§ 20-9. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Advisory agency means any agency, other than an objecting agency, to which a plat or certified survey map may be submitted for review and comment. An advisory agency may give advice to the town and may suggest that certain changes be made to the plat or certified map, or it may suggest that a plat or certified survey map be approved or denied. Suggestions made by an advisory agency are not, however, binding on the town board or on the town plan commission. Examples of advisory agencies include the county department of parks and land use, land conservation division, the southeastern state regional planning commission, school districts and local utility companies.

Alley means a public or private right-of-way shown on a plat which provides secondary access to a lot, block, or parcel of land (Wis. Stats. § 236.02 (1)).

Approving agency means an agency empowered to approve a subdivision plat pursuant to state statutes. The state department of safety and professional services (DSPS), department of administration (DOA), county department of parks and land use-planning division and town board are approving agencies for any plat. For certified survey maps the county department of parks and land use-planning division is an approving agency only if all or part of the CSM is within the county shoreland protection ordinance jurisdictional area.

Arterial street. See Street, arterial.

Block means a tract of land bounded by streets, or by a combination of streets, public parks, cemeteries, railway rights-of-way, bulkhead lines, or shorelines of navigable waterways and municipal boundaries.

Building means any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls used or intended to be used for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, equipment, machinery or materials.

Building line means a line parallel to any lot line and at a specified minimum distance from the lot line to comply with terms of this chapter and chapter 42.

Certified survey map means a map prepared by a professional land surveyor in accordance with Wis. Stats. § 236.34. Certified survey maps may, under the terms of this chapter, be used to create minor land divisions. Certified survey maps are prepared on map sheets measuring 8½ inches by 14 inches at a map scale not to exceed one inch equals 200 feet.

Collector street. See Street, collector.

Community means a town, municipality or a group of adjacent towns and/or municipalities having common social, economic or physical interests.

Comprehensive plan means any extensively developed plan prepared and adopted by the town board upon recommendation of the plan commission pursuant to Wis. Stats. §§ 59.97, 62.23 and 66.1001, including proposals for future land use, transportation, urban redevelopment and public facilities. Devices for the implementation of these plans, such as zoning, official mapping, land division control ordinances and capital improvement programs shall also be considered a part of the comprehensive plan.

Copy means a true and accurate copy of all sheets of the original subdivision plat. Such copy shall be on durable white matte finished paper with legible dark lines and lettering.

Cul-de-sac street. See Street, cul-de-sac .

Department means the department of administration (DOA).

Dwelling unit means a building or part of a building used for a place of abode and occupied by one family.

Environmental corridor means those lands containing concentrations of scenic, recreational and other natural resources as identified and delineated in the comprehensive planning program of the southeastern state region by the southeastern state regional planning commission. These natural resource and resource-related elements include the following:

(1)

Lakes, rivers and streams, together with their natural floodplains;

(2)

Wetlands;

(3)

Forest and woodlands;

(4)

Wildlife habitat areas;

(5)

Rough topography;

(6)

Significant geological formations;

(7)

Wet or poorly drained soils;

(8)

Existing outdoor recreation sites;

(9)

Potential outdoor recreation and related open-space sites;

(10)

Historic sites and structures; and

(11)

Significant scenic areas of vistas.

The town only recognizes wetlands through conservancy zoning.

Fill means sand, gravel, earth or other materials of any composition whatever placed or deposited by human beings.

Final plat means a map prepared in accordance with the requirements of Wis. Stats. ch. 236 and this chapter for the purpose of dividing larger parcels into lots and conveying those lots. The lines showing where lots and other improvements are located are precise.

Financial guarantee means a letter of credit, cash or certified check guaranteeing performance of a contract or obligation through possible forfeiture of the letter of credit, cash or certified check if said contract or obligation is unfilled by the subdivider.

Flood lands means those lands, including the floodplains, floodways, floodfringe, and channels, subject to inundation by the 100-year recurrence interval flood.

Frontage (lot) means the total dimension of a lot abutting a public street measured along the street line.

Frontage street. See Street, frontage .

High groundwater elevation means the highest elevation to which subsurface water rises. This may be evidenced by the actual presence of water during wet periods of the year, or by soil mottling during drier periods. The term "mottling" is a mixture or variation of soil colors. In soils with restricted internal drainage, gray, yellow, red, and brown colors are intermingled giving a multi-colored effect.

Improvement, public, means any sanitary sewer, storm sewer, open channel, water main, roadway, park, parkway, public access, sidewalk, pedestrian way, planting strip, or other facility for which the town may ultimately assume the responsibility for maintenance and operation.

Irrevocable letter of credit means:

(1)

An agreement guaranteeing payment for subdivision improvements, entered into by a bank, savings and loan, or other financial institution which is authorized to do business in the state and which has a financial standing acceptable to the town, and which is approved, as to form, by the town attorney.

(2)

The letter of credit shall be automatically renewed, cannot be canceled or terminated without 90-day written notice to the town and shall contain a cost of living escalator clause.

Lot means a parcel of land having frontage on a public street, occupied or intended to be occupied by a principal structure or use and sufficient in size to meet the lot width, lot frontage, lot area, yard, parking area and other open space provisions of chapter 42.

Lot, corner, means a lot abutting two or more streets at their intersection provided that the corner of such intersection shall have an angle of 135 degrees or less, measured on the lot side.

Lot, double frontage, means a lot, other than a corner lot, with frontage on more than one street. Double frontage lots shall normally be deemed to have two front yards and two side yards and no rear yard. Double frontage lots shall not generally be permitted unless the lot abuts an arterial highway. Double frontage lots abutting arterial highways should restrict direct access to the arterial highway by means of a planting buffer or some other acceptable access buffering measure.

Lot, flag, means a lot not fronting on or abutting a public street and where access to the public street system is by a narrow strip of land, and where the area of the lot, for zoning purposes, shall not include the narrow strip.

Lot, interior, means a lot other than a corner lot, with frontage on one street.

Mean Sea Level Datum means Mean Sea Level Datum, 1929 Adjustment as established by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.

Minor land division means any division of land not defined as a subdivision. Such minor land divisions shall be made by certified survey map.

Minor street. See Street, minor .

Municipality means a town, village or city.

National map accuracy standards means standards governing the horizontal and vertical accuracy of topographic maps and specifying the means for testing and determining such accuracy, endorsed by all federal agencies having surveying and mapping functions and responsibilities. These standards have been fully reproduced in Appendix D of SEWRPC Technical Report No. 7, Horizontal and Vertical Survey Control in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Navigable water means Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, all natural inland lakes within the state, and all streams, ponds, sloughs, flowages, and other water within the territorial limits of the state, including the state portion of boundary waters, which are navigable under the laws of the state. The state supreme court has declared as navigable, bodies of water with a bed differentiated from adjacent uplands and with levels of flow sufficient to support navigation by a recreational craft of the shallowest draft on an annually recurring basis.

Objecting agency means an agency empowered to object to a subdivision plat or certified survey map pursuant to Wis. Stats. ch. 236. The town may not approve any plat or certified survey map upon which an objection has been certified until the objection has been satisfied. On any plat, the objecting agencies may include the state department of administration (DOA), the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WDOT), the state department of safety and professional services (DSPS), and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR). The county department of public works is an objecting agency on any plat or certified survey map abutting a county trunk highway. On any certified survey map, the objecting agencies may be the state department of transportation, division of highways, county department of public works, or county department of parks and land use (if within shoreland protection zoning jurisdictional area).

Ordinary high water mark (surface water) means 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.

Outlot means:

(1)

A parcel of land, other than a buildable lot or block, so designated on the plat, which is used to convey or preserve parcels of land. Outlots may be created to restrict a lot which is unbuildable due to high groundwater, steep slopes, or other physical constraints, or to create common open space. Outlots may also be parcels of land intended to be re-divided into lots or combined with lots or outlots in adjacent land divisions in the future for the purpose of creating buildable lots. An outlot may also be created if a lot fails to meet requirements for a private onsite wastewater treatment system, but which may be buildable if public sewer is extended to the lot or land division.

(2)

The town will generally require that any restrictions related to an outlot be included on the face of the plat and/or within recorded deed restrictions.

Owner means an individual, firm, association, syndicate, partnership, or corporation having a proprietary interest in a parcel of land.

Plat means a map of a subdivision.

Preliminary plat means a map showing the salient features of a proposed subdivision submitted to an approving authority for purposes of preliminary consideration. A preliminary plat precisely describes the location and exterior boundaries of the parcel proposed to be divided, and shows the approximate location of lots and other improvements.

Public way means any public road, street, highway, walkway, drainageway, or part thereof.

Recording a plat means the filing of the final plat with the county register of deeds.

Replat means the process of changing, or the map or plat which changes the boundaries of a recorded subdivision plat or part thereof. The legal dividing of a large block, lot or outlot within a recorded subdivision plat or certified survey map without changing exterior boundaries of said block, lot or outlot is not a replat.

Sanitary sewer service area means the area within and surrounding a city, village, or other community that is planned to be served with public sanitary sewerage facilities as determined by the respective facility plan as updated from time to time.

Shorelands means those lands lying within the following distances: 1,000 feet from the high water elevation of navigable lakes, ponds, and flowages or 300 feet from the high water elevation of navigable streams or to the landward side of the floodplain, whichever is greater.

Soil mapping unit means soil types, slopes, and erosion factors delineated on detailed operational soil survey maps prepared by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service.

South wall means any wall facing within 45 degrees of due south.

Street, arterial, means a street used, or intended to be used, primarily for fast or heavy through traffic. The term "arterial street" shall include freeways and expressways as well as standard arterial streets, highway and parkways.

Street, collector, means a street used, or intended to be used, to carry traffic from minor streets to the major system of arterial streets, including the principal entrance streets to residential developments.

Street, cul-de-sac, means a minor street with only one outlet and having an appropriate turn-around for the safe and convenient reversal of traffic movement.

Street, frontage, means a minor street auxiliary to and located on the side of an arterial street for control of access and for service to the abutting development.

Street, minor (local), means a street used, or intended to be used, primarily for access to abutting properties.

Subdivider means any person, firm or corporation, or any agent thereof, dividing or proposing to divide land resulting in a subdivision, replat, certified survey map or condominium.

Subdivider's agreement (developer's agreement) means an agreement entered into by and between the town and a subdivider whereby the town and the subdivider agree as to the design, construction and installation of required public improvements; the payment for such public improvements; dedication of land; and other matters related to the requirements of this chapter. The development agreement shall not come into effect unless and until a letter of credit or other appropriate surety has been provided to the town by the subdivider.

Subdivision means the division of a lot, parcel, or tract of land by the owners thereof, or the owner's agent, or a subdivider for the purpose of transfer of ownership or building development where the act of division creates five or more parcels or building sites inclusive of the original remnant parcel of 1½ acres each or less in area; or where the act of division creates five or more parcels or building sites inclusive of the original remnant parcel of 1½ acres each or less in area by successive divisions of any part of the original property by any person within a period of five years; or where the act of division creates six or more parcels or building sites for single-family residential development inclusive of the original remnant parcel of any size by successive divisions of any part of the original property by any person within a period of five years. Other divisions of land shall be termed "minor land divisions."

Town plan commission means the commission created by the town board pursuant to Wis. Stats. § 62.23 and authorized to plan land use within the town.

Wetlands means an area where water is at, near, or above the land surface long enough to be capable of supporting aquatic or hydrophytic vegetation and which has soils indicative of wet conditions.

Wisconsin Administrative Code means the rules of administrative agencies having rule-making authority in the state, published in a loose-leaf, continual revision system as directed by Wis. Stats. § 35.93 and Wis. Stats. ch. 227, including subsequent amendments to those rules.

Zoning administrator means the officer designated by the town board to administer this chapter.

(Ord. of 9-8-2017, §§ 12-2-1, 12-2-2)