A.Â
The density and minimum lot size for areas within the River Town Management Zone shall be regulated based off the zoning district as defined in Chapter 635, Zoning, of this Code.
B.Â
The density and minimum lot size for areas within the Rural Residential
Management Zone shall meet the following standards:
(1)Â
The minimum lot size shall have at least one acre of net project
area.
(2)Â
If the lot is not served by a public sewage system or community sewage
collection and treatment services, the lot shall have adequate room
for one single-family residence and two private on-site wastewater
treatment systems.
In all management overlay districts, the maximum structure height shall be measured, before filling and grading, between the average ground elevation and the uppermost point of the structure, excluding chimneys. The maximum structure height shall be 35 feet except for wireless communication service facilities in the Rural Residential Management Zone, which shall meet the height requirements of § 606-24C, D and E of this chapter.
The setback shall be measured on a horizontal plane from the
point of the structure that is nearest the ordinary high-water mark,
including roof overhangs and any cantilevered portions of the structure.
A.Â
River Town Management Zone. All structures, except piers, wharves,
structural erosion control measures, stairways and lifts, shall be
set back at least 100 feet from the ordinary high-water mark.
B.Â
Rural Residential Management Zone. All structures, except piers,
wharves, structural erosion control measures, stairways and lifts,
shall be set back at least 200 feet from the ordinary high-water mark.
The bluffline setback shall be measured on a horizontal plane
from the point of the structure that is nearest to the bluffline,
including roof overhangs and any cantilevered portions of the structure.
A.Â
River Town Management Zone. All structures, except piers, wharves,
structural erosion control measures, stairways and lifts, shall be
set back 40 feet from the bluffline.
B.Â
Rural Residential Management Zone. All structures, except piers,
wharves, structural erosion control measures, stairways and lifts,
shall be set back 100 feet from the bluffline as measured, except
that structures may be set back less than 100 feet from the bluffline,
but not less than 40 feet from the bluffline, if all of the following
conditions are met:
(1)Â
No part of the structure protrudes above the bluff line when viewed
from at or near the midline of the river or from 250 feet riverward
from the shoreline, whichever is less.
(2)Â
The structure is not located within a slope preservation zone.
(3)Â
The structure utilizes earth-tone building materials that are of
a nonreflective nature, except that windows may be made of ordinary
window glass or nonreflective glass, but may not be made of glass
designed to reflect more light than ordinary window glass.
(4)Â
The structure is visually inconspicuous.
(5)Â
The structure is located more than 200 feet from the ordinary high-water
mark.
In all management zones, all new, expanded, reconstructed or
repainted structures shall be earth-tone-colored, except that structures
designated as historic buildings shall be either earth tones or colored
appropriate to the period in history for which they were designated.
In all management zones, signs are allowed if one or more of
the following criteria are met:
In all management zones, except for rock riprap that is allowed in compliance with the requirements in § 606-5 of this chapter, structural erosion control measures may only be placed above the ordinary high-water mark and within the ordinary high-water-mark setback area and bluffline setback area if all of the following criteria are met:
A.Â
The structural erosion control measure is constructed outside of slope preservation zones, or a conditional use permit has been issued in compliance with the requirements of § 606-6A(6) that allows its construction inside of slope preservation zones.
B.Â
The City determines that structural erosion control measures are
necessary to address significant ongoing erosion that nonstructural
erosion control measures cannot control.
C.Â
The structural erosion control measure is constructed of natural
materials and is made as visually inconspicuous as possible.
D.Â
The person seeking to construct the structural erosion control measure
submits a detailed construction plan, an erosion control plan and
a vegetative management plan, showing how the structural erosion control
measure will be constructed, what land disturbing activities will
take place, what, if any, vegetation will be removed, and how new,
native vegetation will be reestablished. Construction may not proceed
until the City has approved the plans.
No structures, except piers, wharves, structural erosion control
measures, stairways and lifts, may be placed in slope preservation
zones. Slopes greater than 12% may not be altered to become less than
12%.
A.Â
Goals. All of the following goals apply to all management zones:
(1)Â
The primary goals of these vegetative management provisions are to
screen structures to make them visually inconspicuous and to prevent
erosion and disturbance of environmentally sensitive areas such as
steep slopes, shorelines and bluff top areas.
(2)Â
A secondary goal is to maintain and restore historically and ecologically
significant plant communities and enhance diversity.
(3)Â
Vegetative screening of structures takes priority over restoration
and maintenance of significant plant communities.
(4)Â
Successional climax forest and pre-settlement disturbed oak savanna
are the preferred forest ecotype examples of significant plant communities.
B.Â
Standards. The purpose of vegetative management standards is to prevent
erosion, protect ground water, prevent surface water contamination
and to lessen the visual impact of existing structures and new and
expanded structures. The following vegetation management standards
apply in all management zones, except where more stringent specific
overlay district standards expressly apply:
(2)Â
Vegetation may not be disturbed or removed if it would disrupt the visually inconspicuous character of structures, reduce the quality or diversity of the plant community, or increase the potential for erosion, except as provided elsewhere in this subsection or in §§ 606-23, 606-24 and 606-29 for transmission services, wireless communication facilities or roads.
(3)Â
Routine pruning of trees or shrubs to improve their health and vigor,
pruning to provide a filtered view of the river, pruning to prevent
property damage, and removing trees that pose an imminent safety hazard
to persons or structures is allowed.
(4)Â
Lawns within ordinary high-water-mark setbacks areas, slope preservation
zones and bluffline setback areas shall not be expanded. Mowing of
existing lawns may be continued.
(5)Â
These standards do not prohibit the growth and harvest of non-wood-fiber
crops, the removal of vegetation to allow permitted uses or structures
or conditional uses, the removal of state-designated noxious weeds,
and the pruning or removal of vegetation to prevent insect infestation
or disease that threaten large areas of vegetative cover. [Note: Noxious
weeds include those species designated by § 66.0407, Wis.
Stats., which includes Canada thistle, leafy spurge and field bindweed,
and any other such weeds as the governing body of any municipality
or the county board of any county by ordinance or resolution declares
to be noxious within its respective boundaries.[1]]
(6)Â
Herbicide use shall be limited to direct topical application to cut
stems to kill noxious weeds, exotic species, poison ivy, poison oak
or poison sumac, or as a prescribed treatment within a forest stewardship
plan.
(7)Â
The practice of forestry shall be allowed on lands for which a forest
stewardship plan has been developed under Ch. 77, Wis. Stats., or
Ch. NR 46 or 47, Wis. Adm. Code, and on lands managed under forest
stewardship plans that employ best management practices for water
quality protection, erosion control and generally accepted forest
management guidelines and have been approved by a department forester.
Forest stewardship plans so allowed shall be implemented to employ
commonly accepted silvicultural practices approved by a department
forester, to ensure that silvicultural practices are compatible with
the Riverway Overlay District goals of protecting natural scenic values
and ensuring that structures remain visually inconspicuous. Cutting,
harvesting or removal of timber under this provision on land that
is visible from the river during the time when the leaves are on the
deciduous trees may only include the following practices: small regeneration
cuts with boundaries designed to harmonize with naturally occurring
shapes; shelterwood cuts not to exceed the size, shape, spacing or
timing of regeneration cuts; or selection cutting leaving a residual
timber stand of at least 60 square feet basal area. [Note: Generally
accepted forest management guidelines, which include guidelines for
forest aesthetics, are described in a Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources (WDNR) publication titled Wisconsin Forest Management Guidelines,
PUBFR-226 2003 available from the WDNR Forestry Division, PO Box 7921,
Madison, Wisconsin 53707-7921 or on the Wisconsin DNR website at:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/forestry/Publications/Guidelines/index.htm.]
(8)Â
Noxious weeds, exotic species, poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac
or any other vegetation that is removed shall be replaced with native
vegetation, which may include native non-noxious weeds.
(9)Â
In the River Town Management Zone, if there are fewer than 25 trees over five inches in diameter on the lot between the building line and the river, the existing number of trees over five inches in diameter shall be maintained, and any trees that are removed as allowed in Subsection B(1) through (8) shall be replaced by trees that are at least one inch in circumference at the base.
C.Â
Penalties. The penalty for removing vegetation in violation of this
chapter shall include replacement of vegetation with native vegetation
at the property owner's expense in addition to other remedies
available under this chapter.
If connection to the City of Prescott municipal sanitary sewer system is excepted under Chapter 470, Sewers, of this Code, private on-site wastewater treatment systems shall meet all applicable requirements of Chapter 470, shall require approval by the City, and shall be constructed in accordance with the requirements of Ch. SPS 383, Wis. Adm. Code, or stricter requirements that may be required by the City or by Pierce County in its sanitation code.
Filling and grading may be permitted outside slope preservation
zones if all of the following requirements are met:
A.Â
Filling and grading activities are set back at least 40 feet from
slope preservation zones.
B.Â
Filling and grading activities do not disturb more than 10,000 square
feet of land.
C.Â
No wetlands are filled or drained.
D.Â
Any vegetation that is removed is replaced with native vegetation.
E.Â
Filling and grading activities are designed and implemented in a
manner to minimize erosion, sedimentation, and impairment of fish
and wildlife habitat.
F.Â
As part of an erosion control plan, Wisconsin construction site best
management practices are implemented. [Note: Approved best management
practices for construction site erosion control can be found on DNR
website http://dnr.wi.gov/runoff/stormwater/techstds.htm.]