For the purposes of this chapter, the following
definitions shall be used, unless a different definition is specifically
provided for a section. Words used in the present tense include the
future, the singular number includes the plural number, and the plural
number includes the singular number. The word "shall" is mandatory
and not permissive.
Having a common property line or district line.
An accessory building:
Is customary and clearly incidental to the principal
building or principal use;
Is any building except the principal building
on the lot;
Is subordinate in area, extent or purpose to
the principal building or principal use;
Contributes to the comfort, convenience or necessity
of occupants of the principal building or principal use served; and
Is located on the same zoning lot as the principal
use served, with the exception of such accessory off-street parking
facilities as are permitted to locate elsewhere than on the same zoning
lot as the building or use served.
An accessory building or use includes, but is
not limited to, the following:
A children's playhouse, garden house or private
greenhouse;
A garage, carport, shed or building for storage
incidental to a permitted use;
Incinerators incidental to a permitted use;
Storage of goods used in or produced by permitted
manufacturing activities on the same zoning lot with such activities,
unless such storage is excluded by the district regulations;
The production, processing, cleaning, servicing,
testing, repair or storage of merchandise normally incidental to a
permitted retail service or business use if conducted by the same
ownership as the principal use;
Off-street motor vehicle parking areas and loading
facilities;
Signs as permitted and regulated in each district
incorporated in this chapter; and
Earth station dish antennas which are ground
mounted or building mounted.
The actual land devoted to the land use, excluding public
streets, public lands or unusable lands, and school sites contained
within 43,560 square feet.
A public way not more than 24 feet wide which affords only
a secondary means of access to abutting property.
A room or suite of rooms in a multiple-family structure which
is arranged, designed, used or intended to be used as a single housekeeping
unit. Complete kitchen facilities, permanently installed, must always
be included for each apartment.
A public street or highway used or intended to be used primarily
for large volume or heavy through traffic. Arterial streets shall
include freeways and expressways as well as arterial streets, highways
and parkways.
An automobile laundry is a building or portion thereof containing
facilities for washing automobiles using production-line methods with
a chain, conveyor, blower, steam-cleaning device or other mechanical
devices or any premises with a capacity of washing 20 or more vehicles
per eight-hour day.
A retractable, rooflike cover, temporary in nature, which
projects from the wall of a building.
That portion of any structure located partly below the average
adjoining lot grade which is not designed or used primarily for year-round
living accommodations.
A tract of land bounded by streets or by a combination of
streets and public parks, cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, bulkhead
lines or shorelines of waterways. A block may be located in part beyond
the boundary lines of the corporate limits of the Village.
A building other than a hotel or restaurant where meals or
lodging is regularly furnished by prearrangement for compensation
for three or more persons not members of a family, but not exceeding
12 persons and not open to transient customers.
The portion of a lot remaining after required yards have
been provided.
Any structure built for the support, shelter or enclosure
of persons, animals, chattels or movable property of any kind and
which is permanently affixed to the land. When any portion thereof
is completely separated from every other portion by masonry or a fire
wall without any window, which wall extends from the ground to the
roof, then such portion shall be deemed to be a separate building.
A building separated on all sides from the adjacent open
space or from other buildings or structures by a permanent roof and
by exterior walls or party walls, pierced only by windows and normal
entrance or exit doors.
The proportion of the lot area, expressed as a percent, that
is covered by the maximum horizontal cross section of a building or
buildings.
A building surrounded by open space on the same lot.
A vertical distance from the curb level or the approved ground
level opposite the center of the front of a building to the highest
point of the roof in the case of a flat roof, to the deckline of a
mansard roof, and to the mean height level between eaves and ridges
of a gable, hip or gambrel roof.
A building in which the principal use of the lot on which
it is located is conducted.
A line parallel to the lot line at a distance parallel to
it, regulated by the yard requirements set up in this chapter.
Indicates the size and setbacks of buildings or structures
and the location of such buildings or structures with respect to one
another and includes the following:
Size and height of buildings;
Location of exterior walls at all levels in
relation to lot lines, streets or to other buildings;
Gross floor area of buildings in relation to
lot area (floor area ratio);
All open spaces allocated to buildings; and
Amount of lot area provided per dwelling unit
or lodging room.
An occupation, employment or enterprise which occupies time,
labor and materials, or wherein merchandise is exhibited or sold,
or where services are offered.
Those floodlands normally occupied by a stream of water under
average annual high-water flow conditions while confined within generally
well-established banks.
A building in which a group of physicians, dentists or physicians
and dentists and allied professional assistants are associated for
the purpose of carrying on their professions. The clinic may include
an accessory dental or medical laboratory. It shall not include in-patient
care or operating rooms for major surgery.
A nonprofit association of persons who are bona fide members
paying annual dues which owns or leases a building or portion thereof,
the use of such premises being restricted to members and their guests.
The club or lodge must be operated solely for a recreational, fraternal,
social, patriotic, political, benevolent or athletic purpose. The
club or lodge must have been in active, continuous existence for a
period of at least three years before owning or leasing a building
or portion thereof in the Village, and it must have maintained a membership
roll for the three-year period. The affairs and management of such
private club or lodge are conducted by a board of directors, executive
committee or similar body chosen by the members. It shall be permissible
to serve food and meals on such premises, provided that adequate dining
room space and kitchen facilities are available and there is compliance
with all health regulations. Where properly licensed under existing
Village ordinances, the consumption of intoxicating beverages by members
of such club or lodge and their guests may be permitted. However,
overnight lodging on the club or lodge premises is not permitted.
[Amended 3-24-2014]
The following facilities licensed or operated or permitted
under the authority of the Wisconsin Statutes: child welfare agencies
under § 48.60, Wis. Stats., group homes or foster homes
for children under § 48.02(6) and (7), Wis. Stats., and
community-based residential facilities under § 50.01, Wis.
Stats., but does not include day-care centers, nursing homes, general
hospitals, special hospitals, prisons and jails. The establishment
of a community living arrangement shall be in conformance with applicable
sections of the Wisconsin Statutes, including §§ 46.03(22),
59.69(15), and 62.23(7)(i), Wis. Stats., and amendments thereto, and
also the Wisconsin Administrative Code.[1]
A use which, because of its unique or varying characteristics,
cannot be properly classified as a permitted use in a particular district.
After due consideration, as provided for in this chapter, of the impact
of such use upon neighboring land and of the public need for the particular
use at a particular location, such conditional use may or may not
be granted.
Any building or structure which:
Guidelines and specifications for soil and water conservation
practices and management enumerated in the technical guide prepared
by the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service
for Rock County, adopted by the County Soil and Water Conservation
District Supervisors, and containing suitable alternatives for the
use and treatment of land based upon its capabilities from which the
landowner selects that alternative which best meets his needs in developing
his soil and water conservation.
The condition in which the right of owners or occupants of
abutting land or other persons to access, light, air or view in connection
with an arterial street is fully or partially controlled by public
authority.
A home for aged, infirm, chronically ill or incurable persons
in which five or more persons not of the immediate family are received,
kept or provided with food and shelter or care for compensation, but
not including hospital clinics or similar institutions devoted primarily
to the diagnosis and treatment of disease or injury, maternity cases
or mental illness.
On corner lots, the setback shall be measured from the street
line on which the lot fronts. The setback from the side street shall
be equal to 75% of the setback required on residences fronting on
the side street, but the side yard setback shall in no case restrict
the buildable width to less than 30 feet. Said corner lots shall consist
of a parcel of property abutting on two or more streets at their intersection,
provided that the interior angle of such intersection is less than
135º. Corner lots shall meet front yard setback requirements
for all street sides.
The level of the established curb in front of such building
measured at the center of such front.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including but not limited to construction of or additions or substantial
improvements to buildings, other structures, or accessory uses, mining,
dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations
or disposition of materials.
A part or parts of the Village for which the regulations
of this chapter governing the use and location of land and building
are uniform.
Overlay districts, also referred to herein as "regulatory
areas," provide for the possibility of superimposing certain additional
requirements upon a basic zoning district without disturbing the requirements
of the basic district. In the instance of conflicting requirements,
the more strict of the conflicting requirements shall apply.
A building or part of a building containing one or more dwelling
units and also containing other directly associated elements such
as hallways, storage areas or common laundry facilities. For purposes
of this chapter, this term does not include group lodging facilities.
A dwelling separated from another dwelling unit and not having
any portion of any roof, wall or floor in common with another dwelling
unit.
One which is entirely surrounded by open space on the same
lot.
A building, or portion thereof, containing three or more
dwelling units.
A building containing one dwelling unit only.
A building containing two dwelling units only.
An area within a dwelling that is designed, occupied or intended
to be occupied by a family as permitted by this chapter as separate
living quarters with private kitchen, sanitary, sleeping and living
quarters within the unit.[2]
Establishments primarily engaged in the retail sale of prepared
food and drinks for consumption on the premises. Caterers and institutional
food service establishments are included. The term shall not apply
to churches, religious, fraternal, youth or patriotic organizations,
service clubs and civic or union organizations which occasionally
prepare or serve or sell meals to transients or the general public,
nor shall it include any public or private school lunchroom.
A dwelling unit consisting of one principal room, exclusive
of bathroom, kitchen, hallway, closets or dining alcove directly off
the principal room, provided that such dining alcove shall not exceed
90 square feet in area and shall not be used for sleeping purposes.
Services provided by public and private utilities, necessary
for the exercise of the 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 and accessories thereto, such as poles,
towers, wires, mains, drains, vaults, culverts, laterals, sewers,
pipes, catch basins, water storage tanks, conduits, cables, fire alarm
boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, pumps, lift stations and
hydrants, but not including buildings.
A place of business carrying on operations which are physically
separate and distinct from those of any other place of business located
on the same zoning lot.
One or more persons occupying a dwelling unit as a single,
nonprofit housekeeping unit, who are living together as a bona fide
stable and committed living unit, being a traditional family or the
functional equivalent thereof, exhibiting the generic character of
a traditional family.[3]
The provision of day care for children for compensation within
a dwelling, whether or not licensed by the state, including educational
services so long as the care and services are taking place within
a dwelling.
Includes floriculture, forest and game management, orchards,
raising of grain, grass, mint and seed crops, raising of fruits, nuts
and berries, sod farming and vegetable farming. "General farming"
includes the operating of such an area for one or more of the above
uses with the necessary accessory uses for treating or storing the
produce; provided, however, that the operation of any such accessory
uses shall be secondary to that of the normal farming activities.
A single-family residential structure located on a parcel
of land, which primary land use is associated with agriculture.
Floor area when prescribed as a basis of measurement for
off-street parking spaces and loading berths for any use shall mean
the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of the
building or buildings devoted to such use, including accessory storage
areas located within selling or working space, such as counters, racks
or closets, and any basement floor area devoted to retailing activities,
to the production or processing of goods, or to business or professional
offices. However, floor area for the purpose of measurement for off-street
parking spaces shall not include:
Floor area devoted primarily to storage purposes,
except as otherwise noted herein.
Floor area devoted to off-street parking or
loading facilities, including aisles, ramps and maneuvering space.
Basement floor area, other than area devoted
to retailing activities or to the production or processing of goods
or to business or professional offices.
The primary domicile of a foster parent which has four or
fewer foster children and which is licensed under § 48.62,
Wis. Stats., and amendments thereto.
All the property abutting on one side of a street between
two intersecting streets or all of the property abutting on one side
of a street between an intersecting street and the dead end of a street.
A detached accessory building or portion of the principal
building designed, arranged, used or intended to be used for storage
of automobiles of the occupant of the premises.
Any building or portion thereof, not accessory to a residential
building or structure, used for equipping, servicing, repairing, leasing
or public parking of motor vehicles.
Any facility operated by a person required to be licensed
by the State of Wisconsin under § 48.62, Wis. Stats., for
the care and maintenance of five to eight foster children.
Buildings or parts of buildings designed, occupied or intended
to be occupied as living quarters on a basis other than as a dwelling,
dwelling unit, hotel or motel.
A group lodging facility containing general lodging rooms
not having kitchen facilities, offered for rent or comparable compensation
on a monthly or longer basis. Meals or access to common meal preparation
facilities may be offered as part of the service to occupants.
A person who occupies or has the right to occupy on a monthly
or longer basis a hotel or apartment hotel accommodation as his/her
domicile and place of permanent residence.
Any occupation for gain or support conducted only by members
of the immediate family residing on the premises, provided that the
specified use is incidental to the residential use.
A home occupation consisting of the office of a recognized
profession.
A facility containing sleeping rooms with private or semiprivate
bathroom facilities offering overnight lodging to the public for compensation
and catering primarily to the traveling public. A hotel shall offer
services such as maid, telephone, desk and vending services. It may
offer a restaurant, recreational facilities and meeting facilities.
A building in which at least 90% of the accommodations are
dwelling units or are occupied by permanent guests.
A family or nonfamily group living in a nontransient manner
in a single dwelling unit.
Any scrap, waste, reclaimable material or debris, whether
or not stored or used in conjunction with dismantling, processing,
salvage, storage, baling, disposal or other use or disposition. "Junk"
includes, but is not limited to, vehicles, tires, vehicle parts, equipment,
paper, rags, metal, glass, building materials, household appliances,
brush, wood and lumber.
An open area where waste or scrap materials are bought, sold,
exchanged, stored, baled, packed, disassembled or handled, including
but not limited to scrap iron and other metals, paper, rags, rubber
tires and bottles. "Junkyard" includes an automobile wrecking or dismantling
yard but does not include uses established entirely within enclosed
buildings.
Any premises, or portion thereof, where dogs, cats and other
household pets are maintained, boarded, bred or cared for in return
for remuneration or are kept for the purpose of sale.
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.
A building where lodging only is provided for compensation
for not more than three persons not members of the family.
A room rented as sleeping and living quarters without kitchen
facilities and with or without an individual bathroom.
For the purpose of determining the lot area requirements,
any lodging room designed or intended to be occupied by more than
two persons shall be determined as one lodging room for each two persons;
provided, however, that in a lodging house or a fraternity and sorority
house the number of lodging rooms shall be determined by dividing
the total number of persons intended to occupy the lodging rooms by
two.
A parcel of land having frontage on a public street, or other
officially approved means of access, 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 and other open space provisions
of this chapter as pertaining to the district wherein located.
The area of a horizontal plane bounded by the front, side
and rear lot lines.[4]
The area of a lot occupied by the principal building or buildings
and accessory building.
The area of a lot occupied by the principal building or buildings
and accessory buildings, including any driveways, parking areas, loading
areas, storage areas and walkways.
The mean horizontal distance between the front lot line and
the rear lot line of a lot measured within the lot boundaries.
A lot situated on a single street which is bounded by adjacent
lots along each of its other lines and is not a corner lot.
A property boundary line of any lot held in single or separate
ownership, except that where any portion of the lot extends into the
abutting street or alley, the lot line shall be deemed to be the abutting
street or alley right-of-way line.
In the case of a lot abutting upon only one street, the line
separating such lot from such street. In the case of any other lot,
the owner shall, for the purpose of this chapter, have the privilege
of electing any street lot line the front lot line, provided that
such choice, in the opinion of the Zoning Administrator, will not
be injurious to the existing or to the desirable future development
of the adjacent properties.
That lot line which is opposite and most distant from the
front lot line. In the case of an irregular, triangular or gore-shaped
lot, a line parallel to and most distant from the front lot line shall
be considered to be the rear lot line for the purpose of determining
depth of rear yard. In cases where none of these definitions are applicable,
the Zoning Administrator shall designate the rear lot line.
The property lines bounding the lot.
Any lot line not a front lot line or a rear lot line.
The peripheral boundaries of a parcel of land and the total
area lying within such boundaries.
A lot which is part of a subdivision or a certified survey
map which has been recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds
of Rock County or a parcel of land, the deed to which was recorded
in the office of said Register of Deeds prior to the effective date
of this chapter. Any lot or parcel of land created through a violation
of any other applicable laws or ordinances of the State of Wisconsin
and the Village of Orfordville shall not, in this instance, be considered
a lot of record.
A corner lot, the street side lot line of which is substantially
a continuation of the front lot line of the first lot to its rear.
A parcel of land held in separate ownership having frontage
on a public street, or other approved means of access, occupied or
intended to be occupied by a principal building or structure, together
with accessory buildings and uses, having insufficient size to meet
the lot width, lot area, yard, off-street parking area or other open
space provisions of this chapter as pertaining to the district wherein
located.
A lot which has a pair of opposite lot lines along two substantially
parallel streets and which is not a corner lot. On a through lot,
both street lines shall be deemed front lot lines.
The horizontal distance between the side lot lines of a lot,
measured at right angles to the lot depth, said measurement to be
made at the rear line of the required front yard.
A single tract of land located within a single block which,
at the time of filing for a building permit, is designated by its
owner or developer as a tract to be used, developed or built upon
as a unit under single ownership or control. Therefore, a zoning lot
or lots may or may not coincide with a lot of record.
Any small, movable accessory erection or construction, such
as birdhouses, toolhouses, pet houses, play equipment, arbors and
walls and fences under four feet in height.
A parcel of land for the placement of a single mobile home
and the exclusive use of its occupants.
A factory-fabricated transportable building unit designed
to be used by itself or to be incorporated with similar units at a
building site into a modular structure to be used for residential,
commercial, educational or industrial purposes.
A facility offering the services of a hotel but where the
sleeping rooms are physically arranged so that most have access to
outside, adjacent parking areas without passing through the lobby.
A building or area in which freight brought by motor truck
is assembled and/or stored for routing in intrastate or interstate
shipment by motor truck.
A sign indicating the name and address of a building, or
the name of an occupant thereof, and the practice of a permitted occupation
therein.
Any building or structure which:
Any use of land, buildings or structures which does not comply
with all the regulations of this chapter or of any amendment hereto
governing use for the zoning district in which such use is located.[8]
A facility licensed as a day-care center by the State of
Wisconsin where a person or persons provide, for compensation and/or
consideration for service, group care for four or more children under
seven years of age for less than 24 hours a day at a location other
than the child's own home or the homes of relatives or guardians.[9]
One in which services are performed by persons engaged in
a profession requiring advanced training in a recognized professional
specialty and including the fields of religion, architecture, engineering,
law, medicine, personal health services and instruction in the liberal
or fine arts.
A structure or premises containing five or more parking spaces
open to the public.
Includes all abutting property owners, all property owners
within 100 feet, and all property owners of opposite frontages.
Any airport which complies with the definition contained
in § 114.002(7), Wis. Stats., or any airport which serves
or offers to serve common carriers engaged in air transport.[10]
Any sidewalk, street, alley, highway or other public thoroughfare.
A strip of land containing railroad tracks and customary
auxiliary facilities for only track operation. For the purpose of
this chapter, a railroad right-of-way does not include land used or
intended to be used for switching, spur, lead, team or siding tracks,
freight depots or stations, loading platforms, train sheds, warehouses,
car or locomotive shops, car yards or classification yards.
Those off-street parking spaces allocated for temporary standing
of automobiles awaiting entrance to a particular establishment.
The sale of goods or merchandise in small quantities to the
consumer.
A temporary structure which is not permanently affixed to
the ground and is readily removable in its entirety, which is used
solely for the display or sale of farm products produced on the premises
upon which such roadside stand is located. No roadside stand shall
be more than 300 square feet in ground area, and there shall not be
more than one roadside stand on any one premises.
A place of abode not more than two stories in height, arranged
to accommodate three or more attached living units, in which each
living unit is separated from the adjoining unit by an unpierced vertical
occupancy separation of not less than one-hour fire-resistive construction,
extending from the basement or lowest floor to the underside of the
roof boards. Each living unit shall have separate entrances and exits
leading directly to the outside.
A hedge, wall or fence to provide a visual separator and
physical barrier not less than four feet nor more than six feet in
height, unless otherwise provided for in this chapter.
The minimum horizontal distance between the front lot line
and the nearest point of the foundation of that portion of the building
to be enclosed. The overhang cornices shall not exceed 24 inches.
Any overhang of the cornice in excess of 24 inches shall be compensated
by increasing the setback by an amount equal to the excess of cornice
over 24 inches. Uncovered steps shall not be included in measuring
the setback.[11]
Any medium, including its structure, words, letters, figures,
numerals, phrases, sentences, emblems, devices, designs, trade names
or trademarks, by which anything is made known and which is 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.
That portion of a building included between the surface of
any floor and the surface of the next floor above it or, if there
is no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling
next above it. Any portion of a story exceeding 14 feet in height
shall be considered as an additional story for each 14 feet or fraction
thereof. A basement having 1/2 or more of its height above grade shall
be deemed a story for purposes of height regulation.
That portion of a building under a gable, hip or mansard
roof, the wall plates of which, on at least two opposite exterior
walls, are not more than 4Â 1/2 feet above the finished floor
of such story. In the case of one-family dwellings, two-family dwellings
and multifamily dwellings less than three stories in height, a half
story in a sloping roof shall not be counted as a story for the purposes
of this chapter.
Property other than an alley or private thoroughfare or travelway
which is subject to public easement or right-of-way for use as a thoroughfare
and serves as a principal means of access to abutting property.
A yard extending across the full width of the lot, the depth
of which shall be the minimum horizontal distance between the existing
street or highway right-of-way line and a line parallel thereto through
the nearest point of the principal structure. Corner lots shall have
two street yards.
Any change in the supporting members of a structure, such
as foundations, bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.
Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires
a permanent location on the ground or attachment to something having
a permanent location on the ground.
A movable structure not designed for human occupancy nor
for the protection of goods or chattels and not forming an enclosure,
such as billboards.
Any structure which is or may be mounted upon wheels for
moving about and is propelled by its own or drawn by other motive
power and which is used as a dwelling or as an accessory building
or structure in the conduct of a business, trade or occupation or
is used for hauling purposes.
That part of the ground level of a zoning lot, other than
in a required front or corner side yard, which is unoccupied by principal
or accessory buildings, service driveways, off-street parking spaces
and/or loading berths and is unobstructed to the sky. This space of
minimum prescribed dimensions shall be available to all occupants
of the building and shall be usable for greenery, drying yards, recreational
space and other leisure activities normally carried on outdoors. Where
and to the extent prescribed in this chapter, balconies and roof areas
designed and improved for outdoor activities may also be considered
as usable open space. "Ground level" for this purpose may include
open terraces above the average level of the adjoining ground, but
not including a permanently roofed-over terrace or porch.
The purpose or activity for which the land or building thereon
is designed, arranged or intended or for which it is occupied or maintained.[12]
A use which may be lawfully established in a particular district
or districts provided it conforms to all requirements and regulations
of such district in which such use is located.
The main use of land or building as distinguished from subordinate
or accessory use.
Public and private facilities, such as water wells, water
and sewage pumping stations, water storage tanks, electrical power
substations, static transformer stations, telephone and telegraph
exchanges, microwave radio relays and gas regulation stations, inclusive
of associated transmission facilities, but not including sewage disposal
plants, municipal incinerators, warehouses, shops, storage yards and
power plants.
An unoccupied triangular space at the street corner of a
corner lot which is bounded by the street lines and a setback line
connecting points specified by measurement from the corner on each
street line.
An open space on the same lot with a structure, unoccupied
and unobstructed from the ground upward except for vegetation. The
street and rear yards extend the full width of the lot.
A yard extending across the full width of the lot and lying
between the front line of the lot and the nearest line of the building.
The side where the address is shall be considered the front yard.
A yard extending across the full width of the lot and lying
between the rear line of the lot and the nearest line of the principal
building.
That part of the yard lying between the main building and
a side lot line and extending from the required front yard (or from
the front lot line, if there is no required front yard) to the required
rear yard.
The concept whereby two respective dwelling units within
a building shall be on separate and abutting lots and shall meet on
the common property line between them, thereby having zero space between
said units.
A permit issued by the Zoning Administrator to certify that
lands, structures, air and waters subject to this chapter are or shall
be used in accordance with the provisions of said chapter.
[10]
Editor's Note: The original definitions of "planned residential development - dwelling" and "professional office in a home," which immediately followed this definition, were deleted at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II). See the definition of "home professional office" in this section.
