These regulations are adopted under the authority granted by
§§ 62.23(7), 62.231, 62.234, 66.1027, 87.30, 144.26,
and 236.45 of the Wisconsin Statutes and amendments thereto. Therefore,
the Common Council of the City of Franklin does ordain as follows:
This Ordinance shall be known as, referred to, or cited as,
"Unified Development Ordinance, City of Franklin, Wisconsin."
The purpose of this Ordinance is to promote the health, safety,
morals, prosperity, aesthetics, and general welfare of the City of
Franklin, Wisconsin and to regulate and control the division of land
within the limits of the City of Franklin, Wisconsin, and its extraterritorial
plat approval jurisdiction in order to promote the public health,
safety, morals, prosperity, aesthetics, and general welfare of the
City and its environs.
It is the general intent of this Ordinance to regulate the division
of land and restrict the use of all structures, lands, and waters
so as to:
A. Regulate and restrict lot coverage and the size
and location of all structures so as to prevent overcrowding and to
provide adequate sunlight, air, sanitation, and drainage;
B. Regulate population density and distribution so
as to avoid sprawl or undue concentration and to facilitate the provision
of adequate public service and utilities;
C. Regulate parking, loading, and access so as to lessen
congestion on, and promote the safety and efficiency of, the streets
and highways;
D. Secure safety from fire, flooding, pollution, contamination,
panic, and other dangers;
E. Stabilize and protect existing and potential property
values;
F. Encourage compatibility between different land uses
and protect the scale and character of existing development from the
encroachment of incompatible development;
G. Further the wise use, conservation, protection,
and proper development of the City's natural resources including soils,
topography and steep slopes, water, floodplains, shore buffers, shorelands,
drainageways, wetlands and shoreland wetlands, woodlands and forests,
and wildlife resource features and attain a proper adjustment of land
division, land use and development to the supporting and sustaining
natural resource base;
H. Preserve and protect the beauty of the City of Franklin,
Wisconsin and environs;
I. Further the orderly layout and appropriate use of
land;
J. Prevent and control erosion, sedimentation, and
other pollution of the surface and subsurface waters;
K. Further the maintenance of safe and healthful water
conditions;
L. Prevent flood damage to persons and property to
minimize expenditures for flood relief and flood control projects;
M. Provide for and protect a variety of suitable commercial
and industrial sites;
N. Protect the traffic-carrying capacity of existing
and proposed arterial streets, highways, and collector streets;
O. Facilitate adequate provisions for housing, transportation,
water supply, stormwater, wastewater, schools, parks, playgrounds,
and other public facilities and services;
P. Restrict building sites in areas covered by poor
soils or in other areas poorly suited for development due to natural
resource features or other characteristics;
Q. Facilitate the further division of larger tracts
into smaller parcels of land;
R. Ensure adequate legal descriptions and proper survey
monumentation of subdivided land;
S. Avoid the harmful effects resulting from the premature
division of land;
T. Implement those municipal, County, watershed, or
regional comprehensive plans or their components adopted by the City
and in general facilitate enforcement of those development standards
as set forth in the adopted regional, County, and municipal local
comprehensive master plans, master plan, comprehensive plan, neighborhood
plans, planning district plans, adopted plan components, Unified Development
Ordinance, and Building Code of the City of Franklin, Wisconsin;
U. Provide for the administration and enforcement of
this Ordinance;
V. Provide penalties for the violation of this Ordinance;
and
W. Discourage development in floodplains if there is
any practicable alternative to locate the activity, use or structure
outside of the floodplain.
It is not intended by this Ordinance to repeal, abrogate, annul,
impair, or interfere with any existing easements, covenants, deed
restrictions, agreements, ordinances, rules, regulations, or permits
previously adopted or issued pursuant to laws. However, wherever this
Ordinance imposes greater restrictions, the provisions of this Ordinance
shall govern.
In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this
Ordinance shall be held to be minimum requirements and shall be liberally
construed in favor of the City and shall not be deemed a limitation
or repeal of any other power granted by the Wisconsin Statutes.