Village of Black Earth, WI General Site and Use Restrictions

The following use restrictions and regulations shall apply:

Use and height to comply. Except as otherwise provided, the use and height of any building hereafter erected, converted, moved, enlarged or structurally altered and use of any land shall be in compliance with the regulations established herein for the district in which such building or land is located.

Yards to be open and unobstructed.

(1)

Every part of a required yard shall be open to the sky unobstructed, except for accessory buildings and the ordinary projections of sills, cornices and ornamental features projecting not more than 48 inches, except that in commercial areas a permanent awning and its accessory columns or struts may project not more than five feet into a required front or side yard.

(2)

Open or enclosed fire escapes may project into a required yard not more than five feet and into a required court not more than 3 1/2 feet, provided that they are so located as not to obstruct light or ventilation.

Accessory uses and structures. Accessory uses and structures are permitted in any district, in the rear or side yard, provided as follows: the principal structure is present on the site or under construction on the site; they are not taller than the principal structure or under no circumstances exceed 20 feet in peak height; they are not larger than 900 square feet in dimension; and provided they are not closer than 10 feet to a side lot line or rear lot line. Accessory uses within the residential district shall not involve the conduct of any business or trade or industry.

[Amended 8-4-1998 by Ord. No. 98-O-1; 11-12-2002 by Ord. No. 02-O-10; 7-2-2003 by Ord. No. 03-O-9; 5-1-2007 by Ord. No. 07-O-4]

Exceptions to height regulations. Chimneys, cooling towers, elevator bulkheads, fire towers, monuments, silos, stacks, scenery lofts, tanks, water towers, ornamental towers, spires, wireless or broadcasting towers, masts or aerials and necessary mechanical appurtenances are hereby excepted from the height regulations of this chapter and may be erected in accordance with other regulations or ordinances of the Village.

Unclassified or unspecified uses. Unclassified or unspecified uses may be permitted by the Village Board after making a review and provided that such uses are similar in character to the principal uses permitted in the district.

Temporary uses. Temporary uses such as real estate sales field offices or shelters for materials and equipment being used in the construction of a permanent structure may be permitted by the Village Board.

Loading space required in commercial districts. In any commercial or industrial district, sufficient space for the loading or unloading of vehicles shall be provided on the lot in connection with any commercial or industrial use so that the public street shall at all times be free and unobstructed to the passage of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Each application for a commercial or industrial use shall specify and set forth the area for loading and unloading, and such provisions shall be approved by the Building Inspector. This provision is not applicable to present commercial and industrial uses, except that in the event of a material enlargement such provision shall be made unless the applicant can show that such a requirement would be an undue hardship.

Parking lots and off-street parking.

(1)

No parking lot shall be constructed or reconstructed unless and until a building permit is issued. Applications for a permit shall be submitted with two copies of plans for the development and construction of the parking lot.

(2)

Adequate ingress to the parking lot shall be provided and all parking spaces shall be provided adequate access by means of maneuvering lanes. Provision of adequate ingress and egress shall receive review and approval of the Consulting Engineer for the Village or such other officials as may be designated by the Village Board.

(3)

All open off-street automobile parking areas either created or redesigned and rebuilt subsequent to the adoption of this chapter containing two or more rows of parking stalls and an area of 10,000 square feet or more shall provide and maintain canopy-type shade trees along with other forms of vegetation hardy to this region, in tree islands and planting strips totaling not less than 3% of the surfaced parking area. The minimum size of each tree island or planting strip shall be not less than 50 square feet. The size, type and location of the islands and planting strips and the plant material shall be indicated on the plans required for obtaining a building permit.

(4)

All new commercial, industrial or multifamily residential developments shall provide adequate parking for the contemplated use and the adequacy shall be passed upon by the Village Board.

Corner lots shall have two front yards of required depth on both frontages, and the remaining lot shall consist of two side yards with setbacks as required based on the current zoning district.

[Amended 10-9-2006 by Ord. No. 06-O-9]

Fences.

[Added 8-4-1998 by Ord. No. 98-O-1; amended 6-12-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-O-4; 8-7-2007 by Ord. No. 07-O-9]

(1)

Purpose. The purpose of these regulations is to provide guidelines for the design, location and construction of fencing. These standards are established to promote public safety as well as encourage an aesthetic environment.

(2)

Permits. A building permit is required to construct any fence, including but not limited to hedges, except temporary fencing. Instructions and permit fee schedules for building permits are available at the Village office.

(3)

Definitions. A fence is a barrier consisting of vegetation, wood, stone, metal, vinyl or other synthetic materials intended to provide confinement, protection, or define a boundary which falls within the definitions and requirements of the following:

(a)

BOUNDARY FENCE — A fence constructed to define the boundary of a lot. These fences should be constructed so that their lowest member (except posts) is high enough to allow mowing under the fence. The lowest member (except posts) should be at least one foot above the grade of the lot. These fences should be of open construction style to allow good visibility across the lot line.

(b)

DECORATIVE FENCE — A fence constructed to enhance the appearance of the structure or the landscape. A decorative fence may not be constructed of chain link or woven wire, or of material of similar appearance.

(c)

HEDGES — A fence made of shrubs, bushes or small trees planted close together to create a continuous border of foliage to form an enclosure.

(d)

PRIVACY FENCE — A fence constructed to limit visibility from or to adjacent property. A privacy fence may not be constructed of chain link, woven wire, or wrought iron.

(e)

SECURITY FENCE — A fence designed to deter ingress with a construction of chain link, woven wire, wrought iron, or similar durable material. Security fences are allowed only in rear yards of residential and nonresidential lots. Security fences may be allowed in other parts of a yard on a nonresidential property as a conditional use.

(f)

TEMPORARY FENCE — Fences erected for the protection of planting or to warn of construction hazard or for similar purposes, which shall be clearly visible and marked with streamers or similar material. A building permit is not necessary for temporary fences unless the fence is in place more than 45 days.

(g)

VISION TRIANGLE — Fences near street intersections will be constructed to minimize visual obstruction of oncoming traffic. Hedges that are fences will be trimmed to keep growth from blocking visibility. No fence shall be constructed within the triangle created by measuring 25 feet in either direction from the corner where the finished road surface of the perpendicular streets meets.

(4)

Setbacks, locations, and heights. Unless expressly stated elsewhere in the Village Code, fences are restricted to the size and location set forth in the chart below:

Fence Style	Allowable Location	Minimum Setback from Adjacent Property (feet)	Allowable Maximum Height* (feet)
Decorative	Front, side, and rear yards	3	4 front and side yards; 6 rear yard
Privacy	Rear yard and side yard	3	6
Boundary	Front, side, and rear yards	0	4
Security (nonresidential)	Rear yard	0	10
Security (residential)	Rear yard	3	4
Temporary	Front, side and rear yards	3	4
Hedges	Front, side, and rear yards	3	4 front yard; 6 side and rear yards

	NOTES:
	*To be measured from the adjacent property grade.

(5)

Aesthetics. All fences shall be maintained, kept safe and in a good state of repair. The finished side, or decorative side (as opposed to the inside or structural side), of a fence shall face adjoining property. The Building Inspector will determine which side should face adjoining property if it is not obvious which side should be considered decorative or finished.

(6)

Nonconforming fences. Any fence existing on the effective date of this subsection may be maintained. Modifications, improvements, or alterations of the nonconforming fence made after the effective date of this subsection are governed by this regulation.