28.103 - WETLAND OVERLAY DISTRICT.
(1) Statement of Purpose.
The Wetland Overlay District is established to maintain safe and healthful conditions, to prevent and control water pollution, to protect fish spawning grounds, fish and aquatic life and wildlife habitat, to preserve shore cover and natural beauty and to control building and development in wetlands whenever possible. When development is permitted in a wetland, the development should occur in a manner which minimizes adverse impacts upon the wetland.
(2) Map Designation.
The Wetland Overlay District is shown on the official zoning district maps identified in Subchapter 28B.
(3) Permitted Uses.
(a) The following activities and uses do not require the issuance of a zoning certificate, provided that no wetland alteration occurs:
1. Hiking, fishing, trapping, swimming and non-motorized boating
2. Construction and maintenance of duck blinds
(b) The following activities and uses may involve wetland alterations only to the extent specifically provided below:
1. The construction and maintenance of piers, docks and walkways, observation decks and trail bridges built on pilings, including limited excavating and filling necessary for such construction or maintenance.
2. The maintenance, repair, replacement and reconstruction of existing highways and bridges, roads, and electric, telephone, water, gas, sewer and railroad lines, including limited excavating and filling necessary for such maintenance, repair, replacement or reconstruction.
3. The replacement and reconstruction of existing publicly-owned radio and television towers, provided that neither the existing nor the replaced or reconstructed tower is in a shoreland, as defined in Sec. 28.211.
(4) Conditional Uses.
The following conditional uses may be allowed in the Wetland Overlay District, including wetland alterations only to the extent specifically provided below. The Southern District Office of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources shall be notified of the conditional use proposal at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing and shall be notified of the City's decision within ten (10) days after the decision is made.
(a) The construction of roads which are necessary for the continuity of the municipal street system, the provision of essential utility and emergency services or to provide access to permitted uses provided that:
1. The road cannot as a practical matter be located outside the wetland;
2. The road is designed and constructed to minimize the adverse impact upon the natural functions of the wetland.
3. The road is designed and constructed with the minimum cross-sectional area practical to serve the intended use.
4. Road construction activities are carried out in the immediate area of the roadbed only; and
5. Any wetland alteration must be necessary for the construction or maintenance of the road.
(b) The construction and maintenance of nonresidential buildings provided that:
1. The building is used solely in conjunction with a use permitted in the Wetland Overlay District or for the raising of waterfowl, minnows or other wetland or aquatic animals.
2. The building cannot as a practical matter be located outside the wetland.
3. The building does not exceed five hundred (500) square feet in floor area; and
4. No filling, flooding, draining, dredging, ditching, tiling, or excavating is done, except limited filling and excavating necessary for the installation of pilings.
(c) The establishment and development of public and private parks and recreation areas, natural and outdoor education areas, historic and scientific areas, game and wildlife preserves, fish and wildlife habitat improvement projects, and public boat launching ramps, provided that:
1. Any private recreation or wildlife habitat area shall be used exclusively for that purpose.
2. Only that filling and excavating which is necessary for the development of public boat launching ramps, public trails, swimming beaches or the construction of park shelters or similar structures is allowed.
3. The construction and maintenance of roads necessary for the uses permitted under this paragraph are allowed only where such construction and maintenance meets the standards in Paragraph (4)(a) above.
4. Ditching, excavating, dredging, dike and dam construction in wildlife refuges, game preserves and private wildlife habitat areas shall only be for the purpose of improving wildlife habitat or otherwise enhancing wetland values.
(d) The construction and maintenance of electric, gas, telephone, water and sewer transmission and distribution lines and related facilities, provided that:
1. The transmission and distribution lines and related facilities cannot as a practical matter be located outside the wetland.
2. Only that filling or excavating which is necessary for such construction or maintenance is allowed; and
3. Such construction or maintenance is done in a manner designed to minimize the adverse impact upon the natural functions of the wetland.
(e) The construction and maintenance of railroad lines, provided that:
1. The railroad lines cannot, as a practical matter, be located outside the wetland.
2. Only that wetland alteration which is necessary for such construction or maintenance is allowed; and
3. Such construction or maintenance is done in a manner designed to minimize the adverse impact upon the natural functions of the wetland.
(f) The harvesting of wild crops, such as marsh hay, ferns, moss, wild rice, berries, tree fruits and tree seeds, in a manner that is not injurious to the natural reproduction of such crops.
(g) The practice of silviculture, including the planting, thinning and harvesting of timber and limited temporary water level stabilization measures which are necessary to alleviate abnormally wet or dry conditions that would have an adverse impact on the conduct of silvicultural activities if not corrected.
(h) The pasturing of livestock and the construction and maintenance of fences for such pasturing including limited excavating and filling necessary for such construction or maintenance.
(i) The cultivation of agricultural crops, if cultivation can be accomplished without filling, flooding, draining, dredging, ditching, tiling, or excavating except limited filling and excavating necessary for the construction and maintenance of fences.
(j) The maintenance and repair of existing drainage systems to restore pre-existing levels of drainage, including the minimum amount of filling necessary to dispose of dredged spoil, provided that the filling is permissible under Chapter 30, Wis. Stats., and that dredged spoil is placed on existing spoil banks, where possible.
(k) The installation and maintenance of sealed tiles for the purpose of draining lands outside the Wetland Overlay District provided that such installation or maintenance is done in a manner designed to minimize the adverse impact upon the natural functions of the wetland.
(5) Prohibited Uses.
Any use not listed in paragraphs (3) or (4) above is prohibited, unless the wetland or a portion of the wetland has been rezoned by amendment of this ordinance in accordance with para. (7) below and the other requirements of this chapter. The use of a boathouse for human habitation and the construction or placement of a boathouse or fixed houseboat below the ordinary high-water mark of any navigable waters are prohibited.
(6) Development Approvals.
In the Wetland Overlay District, a zoning certificate shall be obtained from the Zoning Administrator before any new development or any change in the use of an existing building, structure or use of land commences. An application for a zoning certificate for lands in the Wetland Overlay District shall include the information required below for a site plan, as well as the specifications and dimensions for any areas of proposed alteration.
(a) Name, address, and telephone number of applicant, property owner and contractor, where applicable.
(b) Legal description of the property and a general description of the proposed use or development.
(c) Whether or not a private water or sewage system is to be installed
(d) The site plan shall be drawn to scale and submitted as a part of the application form and shall contain the following information:
1. Dimensions and area of the lot.
2. Location of any structures with distances measured from the lot lines and centerline of all abutting streets or highways.
3. Location of any existing or proposed on-site sewage systems or private water supply systems.
4. Location of the ordinary high water mark of any abutting navigable waterways.
5. Location and landward limit of all wetlands.
a. Existing and proposed topographic and drainage features and vegetative cover.
b. Location of floodplain and floodway limits on the property as determined from floodplain zoning maps used to delineate floodplain areas.
c. Location of existing or future access roads; and
d. Specifications and dimensions for areas of proposed wetland alteration.
(7) Amendment of Wetland Overlay Zoning.
Any amendment to the text or map of the Wetland Overlay District shall comply with Sec. 28.182 and with the following:
(a) A copy of each proposed text or map amendment shall be submitted to the Southern District Office of the Department of Natural Resources within 5 days of the referral of the proposed amendment to the Plan Commission.
(b) The Southern District Office of the Department shall be provided with written notice of the public hearing at least ten (10) days prior to such hearing.
(c) In order to insure that the shoreland protection objectives in Wis. Stat. § 281.31 will be accomplished by the amendment, the Common Council may not rezone a wetland in the Wetland Overlay District, where the proposed rezoning may result in a significant adverse impact upon any of the following:
1. Storm water and floodwater storage capacity.
2. Maintenance of dry-season stream flow or the discharge of groundwater to a wetland, the recharge of groundwater from a wetland to another area or the flow of groundwater through a wetland.
3. Filtering or storage of sediments, nutrients, heavy metals or organic compounds that would otherwise drain into navigable waters.
4. Shoreline protection against soil erosion.
5. Fish spawning, breeding, nursery or feeding grounds.
6. Wildlife habitat; or
7. Areas of special recreational, scenic or scientific interest, including scarce wetland types and habitat of endangered species.
(d) Where the Southern District Office of the Department of Natural Resources determines that a proposed rezoning may have a significant adverse impact upon any of the standards listed above, the Department shall notify the City Clerk of its determination either prior to or during the public hearing held on the proposed amendment.
(e) The Southern District Office of the Department of Natural Resources shall be provided with:
1. A copy of the recommendations and report of the Plan Commission on the proposed text or map amendment within ten (10) days after the submission of these recommendations to the Common Council; and
2. Written notices of the Common Council's action on the proposed text or map amendment within ten (10) days after the action is taken.
(f) If the DNR notifies the Plan Commission in writing that a proposed amendment may have a significant adverse impact upon any of the standards listed in (c) above, that proposed amendment, if approved by the Common Council, may not become effective until more than thirty (30) days have elapsed since written notice of the Common Council approval was mailed to the DNR. If within the thirty (30) -day period the DNR notifies the Common Council that it intends to adopt a superseding wetland zoning ordinance for the City under Wis. Stats. § 62.231(6), the proposed amendment may not become effective until the ordinance adoption procedure under Wis. Stats. § 62.231(6), is complete or otherwise terminated.
(8) Nonconformities.
Except as provided below, all provisions in Subchapter 28N shall apply.
(a) Notwithstanding Section 28.191(1)(a), this subchapter does not prohibit the repair, reconstruction, renovation, remodeling, or expansion of a nonconforming structure in existence on the effective date of this ordinance or amendment or of any environmental control facility in existence on May 7, 1982 related to that structure. Wis. Stats. § 28.191(1)(a) shall apply to any environmental control facility that was not in existence on May 7, 1982, but which was in existence on the effective date of this ordinance or amendment. All such work must be done in a manner designed to minimize the adverse impacts upon the natural functions of the wetland.
(b) If a nonconforming use or the use of a nonconforming structure is discontinued for a period of twelve (12) months, any future use of the property or structure shall conform to the requirements of this ordinance.
(c) The maintenance and repair of any nonconforming boathouse which extends beyond the ordinary high water mark shall comply with Wis. Stats. § 30.121.
