wetlands inventory maps, which have been adopted and made a part of this chapter and Chapter 559 of the Code.
SHORELANDS
Land 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 distance is greater.
SIGN
Any words, letters, figures, numerals, phrases, sentences, emblems, devices, designs, trade names, or trademarks by which anything is made known and which are used to advertise or promote an individual, firm, association, corporation, profession, business, commodity, or product and which is visible from any public street or highway.
STORY
That portion of a building included between the surface of a floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there be no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.
STREET
Any property dedicated or intended for public or private street purposes or subject to public easements.
STREET LINE
A dividing line between a lot, tract or parcel of land and a contiguous street.
STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS
Any change in the supporting members of a building or any substantial change in the roof or in the exterior walls.
STRUCTURE
Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires permanent location on the ground.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENTS
A. 
Any repair, reconstruction or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the present equalized assessed value of the structure either before the improvement or repair is started or, if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred. The term does not, however, include either:
(1) 
Any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which existed before the improvement began, was identified by a municipal official and are necessary to ensure safe living conditions; or
(2) 
Any alteration of a designated historical structure or site documented as deserving preservation by the Wisconsin State Historical Society, or listed in the National Register of Historic Places, provided the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as an historic structure.
B. 
Ordinary maintenance repairs are not considered structural repairs, modifications or additions. Such ordinary maintenance repairs include internal and external painting, decorating, paneling, and the replacement of doors, windows, and other nonstructural components. "Substantial improvement" begins when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of the building commences, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure.
UNNECESSARY HARDSHIP
That 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.
VARIANCE
An authorization granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals to construct or alter a building or structure in a manner that deviates from the dimensional or use standards of this chapter.
VISION CLEARANCE
An unoccupied triangular space at the corner of a corner lot which is bounded by the street lines and a setback line connecting points determined by measurements from the corner of each street line, the dimensions being as stated in this chapter.
WATER SURFACE PROFILE
A graphical representation showing the elevation of the water surface of a watercourse for each position along a reach of river or stream at a certain flood flow. A water surface profile of the regional flood is used in regulating floodplain areas.
WATERLINE
The shortest straight line at the waterfront end of a stream lot that lies wholly within the lot, provided that not less than 75% of the length of such water line shall be on, or on the landward side of, the normal high-water mark of such stream.
WATERSHED
The entire region or area contributing runoff or surface water to a particular watercourse or body of water.
WELL
An excavation opening in the ground made by digging, boring, drilling, driving or other methods for the purpose of obtaining groundwater regardless of its intended use.
WETLAND ALTERATION
Any filling, flooding, draining, dredging, ditching, tiling, excavating, temporary water level stabilization measures or dike and dam construction in a wetland area.
WETLANDS
Those areas where water is at, near or above (within 12 inches of the ground surface) for a minimum of 15 days during the growing period, in sufficient amount to support aquatic or hydrophytic vegetation, and contain soils indicative of wet conditions.
YARD
Any open space on the same lot with a building, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward except as otherwise provided herein.
YARD, SIDE
A yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard, being the minimum horizontal distance between a building and the side lot line.
YARD, FRONT
A yard extending the full width of the lot between the front lot line and nearest part of the main building.
YARD, REAR
A yard extending the full width of the lot, being the minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the nearest part of the building.