SECTION 1
INTERPRETATION AND PURPOSES
1.01 To achieve the objective outlined in Wisconsin Statutes Section 59.03, 59.69, 59.692, 59.99, 87.30 and 144.26, the Board of Supervisors of Shawano County ordains zoning regulations as follows:
1.02 SHORT TITLE
This ordinance may be known as and may be cited as “The Shawano County Zoning Ordinance.”
1.03 PURPOSE AND INTENT
This ordinance is adopted in order to promote and protect public health, safety, comfort, convenience, prosperity’s aesthetics and other aspects of the general welfare; and, more specifically, to fix reasonable standards to which structures shall conform, to regulate and restrict lot coverage and population densities to conserve the value of land and structures in all of the unincorporated areas of the county, to guide the proper distribution and location of various land uses, to promote the safety and efficiency of the streets and highways, to provide for adequate light, air, sanitation and drainage, to conserve natural resources, to provide safety from fire and other hazards, to define the powers and duties to the administrative bodies as provided hereinafter, and to prescribe penalties for the violation of the provisions of this ordinance or any amendment thereto.
1.04 APPLICATION OF OVERLAPPING REGULATIONS
This ordinance shall not repeal, impair or modify private covenants or other public ordinances, except that it shall apply whenever it imposes stricter regulations.
This ordinance contains shoreland and floodplain regulations which, when applied within the jurisdictional area as defined in Section 59.692(1) (As per Amendment) of the Wisconsin Statutes supplement and supersede the provisions of the respective zone.
1.05 GENERAL INTERPRETATIONS
The following rules of construction apply to this ordinance:
The particular shall control the general; in case of any difference of meaning or implication between the text of this ordinance and any caption or illustration, the text shall control; the word “shall” is always mandatory whereas the word “may” is permissive; words used in the present tense shall include the future, and words used with singular number shall include the plural, and the plural the singular, unless the context clearly indicated the contrary; “building” or “structure” includes any part thereof; the phrase “used for” includes “arranged for”, “designed for”, “intended for”, “maintained for”, “occupied for”; the word “person” includes an individual, a corporation, a partnership, an incorporated association, or any other similar entity; unless the context clearly indicated the contrary; where a regulation involves two or more items, conditions, provisions, or events connected by the conjunction “and”, “or”, “either … or”, the conjunction shall be interpreted as follows: “and” indicates that the connected items, conditions, provisions, events may apply singly or in any combination, “either … or” indicates that the connected items, conditions, provisions or events shall apply singly but not in combination; all measured distances shall be to the nearest integral foot, if a fraction is one-half foot or more, the integral foot next above shall be taken; the masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter.
1.06 DEFINITIONS OF WORDS OR PHRASES
The following words, phrases and terms, whenever they occur in the ordinance shall be interpreted as herein defined:
(1) Automobile Service Station : Any structure or premises, which sells gasoline, oil and related products to the motoring public. This shall include repairs, washing and lubrication, but shall not include bodywork, painting or dismantling.
(2) Automobile Wrecking Yard : Any area of land where two or more vehicles, not in running condition, and/or accumulation of parts thereof, are stored in the open and are not being restored to operation; or any land or structure used for the wrecking or storing or such motor vehicles, or parts thereof, not in running condition.
(2a) Animal Feed Lot : An area that stables, confines, feeds, or maintains animals for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period, and that area does not sustain crops, vegetation, forage growth, or post-harvested residues in the normal growing seasons. For the purposes of this ordinance: all buildings that stable, confine, feed or maintain animals, feed storage areas and animal waste storage facilities associated with the operation are considered to be part of the Animal Feed Lot.
For the purpose of developing a nutrient management plan, two or more animal feeding operations whether under common ownership or not, are deemed to be a single animal feedlot if they utilize a common area or storage and/or treatment system for disposal of wastes.
For the purpose of determining setbacks, two or more animal feeding operations under common ownership, farmed and/or managed by a common operator and within 500 feet of one another shall be considered as a single animal feedlot.
(2b) Animal Waste Storage Facility : A facility constructed of earth dikes, pits or ponds, or of structural material such as wood, concrete, plastic or steel or a combination of structural materials for temporary storage and/or treatment of animal waste. For the purposes of this ordinance, the term temporary shall mean not to exceed thirteen (13) months.
(3) Boarding House : A structure where meals and lodging are offered for compensation for five but not more than 12 persons and where no more than five sleeping rooms are provided for such purpose. An establishment where meals are served for compensation for more than 12 persons shall be deemed a restaurant.
(4) Boathouse : Any structure located on the same lot as the principal structure and used for protecting or storing of boats used for noncommercial purposes in conjunction with a residence, and not for human habitation.
(5) Buildable Area : The specified portion of a lot within the building and setback lines.
(6) Building line : a line measured across the width of the lot at that point where the main structure is placed in accordance with setback provisions.
(7) Building : Any structure which is 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.
(8) Building Area : The area bounded by the exterior dimensions of the outer walls at the ground line.
(9) Bulkhead Line : A line in a harbor or navigable waters defining the channel ward limit of solid fills or bulkheads.
(10) Camping Areas : Any public or private premises established for day and overnight habitation by persons using equipment designed for the purpose of temporary camping
(11) Club or Lodge : An association, or persons who are bona fide members, which owns, hires, or leases a structure or portion thereof, the use of such premises being restricted to members and their guests.
(12) Comprehensive Plan : A plan intended to guide the physical development of the community for which it is prepared, and was legally adopted and from time to time amended by the local governmental unit under the procedures and including all provisions of Section 66.1001, Wisconsin State Statutes.
(13) Dwelling Units : 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 and not more than an aggregate of two roomers, and which includes complete kitchen facilities permanently installed.
(14) Dwelling, Detached : A residential structure which is entirely surrounded by open space on the same lot.
(15) Dwelling, Single-Family : A residential structure containing one dwelling unit meeting the requirements as set forth in Section 2.19 of this Ordinance. This definition includes site built and manufactured homes.
(16) Dwelling-Two-Family (duplex) : A residential structure containing two dwelling units combined into one structure and meeting the requirements as set forth in Section 2.19 of this Ordinance. This definition includes site built and manufactured homes.
(17) Dwelling, Multiple-Family (Apartment) : A residential structure having three or more dwelling units combined into one structure, for occupancy by three or more families.
(18) Environmental Corridor: Environmental corridors shall consist of the following features:
a. Wetlands and buffer, if applicable.
b. Watercourses and their building setback area.
c. Steep slopes of 12% or greater.
d. Floodplain
(19) Family : One or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption or a group of not more than five persons not so related, maintaining a common household in a dwelling unit.
(20) Forestry : The production and management of trees as a crop.
(21) Floodplain : The relatively flat area or lowland area that is periodically inundated by floodwaters including but not limited to the regional flood, as mapped or approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(22) Floor Area, Gross : For the purpose of determining requirements for off-street parking and off-street loading, the floor area shall mean the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of the structure, or portion thereof, devoted to such use, including accessory storage areas located within a 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.
(23) Fur Farm : A tract of land or structures devoted in whole or part to the raising of fur bearing animals for commercial purposes.
(24) Game Farms/Shooting Preserves : A business where the owner of said premises provides for the “put and take” of game animals for profit. Within this definition is included the shooting of sporting clays and trap ranges, fire arms/archery equipment shooting ranges, the training of hunting animals, sanctioned hunts and other similar uses reasonably associated with such activities.
(25) Garage, Private : A structure primarily intended for and used for the enclosed storage or shelter of the private motor vehicle of the families resident upon the premises. Carports are considered garages.
(26) Garage, Public or Commercial : Any garage other than a private garage.
(27) Height, Structure : “Structure height” is the vertical distance measured from grade to the highest point of the roof; adjacent to the street wall for flat roofs; to the deck line of mansard roofs; and to the mean height between eaves and ridges for gable, hip, gambrel or pent roofs.
(28) Home Occupation : Minor – An occupation where no person other than that of the resident family is employed on the premises. Such occupation may be conducted out of the residential structure or accessory structure located on the same parcel as the residence.
(29) Home Occupation : Major – A home occupation that cannot meet all of the standards listed in Section 2.23 (Home Occupation – Minor). Such occupation will require a conditional use permit approval.
(30) Hotel : A structure containing lodging rooms, a common entrance lobby, halls, and stairway; where each lodging room does not have a doorway opening directly to the outdoors, except for emergencies and where more than 50 percent of the lodging rooms are for rent to transient guests with or without meals, for a continuous period of less than 30 days.
(31) Hunting or Fishing Shelters : A structure without permanent toilet or kitchen facilities, intended solely for fishing, hunting or trapping and only for temporary occupancy.
(32) Junk Yard : An open area or fenced-in enclosure, where used or second-hand 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. A junkyard includes an auto-wrecking yard but does not include uses established entirely within enclosed structures. Two or more inoperative vehicles or pieces of equipment shall constitute a junkyard.
(33) Land Use Permit : A document issued by the zoning enforcement officer or his/her authorized designee authorizing structures or uses consistent with the terms of this ordinance for the purpose of carrying out and enforcing its provisions.
(34) Lot : A parcel of land, whether legally described or subdivided as one or more lots or parts of lots and which is occupied or intended for occupancy by one principal structure or principal use, together with any accessory structure and such open spaces as are required by this ordinance; and having its principal frontage upon a street or road.
(35) Lot Area : The area of contiguous land banded by lot line exclusive of land provided for public thoroughfares.
(36) Lot, Depth : The average horizontal distance between the front lot line and the rear lot line of a lot measured within the lot boundaries.
(37) Lot Lines : 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 street or alley right-of-way line.
(38) Lot, Width : The average horizontal distance between the side lot lines of a lot measured within the lot boundaries or the minimum distance between the side lot lines within the buildable area.
(39) Mobile Home : A vehicle or structure manufactured or assembled prior to June 15, 1976 and designed to be transported to its placement site as a single unit or in sections and equipped and used, or intended to be used, primarily for human habitation and having an overall length in excess of 45 feet. This definition includes any additions, foundations, and plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems contained in it.
(40) Manufactured Home : A structure substantially constructed off site meeting minimum provisions for dwellings and meeting all of the following criteria:
a. Transportable in one or more sections
b. Built on a permanent chassis
c. Placed on a permanent foundation
d. Connected to utilities (plumbing, heating, electrical, air conditioning systems)
e. Constructed on or after June 15, 1976 in accordance with U.S. Housing and Urban Development standards and identified with a H.U.D. seal of approval
f. A manufactured home shall be considered a single-family or two-family dwelling when meeting the requirements as set forth in Section 2.19 of this Ordinance.
(41) Mobile – Manufacture Home Park : Any parcel of land upon which two or more units occupied for dwelling purposes are located and is occupied entirely by mobile homes, manufactured homes or any combination thereof. This definition shall not include sales lots on which unoccupied mobile or manufactured homes are parked for purposes of inspection and sales. The mobile-manufactured home park must meet all requirements as set forth in Section 24.07(6) of this Ordinance.