Green Lake County, WI Article XVII Definitions

§ 338-78 Definitions.

A. For the purpose of administering and enforcing this chapter, the terms or words used herein shall be interpreted as follows: Words used in the present tense include the future; words in the singular number include the plural number; and words in the plural number include the singular number. The word "shall" is mandatory, not permissive. All distances, unless otherwise specified, shall be measured horizontally.

B. The following terms or words used in this chapter mean:

ACCESS AND VIEWING CORRIDOR

A strip of vegetated land that allows safe pedestrian access to the shore extending waterward from the seventy-five-foot shoreland building setback through the vegetative buffer zone.

[Amended 12-21-2021 by Ord. No. 38-2021]

AFTER-THE-FACT PERMIT

A land use permit that was issued for a development on a date after the development had already commenced, was under construction, or was completed. The fee for an after-the-fact permit is double the standard land use permit fee [see § 338-76A(1)].

[Added 11-12-2019 by Ord. No. 18-2019]

BOATHOUSE

A permanent structure used for the storage of watercraft and associated materials and includes all structures which are totally enclosed, have roofs or walls, or any combination of these structural parts.

BUILDING ENVELOPE

The three-dimensional space within which a structure is built.

COUNTY ZONING AGENCY

That committee or commission created or designated by the County Board under § 59.69(2)(a), Wis. Stats, to act in all matters pertaining to County planning and zoning. In Green Lake County, this body shall be known as the Land Use Planning and Zoning Committee.

DEER STAND

Open or enclosed platforms used by hunters. The platforms are secured to trees (or free standing) in order to elevate the hunter and give him (or her) a better vantage point.

DEPARTMENT

The Department of Natural Resources.

DEVELOPMENT

Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to, the construction of buildings, structures, or accessory structures; the construction of additions or substantial alterations to buildings, structures, or accessory structures; the placement of buildings or structures; mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation, or drilling operations; and the storage, deposition, or extraction of materials.

DRAINAGE SYSTEM

One or more artificial ditches, tile drains, or similar devices which collect surface runoff or groundwater and convey it to a point of discharge.

EXISTING DEVELOPMENT PATTERN

That principal structures exist within 250 feet of a proposed principal structure in both directions along the shoreline.

FLOODPLAIN

The land which has been or may be hereafter covered by flood water during the regional flood. The floodplain includes the floodway and the flood fringe as those terms are defined in Ch. NR 116, Wis. Adm. Code.

FOOTPRINT

The land covered by a structure at ground level measured on a horizontal plane. The footprint of a structure includes the horizontal plane bounded by the furthest exterior wall. For structures without walls (decks, stairways, patios, carports) having a single-horizontal plane, the footprint is bounded by the furthest portion of the structure projected to natural grade.

[Amended 11-12-2019 by Ord. No. 18-2019]

Note: For the purposes of replacing or reconstructing a nonconforming building with walls, the footprint shall not be expanded by enclosing the area that is located within the horizontal plane from the exterior wall to the eaves projected to natural grade. This constitutes a lateral expansion under Ch. NR 115, Wis. Adm. Code, and would need to follow Ch. NR 115.05(1)(g)5, Wis. Adm. Code.

GENERALLY ACCEPTED FORESTRY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Forestry management practices that promote sound management of a forest. Generally accepted forestry management practices include those practices contained in the most recent version of the Department publication known as Wisconsin Forest Management Guidelines and identified as PUB FR-226.

HUNTING BLIND

A hunting blind (or hide) is an easily portable, cover device for hunters, designed to reduce the chance of detection. Not including deer stands.

IMPERVIOUS SURFACE

An area that releases as runoff all or a majority of the precipitation that falls on it. "Impervious surface" excludes frozen soil but includes rooftops, sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, and streets unless specifically designed, constructed, and maintained to be pervious. Roadways as defined in § 340.01(54), Wis. Stats., or sidewalks as defined in § 340.01(58), Wis. Stats., are not considered impervious surfaces.

LAND DISTURBING ACTIVITY

Any man-made change of the land surface, the effect of which may alter the currently existing topography, or may expose soil and result in soil erosion from water or wind and the movement of sediments, including but not limited to filling, grading, lagooning, dredging, ditching, and excavating. Agricultural land uses, such as planting, growing, cultivating and harvesting of crops, growing and tending of gardens, and harvesting of trees are not considered land disturbing activity if conducted outside the vegetative buffer zone. This definition applies to those lands outside of the designated Shoreland-Wetland District; see Article III for permitted uses of those designated lands.

[Added 11-12-2019 by Ord. No. 18-2019]

LOT

An area of land that is part of a recorded subdivision plat, certified survey map, or other document using the platting process, that is identified by an assigned number or letter.

LOT OR PARCEL AREA

The total square footage lying within the peripheral boundaries of a recorded lot or parcel boundary description, including the land over which easements have been granted. The area of a lot or parcel does not include the area of any land below the ordinary high-water mark of navigable waters.

LOT OR PARCEL OF RECORD

An area of land, the description of which is properly recorded with the County Register of Deeds, which at the time of its recordation complied with all applicable laws, ordinances, and regulations. The act of recording is the time at which a lot or parcel is created.

LOT OR PARCEL, SUBSTANDARD

A legally created lot or parcel that met minimum area and minimum average width requirements when created, but does not meet current lot size requirements for a new lot or parcel.

MITIGATION

Balancing measures that are designed, implemented, and function to restore natural functions and values that are otherwise lost through development and human activities.

NAVIGABLE WATERS

Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, all natural inland lakes within Wisconsin and all streams, ponds, sloughs, flowages and other waters within the territorial limits of this state, including the Wisconsin portion of boundary waters, which are navigable under the laws of this state. Under § 281.31(2)(d), Wis. Stats., notwithstanding any other provision of law or administrative rule promulgated thereunder, shoreland ordinances required under § 59.692, Wis. Stats., and Ch. NR 115, Wis. Adm. Code, do not apply to lands adjacent to:

(1) Farm drainage ditches where such lands are not adjacent to a natural navigable stream or river and such lands were not navigable streams before ditching; and

(2) Artificially constructed drainage ditches, ponds, or stormwater retention basins that are not hydrologically connected to a natural navigable water body.

ORDINARY HIGH-WATER MARK

The point on the bank or shore up to which the presence and action of surface water is so continuous as to leave a distinctive mark such as by erosion, destruction, or prevention of terrestrial vegetation, predominance of aquatic vegetation, or other easily recognized characteristics.

PARCEL

An area of contiguous land having a boundary description duly recorded in the Register of Deeds office that identifies the boundaries of that specific parcel.

PLUMBING

A system of pipes, drains, fittings, valves, valve assemblies, and devices installed in a building for the distribution of water for drinking, heating and washing, and the removal of waterborne wastes and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. For the purpose of this chapter, plumbing includes piping, and associated fixtures that convey gases as well as liquids.

[Added 12-21-2021 by Ord. No. 38-2021]

REGIONAL FLOOD

A flood determined to be representative of large floods known to have generally occurred in Wisconsin and which may be expected to occur on a particular stream because of like physical characteristics, once in every 100 years.

REMODEL

The process where an existing structure undergoes structural reorganization, alteration or renewal without increasing the existing structure's footprint.

[Added 12-21-2021 by Ord. No. 38-2021]

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE OF VEGETATION

Normally accepted horticultural practices that do not result in the loss of any layer of existing vegetation and do not require earth disturbance.

SETBACK

The horizontal distance between a structure and an established lot line.

[Added 11-12-2019 by Ord. No. 18-2019]

(1) SETBACK, SHORELAND See "shoreland area."

(2) SETBACK, SIDE The open land area between the adjacent side lot line and the nearest point of the structure and extending from the street yard to the rear or shore yard.

(3) SETBACK, STREET The open land area across the full width of the property between the street lot line and the nearest point of the structure.

SHORELAND

Lands within the following distances from the ordinary high-water mark of navigable waters: 1,000 feet from a lake, pond, or flowage; and 300 feet from a river or stream or to the landward side of the floodplain, whichever distance is greater.

SHORELAND AREA/SHORELAND SETBACK

Also known as the "shoreland setback area" in § 59.692(1)(bn), Wis. Stats., means an area in a shoreland that is within a certain distance of the ordinary high-water mark in which the construction or placement of structures has been limited or prohibited under an ordinance enacted under § 59.692, Wis. Stats.

[Amended 11-12-2019 by Ord. No. 18-2019]

SHORELAND-WETLAND DISTRICT

A zoning district, created as a part of a County zoning ordinance, comprised of shorelands that are designated as wetlands on the Wisconsin wetland inventory maps prepared by the Department.

SPECIAL EXCEPTION (CONDITIONAL USE)

A use which is permitted by this chapter provided that certain conditions specified in this chapter are met and that a permit is granted by the Board of Adjustment or, where appropriate, the Land Use Planning and Zoning Committee or County Board.

STRUCTURE

A principal structure or any accessory structure including a garage, shed, boathouse, sidewalk, walkway, patio, deck, retaining wall, porch, or fire pit.

STRUCTURE, ACCESSORY

A subordinate structure on the same property as the principal structure which is devoted to a use incidental to the principal use of the property. Accessory structures include, but are not limited to, detached garages, sheds, barns, gazebos, patios, decks, swimming pools, hot tubs, fences, retaining walls, driveways, parking lots, sidewalks, detached stairways, and lifts.

UNNECESSARY HARDSHIP

That circumstance where special conditions, which were not self-created, affect a particular property and make strict conformity with restrictions governing area, setbacks, frontage, height or density unnecessarily burdensome or unreasonable in light of the purposes of this chapter.

VARIANCE

An authorization granted by the Board of Adjustment to construct, alter, or use a building, structure, or land in a manner that deviates from the standards of this chapter.

[Amended 11-12-2019 by Ord. No. 18-2019]

VEGETATED BUFFER ZONE, SHORELAND

That nearshore area that extends 35 feet landward from the OHWM of navigable waters. This area contains a diverse mixture of native species that may include grasses, grass-like species, forbs, shrubs, and trees. It is either natural or is constructed in accordance with § 338-60D, and functions to attenuate, absorb and filter stormwater runoff prior to being introduced into navigable waters.

[Added 11-12-2019 by Ord. No. 18-2019]

WETLANDS

Those areas where water is at, near, or above the land surface long enough to be capable of supporting aquatic or hydrophytic vegetation and which have soils indicative of wet conditions.