The terms or words used in this chapter shall be interpreted
as follows: Words used in the present tense include the future; words
in the singular number include the plural number; 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.
The following terms used in this chapter mean:
Those areas shown on a municipality's Official Floodplain
Zoning Map (see definition) which would be inundated by the base flood
or regional flood as defined herein. These areas may be numbered or
unnumbered A-Zones. The A-Zones may or may not be reflective of flood
profiles, depending on the availability of data for a given area.
A detached subordinate structure or a use which is clearly
incidental to, and customarily found with, the principal structure
or use to which it is related and which is located on the same lot
as that of the principal structure or use.
Any enclosed area of a building having its floor subgrade;
i.e., below ground level, on all sides.
A permanent structure used for the storage of watercraft
and associated materials, and includes all such structures which are
totally enclosed, have roofs or walls or any combination of structural
parts.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
A geographic line along a reach of navigable water that has
been specified by adoption of a municipal ordinance and approved by
the Department of Natural Resources pursuant to § 30.11,
Wisconsin Statutes, and which allows limited filling between the bulkhead
line and the original ordinary high-water mark, except where such
filling is prohibited by the floodway provisions of this chapter.
A certification issued by the zoning administrator, stating
that in any construction and use of land or a building, the elevation
of fill or the first floor of a structure is in compliance with all
of the provisions of this chapter.
A natural or artificial watercourse with definite bed and
banks to confine and conduct normal flow of water.
A use which is permitted by this chapter, provided that certain
conditions specified in the chapter are met and that a permit is granted
by the Board of Appeals or, where designated, the Village Board or
the Planning Commission.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Any new use, change of use and any change to improved or
unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, the construction
of buildings, structures or accessory structures; any placement of
mobile homes; the construction of additions or substantial alterations
to buildings, structures or accessory structures; the placement of
buildings or structures; ditching, lagooning, dredging, filling, grading,
paving, excavation or drilling operations; and the deposition or extraction
of earthen materials, public or private sewage disposal systems or
water supply facilities.
One or more artificial ditches, tile drains or similar devices
which collect surface runoff or groundwater and convey it to a point
of discharge.
A vehicular access route which is above the regional flood
elevation and which connects land located in the floodplain to land
which is outside the floodplain, such as a road with its surface above
regional flood elevation and wide enough for wheeled rescue and relief
vehicles.
Any fill, structure, building, use or development in the
floodway.
Any facility, temporary or permanent, which is reasonably
expected to abate, reduce or aid in the prevention, measurement, control
or monitoring of noise, air or water pollutants, solid waste and thermal
pollution, radiation or other pollutants, including facilities installed
principally to supplement or to replace existing property or equipment
not meeting or allegedly not meeting acceptable pollution control
standards or which are to be supplemented or replaced by other pollution
control facilities.
A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two
or more mobile home lots for rent or sale on which the construction
of facilities for servicing the lots (including, at a minimum, the
installation of utilities, either final site grading or the pouring
of concrete pads, and the construction of streets) is completed before
the effective date of this chapter.
The preparation of additional sites by the construction of
facilities for servicing the lots on which the mobile homes are to
be placed. This includes installation of utilities, either final site
grading, pouring pads, or construction of streets.
The federal agency that administers the National Flood Insurance
Program.
A structure not actually used for navigation which extends
beyond the ordinary high-water mark of a navigable waterway and is
retained in place either by cables to the shoreline or by anchors
or spud poles attached to the bed of the waterway.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete
inundation of normally dry land areas caused by:
The overflow or rise of inland waters;
The rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any
source;
The inundation caused by waves or currents of water exceeding
anticipated cyclical levels along the shore of Lake Michigan or Lake
Superior; and
The sudden increase caused by an unusually high water level
in a natural body of water, accompanied by a severe storm or by an
unanticipated force of nature, such as a seiche, or by some similarly
unusual event.
The probability of a flood occurrence which is generally
determined from statistical analyses. The frequency of a particular
flood event is usually expressed as occurring, on the average, once
in a specified number of years or as a percent chance of occurring
in any given year.
A map prepared for the municipality by FEMA, designating
approximate flood hazard areas. Flood hazard areas are designated
as unnumbered A-Zones and do not contain floodway lines or regional
flood elevations. These maps form the basis for both the regulatory
and insurance aspects of the National Flood Insurance Program.
A technical engineering examination, evaluation, and determination
of flood hazard areas. It provides maps designating those areas affected
by the regional flood and provides both flood insurance rate zones
and regional flood elevations as well as floodway lines. The flood
hazard areas are designated as numbered or unnumbered A-Zones. Flood
insurance study maps form the basis for both the regulatory and the
insurance aspects of the National Flood Insurance Program.
A graph or a longitudinal profile line showing the relationship
of the water surface elevation of a flood event to locations of land
surface elevations along a stream or river.
An elevation that corresponds to a point two feet of freeboard
above the water surface profile associated with the regional flood.
(Also see "freeboard.")
That portion of the floodplain outside of the floodway which
is covered by floodwaters during the regional flood; it is generally
associated with standing water rather than rapidly flowing water.
That land which has been or may be hereafter covered by floodwater
during the regional flood. The floodplain includes the floodway and
the floodfringe and general floodplain areas.
A natural geologic land formation within the floodplain that
is surrounded, but not covered, by floodwater during the regional
flood.
Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions,
changes or adjustments which reduce or eliminate flood damage to unimproved
or improved real estate, water and sanitary facilities, structures
and their contents.
The channel of a river or stream and those portions of the
floodplain adjoining the channel required to carry the regional flood
discharge.
Represent the limits of obstruction to flood flows. These
lines are designated on both sides of, and generally parallel to,
the channel of a river or stream. They are established by assuming
that the area landward (outside of the encroachment lines) will ultimately
be developed in such a way that it will not convey flood flows, but
the development will not cause an increase to regional flood elevations
upstream. It is assumed that any development riverward of these lines
will cause an obstruction and will require a detailed analysis to
determine its effect on the regional flood elevations upstream.
Represents a factor of safety usually expressed in terms
of a certain amount of feet above a calculated flood level. Freeboard
compensates for the many unknown factors that contribute to flood
heights greater than the height calculated. These unknown factors
include, but are not limited to, ice jams, debris accumulation, wave
action, obstruction of bridge openings and floodways, the effects
of urbanization on the hydrology of the watershed, loss of flood storage
areas due to development and the sedimentation of a river- or streambed.
Publication or posting meeting the requirements of Ch. 985,
Wis. Stats. Class 1 notice is required, at a minimum, for appeals,
published once at least one week (seven days before the hearing).
Class 2 notice is required, at a minimum, for all zoning ordinances
and amendments, including map amendments, published twice, once each
week consecutively, the last publication at least a week (seven days)
before the hearing. Local ordinances or bylaws may require additional
notice exceeding these minimums.
Any danger to human life or public health or the potential
for any significant economic loss to a structure or its contents.
Any structure that is:
Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places
or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting
the requirements for individual listing on the National Register;
Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the
Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered
historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary
to qualify as a registered historic district;
Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places
in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved
by the Secretary of the Interior; or
Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places
in communities with historic preservation programs that have been
certified either by an approved state program, as determined by the
Secretary of the Interior, or directly by the Secretary in states
without approved programs.
A calculated upward rise in the regional flood elevation,
equal to or greater than 0.01 foot, resulting from a comparison of
existing conditions and proposed conditions which is directly attributable
to development in the floodplain, but not attributable to manipulation
of mathematical variables such as roughness factors, expansion and
contraction coefficients and discharge.
Any nonstructural use made of unimproved or improved real
estate. (Also see "development.")
A structure transportable in one or more sections, which
is built on a permanent chassis and is designed to be used with or
without a permanent foundation when connected to required utilities.
For the purpose of this chapter, it does not include recreational
vehicles or travel trailers which remain licensed and ready for highway
use and remain on-site less than 180 days.
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. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has declared navigable bodies of
water with a bed differentiated from adjacent uplands and with levels
or flow sufficient to support navigation by a recreational craft of
the shallowest draft on an annually recurring basis. [Muench v. Public
Service Commission, 261 Wis. 492 (1952), and DeGayner and Co., Inc.
v. Department of Natural Resources, 70 Wis. 2d 936 (1975).]
Any development which physically blocks the conveyance of
floodwaters such that this development by itself or in conjunction
with any future similar development will cause an increase in regional
flood height.
That map, adopted and made part of this chapter, as described in § 152-11, which has been approved by the Department and FEMA.
Those uses having a relatively low flood-damage potential
and not involving structures.
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
characteristic.
An individual, or group of individuals, corporation, partnership,
association, municipality or state agency.
The Village Planning Commission created under § 62.23(1),
Wis. Stats., which acts on matters pertaining to planning and zoning.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
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.
The flood frequency of the regional flood is once in every 100 years.
This means that in any given year, there is a 1% chance that the regional
flood may occur or be exceeded. During a typical thirty-year mortgage
period, the regional flood has a 26% chance of occurrence. The regional
flood is based upon a statistical analysis of stream flow records
available for the watershed or an analysis of rainfall and runoff
characteristics in the general watershed region, or both. FEMA uses
the term "base flood" which means the regional flood.
The zoning district, created in this chapter, comprised of
shorelands that are designated as wetlands on the wetlands inventory
maps which have been adopted and made a part of this chapter.
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.
The volume of space above an area of floodplain land that
can be occupied by floodwater of a given stage at a given time, regardless
of whether the water is moving.
Any structural repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure,
the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the present equalized assessed
value of the structure either before the improvement or repair is
started or, if the structure has been damaged and is being restored,
before the damage occurred. The term does not, however, include either:
Any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing
state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which
existed before the improvement began, were identified by a municipal
official and are necessary to assure safe living conditions.
Any alteration of a designated historic structure (see definition)
or site documented as deserving preservation by the Wisconsin State
Historical Society, or listed on the National Register of Historic
Places, provided the alteration will not preclude the structure's
continued designation as an historic structure.
Ordinary maintenance repairs are not considered structural repairs,
modifications or additions. Such ordinary maintenance repairs include
internal and external painting, decorating, paneling, and the replacement
of doors, windows, and other nonstructural components. Substantial
improvement begins when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling,
floor, or other structural part of the building commences, whether
or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure.
That circumstance where special conditions, which were not
self-created, affect a particular property and make strict conformity
with the restrictions governing dimensional standards (such as area,
setbacks, frontage, or height) unnecessarily burdensome or unreasonable
in light of the purpose of this chapter. Unnecessary hardship is present
only where, in the absence of a variance, no feasible use can be made
of the property.
An authorization granted by the Board of Appeals to construct,
alter or use a building or structure in a manner that deviates from
the dimensional standards of this chapter. A variance may not permit
a use of property otherwise prohibited by the chapter or allow construction
not protected to the flood protection elevation.
A graphic representation showing the elevation of the water
surface of a watercourse for each position along a reach of river
or stream at a certain flood flow. A water surface profile of the
regional flood is used in regulating floodplain areas.
Any construction, filling, flooding, draining, dredging,
ditching, tilling, excavating, temporary water level stabilization
measures or dike and dam construction in a wetland area.
Those areas where water is at, near, or above the land surface
long enough to support aquatic or hydrophytic vegetation and which
have soils indicative of wet conditions.
