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City of Prescott, WI
Pierce County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (1) Index
A. 
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. 
The density and minimum lot size for areas within the Rural Residential Management Zone shall meet the following standards:
(1) 
The minimum lot size shall have at least one acre of net project area.
(2) 
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.
A. 
River Town Management Zone: the minimum lot width shall be regulated based off the zoning district as defined in Chapter 635, Zoning, of this Code.
B. 
Rural Residential Management Zone: the minimum lot width shall be 200 feet.
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. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
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) 
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) 
The structure is not located within a slope preservation zone.
(3) 
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) 
The structure is visually inconspicuous.
(5) 
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:
A. 
The sign is approved by state or local government and is necessary for public health or safety.
B. 
The sign indicates areas that are available or not available for public use.
C. 
The sign is not visible from the river and is otherwise lawful.
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. 
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. 
The City determines that structural erosion control measures are necessary to address significant ongoing erosion that nonstructural erosion control measures cannot control.
C. 
The structural erosion control measure is constructed of natural materials and is made as visually inconspicuous as possible.
D. 
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. 
Goals. All of the following goals apply to all management zones:
(1) 
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) 
A secondary goal is to maintain and restore historically and ecologically significant plant communities and enhance diversity.
(3) 
Vegetative screening of structures takes priority over restoration and maintenance of significant plant communities.
(4) 
Successional climax forest and pre-settlement disturbed oak savanna are the preferred forest ecotype examples of significant plant communities.
B. 
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:
(1) 
Vegetation in ordinary high-water-mark setback areas, slope preservation zones and 40 feet landward of blufflines shall be left undisturbed, except as provided elsewhere in this subsection or in §§ 606-23, 606-24 and 606-29 for transmission services, wireless communication facilities or roads.
(2) 
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) 
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) 
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) 
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]]
[1]
Editor's Note: See § 329-4, Destruction of noxious weeds.
(6) 
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) 
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) 
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) 
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. 
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. 
Filling and grading activities are set back at least 40 feet from slope preservation zones.
B. 
Filling and grading activities do not disturb more than 10,000 square feet of land.
C. 
No wetlands are filled or drained.
D. 
Any vegetation that is removed is replaced with native vegetation.
E. 
Filling and grading activities are designed and implemented in a manner to minimize erosion, sedimentation, and impairment of fish and wildlife habitat.
F. 
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.]