The following criteria shall be applied by the Plan Commission
and Town Board when reviewing land divisions. Nothing in this chapter
shall prevent the Town Board from developing and applying such additional
guidelines and review criteria that the Town Board, in its sole discretion,
determines appropriate.
A. Land divisions should be consistent with the goals, objectives and
development standards set forth in the Town of New Glarus Land Use
Plan and the Amended Town of New Glarus Land Use Plan and subsequent
revisions.
B. Land divisions should be compatible with the character, size, and
quality of development on nearby and adjoining properties.
C. Land divisions should be planned and designed to maintain the rural
character of the Town of New Glarus.
D. Land divisions should be planned and designed to protect environmentally
sensitive sites.
E. Land divisions should be planned and designed to minimize the disruption
of groves of existing mature vegetation, particularly native canopy
trees.
F. Land divisions should be planned and designed to be sensitive to
historic and archaeological sites on both the parcel being divided
and on adjoining and nearby properties.
G. Land divisions should be planned and designed to minimize the disruption
of its vistas.
[Amended 12-9-2020]
H. The preferred locations for building envelopes are woodland fringes,
at the edges of open fields and within new tree plantations where
the aesthetic and visual impact of new structures will be minimized.
I. Building envelopes shall be located in such a manner as to make such
structures as inconspicuous as possible. Such building envelopes shall
be located to minimize the aesthetic and visual impact of new structures.
[Amended 12-9-2020]
J. Building envelopes shall consider setback requirements, if any, including
but not limited to public road rights-of-way, recreational trail easements
and dedicated recreational trails.
K. Where feasible in the judgment of the Town Board and Town Engineer,
utility lines serving land divisions shall be placed underground in
order to maintain the rural character of the area and preserve views
and vistas. Where placement of underground utility lines is not feasible,
easements for overhead utilities shall be located within land divisions
in such a manner as to minimize their visual impact.
[Amended 4-12-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-02]
No land division for residential, commercial, municipal or industrial
purposes shall be approved which would result in, or authorize a use
or disturbance of land, including construction of private roads and
driveways, on hillsides with a slope of 20% or more, unless the land
divider has submitted and the Town Engineer and the Town Board have
approved construction plans and specifications, including an erosion
control plan. For purposes of this section, 20% means a vertical elevation
differential of 10 feet in 50 horizontal feet, the horizontal distance
being measured perpendicular to the slope.