Chapter 16.05
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sections:

Article I. Adoption and Introduction

16.05.010    Introduction and purpose.

16.05.020    Abrogation and greater restrictions.

16.05.030    Interpretation.

16.05.040    Severability.

16.05.050    Repeal.

16.05.060    Title.

16.05.070    Authority to act on behalf of village.

Article II. Definitions

16.05.080    Definitions.

Article III. General Provisions

16.05.090    General provisions.

Article I. Adoption and Introduction

16.05.010 Introduction and purpose.

(a) Introduction. In accordance with the authority granted by Section 236.45, Wis. Stats., and for the purposes listed in Sections 236.01 and 236.45, Wis. Stats., the board of trustees of the village of Arena, Iowa County, Wisconsin, does adopt and hereby ordain as follows:

(1) The provisions of this title shall be held to be minimum requirements adopted to promote the health, safety, comfort, prosperity and general welfare of the village of Arena.

(2) This title shall not repeal, impair or modify private covenants or public ordinances, except that it shall apply whenever it imposes stricter restrictions on land use.

(b) Purpose. The purpose of this title is to promote the public health, safety, convenience and general welfare of the community. The regulations are designed to lessen congestion in the highways and streets; to foster the orderly layout and use of land; to secure safety from fire, panic and other dangers; to provide adequate light and air, to discourage overcrowding of the land; to facilitate adequate provision for transportation, public water and sewerage, schools, parks, playgrounds and other public necessities; and to facilitate the further division of large tracts of land into smaller parcels. The regulations are made with the reasonable consideration of, but not limited to, the present character of the village and its environs, with the objectives of conserving the value of the land and improvements placed thereon, providing the most appropriate environment for human habitation, encouraging commerce and industry, protecting open spaces, and providing for the most appropriate use of land in the village of Arena. [Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-1.01].

16.05.020 Abrogation and greater restrictions.

It is not the intent of this title to repeal, abrogate, annul, impair, or interfere with any existing easements, covenants, agreements, rules, regulations or permits previously adopted or issued pursuant to law. However, where this title imposes greater restrictions, the provisions of this title shall govern. [Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-1.02].

16.05.030 Interpretation.

In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this title shall be held to be minimum requirements and shall be liberally construed in favor of the village of Arena and shall not be deemed a limitation or repeal of any other power granted by the Wisconsin Statutes. [Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-1.03].

16.05.040 Severability.

If any provision of this title is found to be invalid or unconstitutional, or if the application of this title to any person or circumstances is found to be invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the other provisions or applications of this title which can be given effect without the invalid or unconstitutional provision or application. [Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-1.04].

16.05.050 Repeal.

All other ordinances or parts of ordinances of the village of Arena inconsistent or conflicting with this title, to the extent of the inconsistency only, are hereby repealed. [Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-1.05].

16.05.060 Title.

This title shall be known as, referred to, or cited as the “village of Arena land division and subdivision ordinance.” [Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-1.06].

16.05.070 Authority to act on behalf of village.

The village board shall approve all preliminary plats, final plats and certified survey maps. Other village decisions under this title are delegated to the village plan commission or village engineer as hereinafter provided. [Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-1.07].

Article II. Definitions

16.05.080 Definitions.

The following definitions shall be applicable in this title:

“Alley” means a public right-of-way, which normally affords a secondary means of vehicular access to abutting property.

“Arterial street” means a street which provides for the movement of relatively heavy traffic to, from or within the village. It has a secondary function of providing access to abutting land. U.S. Highway 14 is classified as an arterial street.

“Bikeway” is a general term describing any or all of the following defined types of facilities used for bicycles. A network of bikeways constitutes a bike route system. Class designations are those in the long-range bikeway program:

(a) “Bike path (Class I)” means a bike route completely apart from a street used by motor vehicles and restricted to bicycles unless designated otherwise.

(b) “Bike lane (Class II)” means a designated lane of a street restricted to bicycle usage and separated from motor vehicles by a painted line, raised divider or curb.

(c) “Mixed traffic route (Class III)” means a route, designated by signs, along streets used by motor vehicles and bicycles.

“Block” means an area of land within a subdivision that is entirely bounded by a combination or combinations of streets, exterior boundary lines of the subdivision and streams or water bodies.

“Certified survey map” means a map or plan of record of a land division, not a subdivision, meeting all the requirements of Section 236.34, Wis. Stats., the Iowa County land division ordinance, and this title.

“Collector street” means a street which collects and distributes internal traffic within an urban area such as a residential neighborhood, between arterial and local streets. It provides access to abutting property.

“Commission” means the plan commission created by the village board pursuant to Section 62.23, Wis. Stats.

“Comprehensive development plan” means a total site plan for a contiguous area of land under the control of a developer(s) at the time of submission for review. Said plan specifies and illustrates the location, relationship and nature of all uses, easements, streets, pedestrian paths and common open space.

“Cul-de-sac” means a short street having but one end open to traffic and the other end being permanently terminated in a vehicular turnaround.

“Division of land/land division” means any action which creates a subdivision, plat, or certified survey, or which creates a new parcel or makes substandard an original parcel.

“Easement” means the area of land set aside or over or through which a liberty, privilege or advantage in land, distinct from ownership of the land, is granted to the public or some particular person or part of the public.

“Final plat” means the final map, drawing or chart on which the land divider’s plan of subdivision is presented for approval and which, if approved, will be submitted to the county register of deeds.

“Frontage street” 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.

“Greenway” means an open area of land included under the definition of “parkway,” the primary purpose of which is to carry storm water on the surface of the ground in lieu of an enclosed storm sewer. Greenways may serve the following multiple public purposes in addition to their principal use, including but not limited to vehicular and/or pedestrian traffic, sanitary sewers, water mains, storm sewers, storm water retention basins, and park development.

“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 village may ultimately assume the responsibility for maintenance and operation.

Land Division. See definition for “Division of land/land division.”

“Local street” means a street of little or no continuity designed to provide access to abutting property and leading into collector streets.

“Lot” means a parcel of land having frontage on a public street or other officially approved means of access, 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 this title and any applicable zoning ordinance.

“Lot area” means the area contained within the exterior boundaries of a lot excluding streets, and land under navigable bodies of water.

“Lot, corner” means a lot abutting intersecting streets at their intersection.

“Lot lines” means the peripheral boundaries of a lot as defined herein.

“Lot, reversed corner” means a corner lot which is oriented so that it has its rear lot line coincident with or parallel to the side lot line of the interior lot immediately to its rear.

“Lot, through” means a lot having a pair of opposite lot lines along two more or less parallel public streets and which is not a corner lot. On a “through lot” both street lines shall be deemed front lot lines.

“Lot width” means the width of a parcel of land measured along the front building setback line.

“Major thoroughfare” means a street used or intended to be used primarily for fast or heavy through traffic. Major thoroughfares shall include freeways, expressways and other highways and parkways, as well as arterial streets.

“Master plan” means the plan, also called a comprehensive plan, adopted by the village board pursuant to Section 62.23, Wis. Stats., including proposals for future land use, transportation, development and public facilities. Devices for the implementation of these plans, such as zoning, official map, land division, and building setback line ordinances and capital improvement programs shall also be considered part of the master plan.

“Minor street” means a street used, or intended to be used, primarily for access to abutting properties; also referred to as a “local street.”

“Official map” means the map indicating the location, width and/or extent of existing and proposed streets, highways, parkways, parks and playgrounds, as adopted by the village board pursuant to Section 62.23(6), Wis. Stats.

Outlots. Any parcel not designated as a lot, public street, or public dedication must be designated as an outlot. This includes private roads, right-of-way islands, areas for future development, and all other nonbuildable parcels retained by the developer or lot owners. Outlots may be of any size and shape, and do not need access to a public street. Outlots may be dedicated to the public. Outlots may be sold and/or built upon if they meet size and access requirements, and any restrictions on the outlot have been released.

“Owner” includes the plural as well as the singular and may mean either a natural person, firm, association, partnership, private corporation, public or quasi-public corporation, or combination of these.

“Parcel” means contiguous lands under the control of a land divider(s), not separated by streets, highways or railroad rights-of-way.

“Park commission” means the parks and recreation committee of the village board.

“Pedestrian pathway” means a public way, usually running at right angles to streets, which is intended for the convenience of pedestrians only; it may also provide public right-of-way for utilities.

“Plan commission” means the village of Arena plan commission.

“Planned unit development” means a form of development usually characterized by a unified site design for a number of housing units. The concept usually involves clustering buildings, provision of common open space, and mixing of different housing types.

“Plat” means the map, drawing or chart on which the land divider’s plat of subdivision is presented to the village for approval.

“Preliminary plat” means the preliminary plat map, drawing or chart indicating the proposed layout of the subdivision to be submitted to the plan commission/village board for their consideration as to compliance with the master plan or comprehensive plan and these regulations along with required supporting data.

“Recreational easement” means an easement to the village to place, replace, maintain or operate recreational facilities according to the rules and regulations of the village.

“Replat” means the process of changing, or a 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 without changing exterior boundaries of said block, lot or outlot is not a replat.

“Restrictive or protective covenants” means contracts entered into between private parties or between private parties and public bodies pursuant to Section 236.293, Wis. Stats., which constitute a restriction on the use of all private or platted property within a subdivision for the benefit of the public or property owners and to provide mutual protection against undesirable aspects of development which would tend to impair stability of values.

“Sanitary district commission” means a board established under Section 60.30 or 66.0721, Wis. Stats.

“Shorelands” means those lands 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.

“Subdivider/land divider” means any person, firm or corporation, or any agent thereof, dividing or proposing to divide land resulting in a major subdivision, minor subdivision or replat.

“Subdivision, major” means any land division which is not a minor subdivision.

“Subdivision, minor” means the division of land by the owner or land divider resulting in the creation of not more than four parcels or building sites, except where the act of division creates five or more parcels or building sites by successive division within a period of five years, whether done by the original owner or by a successor owner.

“Town” means the town of Arena, Iowa County, Wisconsin.

“Village” means the village of Arena, Iowa County, Wisconsin.

“Wetland” 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. (Section 23.32(1), Wis. Stats.)

“Wisconsin Administrative Code” means the rules of administrative agencies having rule-making authority in Wisconsin, published in a loose-leaf, continual revision system, as directed by Section 35.93 and Ordinance 227, Wis. Stats., including subsequent amendments to those rules. [Ord. dated 3/6/12 §§ 124, 125; Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-2.01].

Article III. General Provisions

16.05.090 General provisions.

(a) Compliance. No person shall divide any land located within the jurisdictional limits of these regulations which results in a land division or a replat as defined herein; no such land division or replat shall be entitled to record; and no street shall be laid out or improvements made to land without compliance with all requirements of this title and the following:

(1) The provisions of Chapter 236 and Section 80.08, Wis. Stats.

(2) The rules of the Wisconsin Administrative Code for land divisions not served by public sewer.

(3) The rules of the Division of Highways, Wisconsin Department of Transportation contained in the Wisconsin Administrative Code for subdivisions that abut a state trunk highway or connecting street.

(4) The rules of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources contained in the Wis. Adm. Code for floodplain management and shoreland zoning.

(5) Master plans, comprehensive plans or components of such plans prepared by state, regional, county or municipal agencies and duly adopted by the village board.

(6) All applicable local and county regulations, including zoning, sanitary, building and official mapping ordinances.

(7) Applicable provisions of the Iowa County Code of Ordinances.

(8) All applicable rules contained in the Wisconsin Administrative Code not listed in this subsection.

(b) Jurisdiction. Jurisdiction of these regulations shall include all lands within the corporate limits of the village of Arena. The provisions of this title, as they apply to land divisions, shall not apply to:

(1) Transfers of interests in land by will or pursuant to court order.

(2) Leases for a term not to exceed 10 years, mortgages or easements.

(c) Minor Subdivisions. Any minor subdivision of land other than a subdivision as defined in Section 236.02(12), Wis. Stats., shall be surveyed and a certified survey map prepared as provided in Section 236.34, Wis. Stats.

(d) Building Permits. The village of Arena and/or town of Arena shall not issue any zoning or building permit relating to any parcel of land forming all or any part of lands included in a major subdivision, minor subdivision or replat originally submitted to the village of Arena on or after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this title until the applicant has complied with all of the provisions and requirements of this title.

(e) Applicability to Condominiums. This title is expressly applicable to condominium developments within the village’s jurisdiction, pursuant to Section 703.27(1), Wis. Stats. For purposes of this title, a condominium unit and any associated limited common elements shall be deemed to be equivalent to a lot or parcel created by the act of land division. [Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-3.01].