Grouping of residences in clusters will permit
individual minimum lot sizes as zoned to be reduced, provided that
overall density within the subdivision is maintained. The remaining
undeveloped area within the subdivision can be used to provide common
open space and preserve the scenic qualities of an applicable environmentally
sensitive area. Grouping of residences will facilitate common water
and sewage disposal systems and encourage the improved use of the
land respecting the preservation of natural resources.
Cluster subdivisions shall be submitted for review according to §§
275-15 to
275-20 of this chapter.
A. Plans analyzing each site's special features are required
for all proposed subdivisions, as they form the basis of the design
process for open space, house locations, street alignments, and lot
lines. The applicant or representative shall bring a copy of the existing
features (site analysis) map to the on-site walkabout with the Town
Plan Commission. Detailed requirements for an existing features map
shall include:
(1) A topography map, based on a United States Geological
Survey (USGS) quadrangle map;
(2) The location of environmentally sensitive elements,
such as steep slopes (over 25%), wetlands, watercourses, intermittent
streams and one-hundred-year floodplains, and all rights-of-way and
easements;
(3) Soil boundaries as shown on the Winnebago County Soil
Survey maps published by the Soil Conservation Service; and
(4) The location of significant features, such as woodlands,
tree lines, open fields or meadows, scenic views into or out from
the property, watershed divides and drainageways, fences or stone
walls, rock outcrops, and existing structures, roads, tracks and trails.
B. An existing features map shall identify both primary conservation areas (floodplains, wetlands, and steep slopes, as defined in the process for computing adjusted tract acreage) and secondary conservation areas, as described in §
275-52 of this chapter. Together, these primary and secondary conservation areas comprise the development's proposed open space. Their location must be consistent with the Towns Comprehensive Plan's implementation section regarding parks and recreation and multipurpose trails. The existing features map shall form the basis for the conceptual preliminary plan, which shall show the tentative location of houses, streets, lot lines, and greenway lands.
Proposed cluster developments shall contain a minimum of 20 acres and shall be platted according to the requirements of this chapter. The maximum permitted number of lots in such development shall be determined by dividing the total adjusted tract acreage as described below by the minimum lot sizes required in Chapter
310, Zoning, of the Town Code.
A. Open space shall be comprised of two types of land,
primary conservation areas and secondary conservation areas. All lands
within both primary and secondary conservation areas are required
to be protected by a permanent conservation easement prohibiting further
development and setting other standards safeguarding the site's special
resources from negative changes.
(1) Primary conservation areas. This category consists
of wetlands, lands that are generally inundated (under ponds, lakes,
creeks, etc.), land within the one-hundred-year floodplain, slopes
exceeding 25%, and soils subject to slumping. These sensitive lands
are deducted from the total parcel acreage to produce the adjusted
tract acreage on which density shall be based (for both conventional
and conservation subdivisions).
(2) Secondary conservation areas. In addition to the primary conservation areas, at least 50% of the remaining buildable land (minus deductions as specified in §
275-51) shall be designated and permanently protected.
B. Land in the primary and secondary conservation areas
(not used for lots and streets) shall be protected through a conservation
easement or actual land dedication to the public. This may be accomplished
by the following means:
(1) Conveyance to owners of lots in the development. If the land is to be reserved for use by owners of lots in the development, the land shall be conveyed for use to a homeowners' association or similar legally constituted body which shall also maintain the open space conservation easement. (See §
275-54 of this article for specific requirements governing this form of open space dedication.)
C. Water supply and sewage disposal shall meet the minimum
standards of all state, county, sanitary district, or Town regulations.
D. The design standards, as outlined within this chapter,
may, at the discretion of the Town Board, be relaxed as an incentive
in developing cluster subdivisions. Standards that can be relaxed
in order to permit more creative land division design include, but
are not limited to, lot shape and depth, length of cul-de-sac roads,
and road right-of-way width.
E. Pedestrian trails within a cluster subdivision are
required to be connected to any regional pedestrian trails wherever
established or proposed by the Town of Winneconne, Winnebago County,
or the State of Wisconsin.
The minimum percentage of land that shall be
designated as permanent open space, not to be further subdivided,
and protected through a conservation easement held by a homeowners'
association or dedicated to the Town of Winneconne or Winnebago County
shall be as specified below:
A. A minimum of 50% of the total parcel area, including
the following kinds of unbuildable land (which are also required to
be deducted when calculating net permitted density for conventional
subdivisions as well): wetlands and land that is generally inundated
and under ponds, lakes, creeks, etc.; all of the floodway and floodway
fringe within the one-hundred-year floodplain, as shown on official
FEMA maps; land with slopes exceeding 25% or soils subject to slumping;
and land under permanent easement prohibiting future development (including
easements for drainage, access, and utilities). The above areas shall
generally be designated as undivided open space to facilitate easement
or land dedication monitoring and enforcement and to promote appropriate
management by a single entity according to approved land management
standards.
B. The fifty-percent requirement may be decreased by
5% for each of the following elements shown in the subdivision (maximum
of fifteen-percent reduction):
(1) Use of a cluster septic system.
(2) Coordinated subdivision theme identification signage,
street name signs and lighting.
(3) Other aesthetics not necessarily required by this
chapter, such as fitness trails, docks with seating areas in ponds,
or other features considered unique and imaginative that will add
a distinctive feature and benefit to future residents and the Town.
C. All undivided open space and any lot capable of further
subdivision shall be restricted from further subdivision through a
permanent conservation easement in a form acceptable to the Town of
Winneconne and duly recorded with the Winnebago County Register of
Deeds.
D. The subdivider shall document the purposes for which
open space areas are proposed on the face of the plat.
E. The required open space may be used, without restriction,
for underground drainage fields for individual or community septic
systems.
F. Stormwater management ponds or basins and land within
the rights-of-way for underground pipelines may be included as part
of the minimum required open space.
The Town Plan Commission and Town Board shall
evaluate cluster subdivisions to determine whether the proposed conceptual
preliminary plan:
A. Protects and preserves all floodplains, wetlands,
and steep slopes from clearing, grading, filling, or construction
(except as may be approved by the Town for essential infrastructure
or active or passive recreation amenities).
B. Preserves and maintains mature woodlands, existing
fields, pastures, meadows, and orchards and creates sufficient buffer
areas to minimize conflicts between residential and agricultural uses.
If development must be located on open fields or pastures because
of greater constraints in all other parts of the site, dwellings should
be sited on the least prime agricultural soils or in locations at
the far edge of a field, as seen from existing public roads. Other
considerations include whether the development will be visually buffered
from existing public roads, such as by a planting screen consisting
of a variety of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers.
C. Maintains or creates an upland buffer of natural native
species vegetation of at least 100 feet in depth adjacent to wetlands
and surface waters, including creeks, streams, springs, lakes and
ponds.
D. Designs around existing hedgerows and tree lines between
fields or meadows and minimizes impacts on large woodlands (greater
than five acres), especially those containing many mature trees or
a significant wildlife habitat. Also, woodlands of any size on highly
erodible soils with slopes greater than 10% should be avoided. However,
woodlands in poor condition with limited management potential can
provide suitable locations for residential development. When any woodland
is developed, great care shall be taken to design all disturbed areas
(for buildings, roads, yards, septic disposal fields, etc.) in locations
where there are no large trees or obvious wildlife areas, to the fullest
extent practicable.
E. Leaves scenic views and vistas unblocked or uninterrupted,
particularly as seen from public thoroughfares. In wooded areas where
the sense of enclosure is a feature that should be maintained, a deep
"no-build, no-cut" buffer should be respected, to preserve existing
vegetation.
F. Protects wildlife habitat areas of species listed
as endangered, threatened, or of special concern by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency.
G. Designs around and preserves sites of historic, archaeological,
or cultural significance and their environs, insofar as needed to
safeguard the character of the feature, including stone walls, barn
foundations, cellar holes, earthworks, and burial grounds.
H. Protects rural roadside character and improves public
safety and roadway carrying capacity by avoiding development fronting
directly onto existing public roads.
I. Provides mature landscape plantings equal to at least
five trees (mixture of ornamental and shade tree) per each residential
unit, interspersed throughout the subdivision in areas void of trees,
cul-de-sac islands, and in visually strategic locations that will
add aesthetic appeal to the overall development.
J. Includes a pedestrian circulation system designed
to assure pedestrian safety and that provides a connection to adjoining
properties or pedestrian trail systems. All roadside pedestrian trails
(if any) should connect with off-road trails.
K. Provides open space that is in a reasonably contiguous
configuration. Fragmentation of open space should be minimized and
not divided into numerous small parcels located in various parts of
the development. To the greatest extent practicable, open space shall
be designed as a single block with logical, straightforward boundaries.
Long, thin strips of conservation land shall be avoided, unless the
conservation feature is linear or unless such configuration is necessary
to connect with other streams or trails. The open space should generally
abut existing or potential open space land on adjacent parcels (such
as in other subdivisions, public parks, or properties owned by or
leased to private land conservation organizations). Such subdivision
open space shall be designed as part of larger contiguous and integrated
greenway systems, as per the policies in the parks and open space
and multipurpose trails implementation section of the Town's Comprehensive
Plan.