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With over 15,000 inland lakes, 50,000 miles of rivers and streams, and 1000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, water plays a key role in shaping the physical and cultural identity of Wisconsin. Boasting of quiet trout streams, wild rivers and streams, and inland lakes and wetlands created by ice-age glaciers, Wisconsin is blessed with a tremendous number and variety of water resources. Providing a necessary source of food and transportation, these water resources played a key role in the settlement of Wisconsin by Native American tribes and early settlers. Today, our water resources continue to play a vital role to local economies, natural habitats, and recreational activities.
Minimum Statewide Shoreland Zoning Standards
Shoreland zoning attempts to protect our water resources by regulating the activities on land adjacent to our waterways. Wisconsin law (Section 59.692, Wisconsin Statutes) requires counties to adopt and enforce zoning ordinances that meet or exceed the following minimum standards in unincorporated areas. Thirty counties have chosen to update their standards to make them more protective.
1. Lot size
In summary, s. NR115.05(3)(a) provides:
- Sewered lots must have a minimum average width of 65 feet and a minimum area of 10,000 square feet.
- Septic tank lots (i.e., lots not served by a public sanitary sewer) must have a minimum average width of 100 feet and a minimum area of 20,000 square feet.
2. Buffer Strip
In summary, s. NR115.05(3)(c) provides:
- Clear-cutting of trees and shrubs is not allowed in the strip of land from the ordinary high water mark to 35 feet inland
- One exception exists for a 30 foot wide path, for every 100 feet of shoreline, down to the water.
3. Setbacks
In summary, s. NR 115.05(3)(b) provides:
- All buildings and structures must be set back at least 75 feet from the ordinary high water mark.
- Exceptions: piers, boat-hoists, and boathouses are allowed along the shore.
- "Set back averaging"- if an existing pattern of development exists, counties may allow new homes to be built closer than 75 feet from the ordinary high water mark at the same setback as the average setback of neighboring homes.
4. Legal Nonconformities
Under State Statute, Administrative Code and case law, legal nonconforming structures are addressed in shoreland zoning ordinances:
- Legal nonoconformities generally consist of structures built prior to the adoption of the shoreland zoning ordinance.
- There is a provision for the "grandfathering" of homes which allows for the continued use of those homes that were built before the county shoreland zoning ordinance was enacted which are located closer to the water than the existing structural setbacks allow.
- The county must in some way address nonconformities in their shoreland zoning ordinance, through limiting or prohibiting additions, structural alterations and repairs.
- The intent is that over time the structures will eventually be brought into compliance with the shoreland zoning ordinance.
Resources for Waterfront
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