Jurisdiction of this chapter shall include all lands within
the limits of the Town. The provisions of this chapter as they apply
to divisions of tracts of land into four or fewer parcels shall not
apply to:
A.
Transfers of interest in land by will or pursuant to court order.
B.
Leases for a term not to exceed 10 years, mortgages or easements.
C.
Sale or exchange of parcels of land between owners of adjoining property
if additional lots are not, thereby, created and the lots resulting
are not reduced below the minimum sizes required by these regulations,
the zoning ordinances, or other applicable laws, codes, ordinances.
D.
Cemetery plats made under § 157.07, Wis. Stats.
E.
Assessors' plats made under § 70.27, Wis. Stats., but such
assessors' plats shall comply with § 236.15(1)(ag) and § 236.20(1)
and (2)(a) through (e), Wis. Stats.
No person, firm, or corporation shall divide any land located
within the limits of the Town which results in a subdivision, minor
land division or a replat as defined herein; no such subdivision,
minor land division or replat shall be entitled to recording; and
no street shall be laid out or improvements made to land without compliance
with all requirements of this chapter and the following documents:
A.
Chapter 236, Wis. Stats.
B.
Rules of the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
regulating lot size and lot elevation if the land to be subdivided
is not served by a public sewer and provisions for such service have
not been made.
C.
Rules of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation relating to safety
of access and the preservation of the public interest and investment
in the highway system if the land owned or controlled by the subdivider
abuts on a state trunk highway or a connecting highway.
D.
Rules of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources setting water
quality standards preventing and abating pollution and regulating
development within floodlands, wetland, and shoreland areas.
E.
Duly approved Comprehensive Plan, including its individual elements,
of the Town of West Bend, Washington County, Wisconsin.
F.
The Washington County Shoreland/Floodplain Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 325, Zoning, of the Town Code, and all other applicable local and county ordinances.
G.
Rules of the Washington County Highway Department relating to safety
of access if the land owned or controlled by the subdivider abuts
on a county trunk highway.
Whenever a tract of land to be divided within the jurisdiction
of this chapter encompasses all or any part of an arterial or collector
street, drainageway, or other public way which has been designated
on a duly adopted Town, county, or regional comprehensive plan or
comprehensive plan component, said public way shall be made a part
of the plat and dedicated or reserved by this subdivider in the locations
and dimensions indicated on said plan or map and as set forth in this
chapter.
Before final approval of any plat or certified survey map located
within the Town, the subdivider shall install street and utility improvements
as hereinafter provided. If such improvements are not installed as
required at the time that the final plat or certified survey map is
submitted for approval, the subdivider shall, before the recording
of the plat or certified survey map, enter into a contract or development
agreement with the Town agreeing to install the required improvements
and shall file with said contract a certified check in an amount equal
to the estimated cost of the improvements plus 10%, said estimate
to be made by the Town Board after review and recommendation by the
Town Engineer, as a guarantee that such improvements will be completed
by the subdivider or his or her subcontractors not later than one
year from the date of recording of the final plat or certified survey
map and as a further guarantee that all obligations to subcontractors
for work on the development are satisfied. The Town shall retain the
interest accumulated on the certified check. In addition:
A.
Contractors and subcontractors who are to be engaged in the construction
of street and utility improvements on dedicated street rights-of-way
as well as the contracts and contract specifications for such construction
shall be subject to the approval of the Town Board.
B.
Governing units to which these bond and contract provisions apply
may file, in lieu of said contract and bond, a letter from officers
authorized to act on their behalf agreeing to comply with the provisions
of this section.
C.
Survey monuments. Before final approval of any plat or certified
survey map within the Town, the subdivider shall install survey monuments
placed in accordance with the requirements of § 236.15,
Wis. Stats., and as may be required by the Town Engineer or County
Surveyor.
A.
Where in the judgment of the Town Board it would be inappropriate
to apply literally the provisions of this chapter because exceptional
or undue hardship would result, the Town Board, upon recommendation
of the Plan Commission, may waive or modify any requirement to the
extent deemed just and proper.
B.
The Plan Commission shall not recommend nor shall the Town Board
grant variances or exceptions to the regulations of this chapter unless
it shall make findings based upon the evidence presented to it in
each specific case that all of the following apply:
(1)
Exceptional circumstances. There are exceptional, extraordinary,
or unusual circumstances, as distinguished from a mere inconvenience,
financial hardship, or self-imposed hardship, or conditions where
a literal enforcement of the requirements of this chapter would result
in severe hardship. Such hardship should not apply generally to other
properties or be of such a recurrent nature as to suggest that this
chapter should be changed.
(2)
Preservation of property rights. That such variance is necessary
for the preservation and enjoyment of substantial property rights
possessed by other properties in the same vicinity.
(3)
Absence of detriment. That the variance will not create substantial
detriment to adjacent property and will not materially impair or be
contrary to the purpose and spirit of this Code or the public interest.
C.
A majority vote of the Town Board shall be required to grant any
modification of this chapter.
D.
The Town Board may waive the placing of monuments, required under
§ 236.15(b), (c), and (d), Wis. Stats, for a reasonable
time on condition that the subdivider execute a cash bond to ensure
the placing of such monuments within the required time limits established
by the Town Board.
No land shall be divided which is determined by the Plan Commission
to be unsuitable for such use for reason of flooding, inadequate drainage,
adverse soil conditions or rock formation, unfavorable topography,
or any other natural or artificial feature likely to be harmful to
the health, safety, or welfare of the future residents of the proposed
land division or of the Town.
A.
Floodlands. No lot served by public sanitary sewerage facilities
shall have less than 50% of its required lot area above the elevation
of the 100-year-recurrence-interval flood, or where such data is not
available, five feet above the maximum flood of record. No lot of
one acre or less in area shall include floodplain. All lots more than
one acre shall contain not less than 40,000 square feet of land which
is at an elevation above the elevation of the 100-year-recurrence-interval
flood, or where such data is not available, five feet above the maximum
flood of record.
B.
Lands made, altered, or filled with nonearth materials within the
preceding 20 years shall not be divided into building sites.
C.
Land made, altered, or filled with earth within the preceding seven
years shall not be divided into building sites which are to be served
by on-site soil-absorption sanitary-sewage disposal systems.
D.
Lots proposed to be served by on-site soil-absorption sanitary-sewage
disposal systems shall have not less than 20,000 square feet in slopes
of 12% or less.
E.
Lands having bedrock within six feet of the natural undisturbed surface
shall not be divided into building sites to be served by soil-absorption
sanitary-sewage disposal systems, unless in compliance with current
standards promulgated by the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional
Services.
F.
Lands having groundwater within six feet of the natural undisturbed
surface shall not be divided into building sites to be served by soil-absorption
sanitary-sewage disposal systems, unless in compliance with current
standards promulgated by the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional
Services.
G.
Lands covered by soils having a percolation rate slower than 60 minutes
per inch shall not be divided into building sites to be served by
soil-absorption sanitary-sewage disposal systems, unless in compliance
with current standards promulgated by the Wisconsin Department of
Safety and Professional Services.
H.
Soils determined by Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
and the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service which have very
severe limitations for residential development served by on-site soil-absorption
sanitary-sewage disposal systems shall not be divided into building
sites.
I.
Lands artificially drained by farm drainage tile or farm ditch systems
for the purpose of lowering the water table shall not be divided into
building sites to be served by on-site soil-absorption sanitary-sewage
disposal systems.
J.
The Plan Commission, in applying the provisions of this section,
shall, in writing, recite the particular facts upon which it bases
its conclusion that the land is unsuitable for residential use and
afford the subdivider an opportunity to present evidence in rebuttal
to such finding of unsuitability if he or she so desires, or he or
she may present engineering plans indicating how the unsuitable condition
will be resolved. Thereafter, the Plan Commission may affirm, modify,
or withdraw its determination of unsuitability.
It shall be unlawful to build upon, divide, convey, record,
or place monuments on any land in violation of this chapter or the
Wisconsin Statutes; and no person, firm, or corporation shall be issued
a building permit by the Town authorizing the building on, or improvement
of, any subdivision, minor land division or replat within the jurisdiction
of this chapter not of record as of the effective date of this chapter
until the provisions and requirements of this chapter have been fully
met. The Town Board may institute appropriate action or proceeding
to enjoin violations of this chapter or the applicable Wisconsin Statutes.
A.
Any person, firm, or corporation who violates or fails to comply
with the provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof,
be subject to a forfeiture of $100 for the first offense, $250 for
the second offense, and $500 for the third offense, plus the costs
of prosecution for each offense, plus any legal fees incurred by the
Town including the drafting of contracts and other documents, and
any actions or proceedings required to enforce this chapter. The penalty
for default of payment of such forfeiture and costs shall be imprisonment
in the county jail until payment thereof, but not exceeding six months.
Each day a violation exists or continues shall constitute a separate
offense. Violations and concomitant penalties shall include:
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. III)]
B.
In addition, an assessor's plat made under § 70.27, Wis.
Stats., may be ordered by the Town Board at the expense of the subdivider
when a subdivision, as defined herein, is created by successive divisions.
Any person aggrieved by an objection to a plat or a failure
to approve a plat may appeal such objection or failure to approve
as provided in § 236.13(5), Wis. Stats., within 30 days
of notification of the rejection of the plat. Where failure to approve
is based on an unsatisfied objection, the agency making the objection
shall be made a party to the action.
