City of Onalaska, WI Division 1 Summary Table; Procedures and Requirements

13.05.11 Summary table.

[Amended 7-12-2022 by Ord. No. 1739-2022]

A. Table 13.05.11-1 summarizes the review process for the various types of development applications processed under this chapter.

Table 13.05.11-1: Development Procedures Summary
Type of Application	Pre-Application Meeting with Staff	Public Hearing Required	Administrative	Plan Commission	Common Council	Board of Zoning Appeals	Historic Preservation Commission	Final Action
	R-Required S-Suggested	Y-Yes Blank-No	R-Review    D-Decision A-Appeal    PH - Public Hearing
Site-Related
Site plan permit	R		D					Site plan permit and conditions of approval
Conditional use permit	S	Yes		D PH				Resolution with conditions of approval
Variance	R	Yes				D PH		Board of Zoning decision
Appeal of UDC Interpretation						D		Board of Zoning decision
Establishment of a planned unit development (PUD) or downtown planned unit development (D-PUD)	R	Yes		R PH	D			Conditions of approval
Minor amendment to PUD, D-PUD, or PCID	R		D					Conditions of approval
Major amendment to PUD, D-PUD, or PCID	R	Yes		R PH	D			Conditions of approval
Historic preservation certificate of appropriateness	S						D	Certificate of appropriateness
Subdivision-Related
Minor subdivision/metes and bounds lot line adjustment	S		D					Signed Certified Survey Map
Minor subdivision/metes and bounds land division	S			R	D			Conditions of approval and Signed Certified Survey Map
Major subdivision - preliminary plat	R	Yes		R	D			Conditions of approval
Major subdivision - final plat				R	D			Conditions of approval and signed final plat
Extraterritorial plat review	R			R	D			Conditions of approval. (No appeals.)
Extraterritorial minor land division review			D					Conditions of approval and Signed Certified Survey Map
Ordinance Amendment
Text amendment	S	Yes		R PH	D			Ordinance
Map amendment	R	Yes		R PH	D			Ordinance and conditions of approval
Establishment of a Medical Campus District	R	Yes		R PH	D			Ordinance and conditions of approval
Minor amendment to Medical Campus District	S		D					Conditions of approval
Major amendment to Medical Campus District	R	Yes		R PH	D			Conditions of approval
Annexation	R	Yes		R PH	D			Ordinance and conditions of approval
D-PUD Downtown Parking Reduction Level 1 Request	R	No	D					Conditions of approval
D-PUD Downtown Parking Reduction Level 2 Request	R	Yes			D			Conditions of approval

13.05.12 Common procedures and requirements.

A. Applicability. The requirements of this chapter shall apply to all development applications and procedures subject to development review under this Code unless otherwise stated.

B. Permits required.

1. Property owners or their agents are required to obtain all required local, state, and federal permits prior to initiating any activities on their site.

2. Property owners or their agents that have property in state-designated archaeologically sensitive areas shall be required to obtain required permits from the State of Wisconsin prior to obtaining permits from the Inspection Department.

C. Authority to file applications.

1. Development review applications for an individual property may be initiated by:

a. The owner of the property that is the subject of the application; or

b. An agent authorized by the owner of the property that is the subject of the application, which may include a lessee of the property. Evidence of such authorization shall be the signature of the property owner.

c. If the property subject to an application is under more than one ownership, all owners or their authorized agents shall join in filing the application.

2. The Plan Commission and Common Council may initiate text and map amendments to the UDC. If the subject of the amendment is a specific site or project, the Plan Commission or Common Council may initiate amendments with or without application from the owner.

D. Pre-application meetings.

1. Pre-application meetings are required or recommended based on development application type as identified in Table 13.05.11-1.

2. A pre-application meeting is an informal discussion between a potential applicant and applicable City staff regarding a possible project subject to this Title. The Zoning Administrator shall determine which City staff shall attend the pre-application meeting.

3. The purpose of the pre-application meeting is to assist the applicant in identifying the type of approvals needed, the potential review criteria, and the information to be contained in the application(s).

4. Discussions that occur during pre-application meetings are not binding on the City and do not constitute official assurances or representations on the City.

E. Application materials and fees.

1. The Planning Department shall develop and amend a UDC Application Manual as needed.

2. Each application for a permit or approval, or for an amendment of a permit or approval, shall include all those application materials listed in the UDC Application Manual.

3. The City may reject an application not meeting the requirements of this Code or where the required fee or escrow has not been paid.

4. The Common Council shall approve and adjust as needed the fees to accompany applications submitted under the UDC through the adoption of a fee schedule.

5. No application shall be processed until the established fee has been paid.

6. Application fees are not refundable, except where the Planning Department has determined that an application was accepted in error or when the fee paid exceeds the amount due, in which case the overpayment shall be refunded to the applicant.

F. Coordination of applications.

1. Depending on the requirements of this Title, multiple applications may be required.

2. The Zoning Administrator shall determine the order of application review based on the City Code, including this Title and state requirements. Where possible, applications will be reviewed in tandem.

G. Technical assistance.

1. In making its decision, the City may determine that technical assistance is needed. The City may request assistance from any source that is qualified to provide it. The applicant shall be responsible for the cost of such technical assistance.

H. Withdrawal of applications.

1. Any request for withdrawal of an application shall be submitted in writing to the Planning Department.

2. In all cases where the applicant has requested withdrawal of an application, the associated fee paid and any costs incurred by the City in the processing of an application shall not be refunded.

I. Successive applications.

1. No application which has been denied wholly or in part may be resubmitted for at least one year from the date of its denial, unless substantial changes have been made which warrant reconsideration, as determined by Planning Department.

J. Public hearings and notices.

1. Public hearings as required by this Title shall be conducted pursuant to the rules established for each of the bodies, the Onalaska Code, and in compliance with state law.

2. Development applications requiring a public hearing are identified in Table 13.05.11-1. Applicants are advised that development applications requiring a public hearing will need additional time for processing as the state requires a minimum number of days for notice to be available before the public hearing can occur.

3. All public hearings shall be open to the public.

K. Appeals.

1. Plan Commission.

a. Any party in interest aggrieved by a decision of the Plan Commission may appeal to the Common Council by filing a written notice of appeal within 10 days after the date of the decision accompanied by a statement as to the facts of the case under appeal, any additional documents or exhibits the appellant believes are required, and a statement as to the relief requested. A party in interest shall be defined as a person upon whom a decision made by the Plan Commission has made a tangible impact. The party shall establish the tangible impact in the appeal application. Such request for appeal shall be signed by the applicant or by the owners of at least 20% of the land area immediately adjacent extending 100 feet therefrom or by the owners of 20% or more of the land directly opposite thereto extending 100 feet from the street frontage of such opposite land.

b. The date of receipt of the decision shall not be counted in determining the time for filing of the appeal. Sundays and holidays shall be counted, except if the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the time for filing shall be extended to the next secular day.

c. An appeal shall stay enforcement of the decision of the Commission unless the Commission has determined that a stay would cause imminent peril to life or property.

d. The Common Council shall hear and decide the appeal not more than 45 days after it is filed, unless in the judgment of the Common Council a good and sufficient reason exists for postponement of the hearing or decision or both, in which case a postponement may be made.

e. The Planning Department shall cause notice of the appeal hearing to be mailed to the appellant, to any person who has requested in writing for such notice to be sent, and as required by the public hearing provisions of Table 13.05.11-1.

f. At the appeal hearing, the appellant, and their agent or attorney, shall be given an opportunity to be heard and to show why the decision of the Plan Commission should be overruled or amended. A representative of the Plan Commission, as well as applicable City staff shall be given an equal opportunity to be heard. After the close of the appeal hearing, the Common Council shall deliberate and may make motion(s) and take action adopting findings and an order affirming, amending or overruling the decision of the Plan Commission, or defer a decision on the matter to a subsequent meeting.

2. Appeals of Board of Zoning Appeals decisions.

a. Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Board of Zoning Appeals may seek relief therefrom in any court of competent jurisdiction as provided by the laws of the state.

b. The applicant or appellant may elect to have the appeal or application handled as a contested case. The appeal or application form shall explain that a contested case includes the right of all parties to cross examine witnesses, to object to improper evidence and to have a record of the proceedings made by a court reporter or qualified stenographer or by tape recording. Election to have the matter treated as a contested case must be made in writing at the time of filing of the appeal or application.

3. Appeals of Common Council decisions.

a. Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Common Council may seek relief therefrom in any court of competent jurisdiction as provided by the laws of the state.