This chapter is adopted under the authority granted by W.S.A. ss. 62.23(7) and 87.30 and amendments thereto.
This chapter shall be known as, referred to and cited as the "Zoning Code, City of Manawa, Wisconsin" and is hereinafter referred to as the "code" or "chapter."
A. 
The purpose of this chapter is to promote the comfort, health, safety, morals, prosperity, aesthetics and general welfare of the people of the City of Manawa, Wisconsin.
B. 
The general intent and purposes in view of this chapter are to regulate and restrict the use of all structures, lands and waters and to:
(1) 
Promote and protect the comfort, public health, safety, morals, prosperity, aesthetics and general welfare of the people.
(2) 
Divide the city into zones or districts, restricting and regulating therein the location, erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration and use of buildings, structures and land for residence, business and manufacturing and other specified uses.
(3) 
Protect the character and the stability of the residential, business, manufacturing and other districts within the city and to promote the orderly and beneficial development thereof.
(4) 
Regulate lot coverage, the intensity of use of lot areas and the size and location of all structures so as to prevent overcrowding and to provide adequate sunlight, air, sanitation and drainage.
(5) 
Regulate population density and distribution so as to avoid sprawl or undue concentration and to facilitate the provision of adequate public services, utilities and other public requirements.
(6) 
Regulate parking, loading and access so as to lessen congestion in and promote the safety and efficiency of streets and highways.
(7) 
Secure safety from fire, panic, flooding, pollution, contamination and other dangers.
(8) 
Stabilize and protect existing and potential property values and encourage the most appropriate use of land throughout the city.
(9) 
Preserve and protect the beauty of the City of Manawa.
(10) 
Prohibit uses, buildings or structures incompatible with the character of development or intended uses within specified zoning districts.
(11) 
Provide for the elimination of nonconforming uses of land, buildings and structures which are adversely affecting the character and value of desirable development in each district.
(12) 
Prevent and control erosion, sedimentation and other pollution of the surface and subsurface waters.
(13) 
Further the maintenance of safe and healthful water conditions.
(14) 
Prevent flood damage to persons and property and minimize expenditures for flood relief and flood-control projects.
(15) 
Provide for and protect a variety of suitable commercial and industrial sites.
(16) 
Protect the traffic-carrying capacity of existing and proposed arterial streets and highways.
(17) 
Implement those municipal, county, watershed and regional comprehensive plans or components of such plans adopted by the City of Manawa.
(18) 
Provide for the administration and enforcement of this chapter.
(19) 
Provide penalties for the violation of this chapter.
It is not intended by this chapter to repeal, abrogate, annul, impair or interfere with any existing easements, covenants, deed restrictions, agreements, rules, regulations or permits previously adopted or issued pursuant to law. However, whenever this chapter imposes greater restrictions, the provisions of this chapter shall govern.
In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this chapter shall be held to be minimum requirements and shall be liberally construed in favor of the city and shall not be construed to be a limitation or repeal of any other power now possessed by the City of Manawa.
A. 
If any application of this chapter to a particular structure, land or water is adjudged unconstitutional or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall not be applicable to any other structure, land or water not included in said judgment.
B. 
The city does not guarantee, warrant or represent that only those areas designated as floodlands[1] will be subject to periodic inundation and hereby asserts that there is no liability on the part of the Common Council, its agencies or employees for any flood damages, sanitation problems or structural damages that may occur as a result of reliance upon and conformance with this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 300, Floodplain Zoning.
A. 
For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall be used, unless a different definition is specifically provided for a section:
ABUTTING
Having a common property line or district line.[1]
ACRE, NET
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.
ALLEY
A public way not more than 21 feet wide which affords only a secondary means of access to abutting property.
APARTMENT
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.
ARTERIAL STREET
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 highways and parkways.
[Amended 1-3-2000]
BASEMENT
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.
BLOCK
A tract of land bounded by streets or by a combination of streets and public parks or other recognized lines of demarcation.
BOARDINGHOUSE
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.
BUILDABLE LOT AREA
The portion of a lot remaining after required yards have been provided.
BUILDING
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls used or intended to be used for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, equipment, machinery or materials. When a building is divided into separate parts by unpierced walls extending from the ground up, each part shall be deemed a separate building.
BUILDING, DETACHED
A building surrounded by open space on the same lot.
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 coping of a flat roof, to the deck line of a mansard roof or to the average height of the highest gable of a gambrel, hip or pitch roof.
BUILDING, PRINCIPAL
A building in which the principal use of the lot on which it is located is conducted.
BUILDING SETBACK LINE
A line parallel to the lot line at a distance regulated by the yard requirements set up in this code.
[Amended 1-3-2000]
BUSINESS
An occupation, employment or enterprise which occupies time, labor and materials or wherein merchandise is exhibited or sold or where services are offered.
CHANNEL
Those floodlands normally occupied by a stream of water under average annual high-water flow conditions while confined within generally well-established banks.
COMMUNITY LIVING ARRANGEMENT
The following facilities licensed or operated or permitted under the authority of the Wisconsin state statutes: child welfare agencies under W.S.A. s. 48.60, group foster homes for children under state statutes and community-based residential facilities under W.S.A. s. 50.01, 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 state statutes, including W.S.A. ss. 46.03(22), 59.69(15), 62.23(7)(i) and 62.23(7a), and amendments thereto, and also the Wisconsin Administrative Code.
[Amended 1-3-2000]
CONDITIONAL USES
Uses of a special nature so as to make impractical their predetermination as a principal use in a district.
CONSERVATION STANDARDS
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 Waupaca 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 the landowner's needs in developing his or her soil and water conservation.
CONTROLLED ACCESS ARTERIAL STREET
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.[2]
DEVELOPMENT
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, filing, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations or disposition of materials.
DISTRICT, BASIC
A part or parts of the city for which the regulations of this chapter governing the use and location of land and buildings are uniform.
DISTRICT, OVERLAY
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.
DWELLING
A building designed or used exclusively as a residence or sleeping place, but does not include boarding- or lodging houses, motels, hotels, tents, cabins or mobile homes.
DWELLING, EFFICIENCY
A dwelling unit consisting of one principal room with no separate sleeping rooms.
DWELLING, MULTIPLE-FAMILY
A residential building designed for or occupied by three or more families, with the number of families in residence not to exceed the number of dwelling units provided.
DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY
A detached building designed for or occupied by one family.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
A detached building containing two separate dwelling (or living) units designed for occupancy by not more than two families.
DWELLING UNIT
A group of rooms constituting all or part of a dwelling which are arranged, designed, used or intended for use exclusively as living quarters for one family.
ESSENTIAL SERVICES
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 sewage, 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.
FAMILY
The body of persons who live together in one dwelling unit as a single housekeeping entity.
FARMING, GENERAL
Shall include 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.
FARMSTEAD
A single-family residential structure located on a parcel of land, which primary land use is associated with agriculture.
FLOOR AREA, BUSINESS AND MANUFACTURED BUILDINGS
For the purpose of determining off-street parking and off-street loading requirements, the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the floors of the building, or portion thereof, devoted to a use requiring off-street parking or loading. This area shall include elevators and stairways, accessory storage areas located within selling or working space occupied by 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 purposes of determining off-street parking spaces, shall not include floor area devoted primarily to storage purposes, except as otherwise noted herein.
FOSTER FAMILY HOME
The primary domicile of a foster parent who has four or fewer foster children and who is licensed under W.S.A. s. 48.62 and amendments thereto.
[Amended 1-3-2000]
FRONTAGE
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.
GARAGE, PRIVATE
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.
GARAGE, PUBLIC
Any building or portion thereof, not accessory to a residential building or structure, used for equipping, servicing, repairing, leasing or pubic parking of motor vehicles.
GROUP FOSTER HOME
Any facility operated by a person required to be licensed by the State of Wisconsin under W.S.A. s. 48.62 for the care and maintenance of five to eight foster children.
HOME OCCUPATION
Any occupation for gain or support conducted entirely within buildings which is customarily incidental to the principal use of the premises and does not exceed 25% of the area of any floor. A home occupation includes uses such as babysitting, millinery, dressmaking, canning, laundering, tutoring and crafts but does not include the display of any goods or such occupations as barbering, beauty shops, dance schools, medical offices or auto repair.
[Amended 1-3-2000]
HOTEL
A building in which lodging, with or without meals, is offered to transient guests for compensation and in which there are more than five sleeping rooms, with no cooking facilities in any individual room or apartment.
INSTITUTION
A building occupied by a nonprofit corporation or a nonprofit establishment for public use.
JUNK
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.
JUNKYARD
Any area, lot, land, parcel, building or structure or part thereof used for the storage, collecting, processing, purchase, sale or abandonment of wastewater, rags, scrap metal or other scrap or discarded goods, materials, machinery or two or more unregistered, inoperable motor vehicles or other type of junk.
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.
LODGING HOUSE
A building where lodging only is provided for compensation for not more than three persons not members of the family.
LOT
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 code as pertaining to the district wherein located.
LOT, CORNER
A lot abutting two or more streets at their intersection, provided that the corner of such intersection shall have an angle of 135° or less, measured on the lot side.
LOT COVERAGE (EXCEPT RESIDENTIAL)
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.
LOT COVERAGE (RESIDENTIAL)
The area of a lot occupied by the principal building or buildings and accessory buildings.
LOT, INTERIOR
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.
LOT LINE
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.
LOT LINES AND AREA
The peripheral boundaries of a parcel of land and the total area lying within such boundaries.
LOT, SUBSTANDARD
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 code as pertaining to the district wherein located.
LOT, THROUGH
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.
LOT WIDTH
The horizontal distance between the side lot lines measured at the building setback line.
MINOR STRUCTURE
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.
MOBILE HOME
A manufactured home that is HUD certified and labeled under the National Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974. A mobile home is a transportable structure, eight feet or more in width (not including the overhang of the roof), built on a chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities.
MOBILE HOME LOT
A parcel of land for the placement of a single mobile home and the exclusive use of its occupants.
MOBILE HOME PARK
A parcel of land which has been developed for the placement of mobile homes and is owned by an individual, firm, trust, partnership, public or private association or corporation. Individual lots within a mobile home park are rented to individual mobile home users.
MOBILE HOME SUBDIVISION
A land subdivision, as defined by W.S.A. ch. 236 and any city land division ordinance,[3] with lots intended for the placement of individual mobile home units. Individual home sites are in separate ownership, as opposed to the rental arrangements in mobile home parks.
MODULAR UNIT
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.
NONCONFORMING USE
Any structure, use of land, use of land and structure in combination or characteristic of use (such as yard requirement or lot size) which was existing at the time of the effective date of this code or amendments thereto and which is not in conformance with this code. Any such structure conforming in respect to use but not in respect to frontage, width, height, area, yard, parking, loading or distance requirements shall not be considered a nonconforming use but shall be considered nonconforming with respect to those characteristics.
NURSING HOME
An establishment used as a dwelling place by the aged, infirm, chronically ill or incurably afflicted in which not fewer than three persons live or are kept or provided for on the premises for compensation, excluding clinics and hospitals and similar institutions devoted to the diagnosis, treatment or the care of the sick or injured.
PARKING LOT
A structure or premises containing five or more parking spaces open to the public.
PARTIES IN INTEREST
Includes all abutting property owners, all property owners within 100 feet and all property owners of opposite frontages.
PUBLIC AIRPORT
Any airport which complies with the definition contained in W.S.A. s. 114.013(3)[4] or any airport which serves or offers to serve common carriers engaged in air transport.
REAR YARD
A yard extending across the full width of the lot, the depth of which shall be the minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and a line parallel thereto through the nearest point of the principal structure. This yard shall be opposite the street yard or one of the street yards on a corner lot.
RETAIL
The sale of goods or merchandise in small quantities to the consumer.
SETBACK
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. 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.
[Amended 1-3-2000]
SIDE YARD
A yard extending from the street yard to the rear yard of the lot, the width of which shall be the minimum horizontal distance between the side lot line and a line parallel thereto through the nearest point of the principal structure.
SIGN
See § 303-67, Definitions.
[Amended 1-3-2000]
STORY
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.
STORY, HALF
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 4 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 code.
STREET
Property other than an alley or private thoroughfare or travel way which is subject to public easement or right-of-way for use as a thoroughfare and which is 21 feet or more in width.
STREET YARD OR FRONT YARD
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.
[Amended 1-3-2000]
STRUCTURAL ALTERATION
Any change in the supporting members of a structure, such as foundations, bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.
STRUCTURE
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.
STRUCTURE, ACCESSORY
A detached structure subordinate to the principal use of a structure, parcel of land or water and located on the same lot or parcel and serving a purpose incidental to the principal structure.
[Amended 1-3-2000]
TEMPORARY STRUCTURE
A movable structure not designed for human occupancy nor for the protection of goods or chattels and not forming an enclosure, such as billboards.
USE
The purpose or activity for which the land or building thereon is designed, arranged or intended or for which it is occupied or maintained.
USE, ACCESSORY
A subordinate building or use which is located on the same lot on which the principal building or use is situated and which is reasonably necessary and incidental to the conduct of the primary use of such building or main use, when permitted by district regulations.
USE, PRINCIPAL
The main use of land or a building, as distinguished from subordinate or accessory use.
UTILITIES
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.
VISION CLEARANCE
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.
YARD
An open space, on the same lot with a structure, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward except the vegetation. The street and rear yards extend the full width of the lot.
ZERO LOT LINE
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.
ZONING PERMIT
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: The former definition of "accessory use or structure," which immediately followed this definition, was deleted 1-3-2000. See now the definitions of "structure, accessory," and "use, accessory," in this section.
[2]
Editor's Note: The former defintion of "corner lot," which previously followed this definition, was deleted 1-3-2000. See now the definitions of "lot, corner" and "setback" in this section.
[3]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 302, Subdivision of Land.
[4]
Editor's Note: Said s. 114.013 was renumbered by L. 1969, c. 500 as s. 114.002.
B. 
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.