(1)

AUTHORITY. Whenever the public necessity, convenience, general welfare or good zoning practice require, the City Council may, by ordinance, change the district boundaries or amend, change or supplement the regulations established by this Code or amendments thereto.

(2)

INITIATION. A change or amendment may be initiated by the Council, Plan Commission, or by a petition of one or more of the owners or lessees of property within the area proposed to be changed.

(3)

PETITIONS. Petitions for any change to the district boundaries or amendments to the regulations shall be filed with the City Clerk, describe the premises to be rezoned or the regulations to be amended, list the reasons justifying the petition, specify the proposed use and have attached the following:

(a)

Plot Plan drawn to a scale of one inch equals 200 feet showing the area proposed to be rezoned, its location, its dimensions, the location and classification of adjacent zoning districts, and the location and existing use of all properties within 200 feet of the area proposed to be rezoned.

(b)

Owners' Names and Addresses of all properties lying within 200 feet of the area proposed to be rezoned.

(c)

Additional Information required by the Plan Commission or City Council.

(4)

PUBLIC HEARING. (Rep. & recr. Ord. 2020-06) The Plan Commission shall hold a public hearing on the petition, giving prior notice by a Class 2 publication under Chapter 985 Wis. Stats., listing a time, place and the changes or amendments proposed. The City Clerk shall also give at least 10 days' prior written notice to the clerk of any municipality within 200 feet of any land to be affected by the proposed change or amendment.

(5)

RECOMMENDATIONS. (Rep. & recr. 10/1/14) Immediately following the public hearing, or at another time at the discretion of the Plan Commission, the Plan Commission shall review all proposed changes and amendments and shall recommend to the City County that the petition be granted as requested, modified or denied. This recommendation shall be made in writing to the City Council.

(6)

CITY COUNCIL'S ACTION. (Rep. & recr. 10/1/14) After careful consideration of the Plan Commission's recommendations, the City Council shall vote to approve, modify or deny the proposed change or amendment.

(7)

PROTEST. In the event of a protest against such district change or amendment to the regulations of this chapter, duly signed and acknowledged by the owners of 20% or more either of the areas of the land included in such proposed change, or by the owners of 20% or more of the land immediately adjacent extending 100 feet therefrom, or by the owners of 20% or more the land directly opposite thereto extending 100 feet from the street frontage of such opposite land, such changes or amendments shall not become effective except by the favorable vote of ¾ of the full City Council membership.

(8)

FEES. (Rep. & recr. 12/9/15)

A.

Any person requesting an action to rezone property within the City, shall pay a fee of $50 to the City Clerk at the time the application is filed to cover the expense of convening the Plan Commission. If more than one meeting of the Plan Commission is necessary to fully review the application, applicant shall pay an additional $50 for each meeting of the Plan Commission.

B.

Any person requesting an action in which a meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals is required, shall pay a fee of $50 to the City Clerk at the time the application is filed. If more than one meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals is necessary to fully review the application, the applicant shall pay an additional $50 for each meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall be used. Words used in the present tense include the future; the singular number includes the plural number; and the plural number includes the singular number. The word "shall" is mandatory and not directory.

(1)

ACCESSORY USE OR STRUCTURE. A use or detached structure subordinate to the principal use of a structure, land, or water and located on the same lot or parcel serving a purpose customarily incidental to the principal use or the principal structure. Accessory uses include incidental repairs; storage; parking facilities; pet shelters; gardening; guests; servants, owners, itinerant agricultural laborers and watchman's quarters not for rent; private swimming pools; and private emergency shelters. A detached garage shall be deemed to be an accessory structure even though it be connected to the residence by a breezeway.

(2)

ALLEY. A special public right-of-way affording only secondary access to abutting properties.

(3)

ARTERIAL STREET. A public street or highway used or intended to be used primarily for fast or heavy through traffic. Arterial streets and highways shall include freeways and expressways as well as arterial streets, highways and parkways.

(4)

BASEMENT. That portion of any structure located partly below the average adjoining lot grade.

(5)

BOARDINGHOUSE. A building other than a hotel or restaurant where meals or lodging are regularly furnished by prearrangement for compensation for 4 or more persons not members of a family, but not exceeding 12 persons and not open to transient customers.

(6)

BUILDING. 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.

(7)

BUILDING AREA. The total living area bounded by the exterior walls of a building at the floor levels, but not including basement, utility rooms, garages, porches, breezeways, and unfinished attics.

(8)

BUILDING HEIGHT. The vertical distance measured from the mean elevation of the finished lot grade along the street yard face of the structure to the highest point of flat roofs; to the mean height level between the eaves and ridges of gable, gambrel, hip and pitch roofs; or to the deck line of mansard roofs.

(9)

CLOTHING REPAIR SHOPS. Shops where clothing is repaired, such as shoe repair shops, seamstress, tailor shops, shoe shine shops, clothes pressing shops, but none employing over 5 persons.

(10)

CLOTHING STORES. Retail stores where clothing is sold, such as department stores, dry goods and shoe stores, dress, hosiery and millinery shops.

(11)

CONDITIONAL USES. Uses of a special nature as to make impractical their predetermination as a principal use in a district.

(12)

CORNER LOT. A lot abutting 2 or more streets at their intersection provided that the corner of such intersection shall have an angle of 135° or less, measured on the lot side.

(13)

DWELLING. A detached building designed or used exclusively as a residence or sleeping place, but does not include boarding or lodging houses, motels, hotels, tents, cabins or mobile homes.

(14)

EFFICIENCY. A dwelling unit consisting of one principal room with no separate sleeping rooms.

(15)

EMERGENCY SHELTER. Public or private enclosures designed to protect people from aerial, radiological, biological, or chemical warfare; fire, flood, windstorm, riots and invasions.

(16)

ESSENTIAL SERVICES. Services provided by public and private utilities, necessary for the exercise of the principal use or service of the principal structure. These services include underground, surface, or overhead gas, electrical, steam, water, sanitary sewerage, storm water drainage, and communication systems and accessories thereto, such as poles, towers, wires, mains, drains, vaults, culverts, laterals, sewers, pipes, catch basins, water storage tanks, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, pumps, lift stations and hydrants, but not including buildings.

(17)

EXPRESSWAY. A divided arterial street or highway with full or partial control of access and with or without grade separated intersections.

(18)

FAMILY. Any number of persons related by blood, adoption, or marriage, or not to exceed 4 persons not so related, living together in one dwelling as a single housekeeping entity.

(19)

FREEWAY. An expressway with full control of access and with fully grade separated intersections.

(20)

FRONTAGE. The smallest dimension of a lot abutting a public street measured along the street line.

(21)

GIFT STORES. Retail stores where items such as art, antiques, jewelry, books and notions are sold.

(22)

HARDWARE STORES. Retail stores where items such as plumbing, heating and electrical supplies, sporting goods, and paints are sold.

(23)

HOUSEHOLD OCCUPATION. Any occupation for gain or support conducted entirely within buildings by resident occupants which is customarily incidental to the principal use of the premises, does not exceed 25% of the area of any floor, uses only household equipment, and no stock in trade is kept or sold except that made on the premises. A household occupation includes uses such as baby sitting, millinery, dressmaking, canning, laundering and crafts, but does not include the display of any goods nor such occupations as barbering, beauty shops, dance schools, or photographic studios.

(24)

INTERCHANGE. A grade separated intersection with one or more turning lanes for travel between intersection legs.

(25)

LIVING ROOMS. All rooms within a dwelling except closets, foyers, storage areas, utility rooms and bathrooms.

(26)

LOADING AREA. A completely off-street space or berth on the same lot for the loading or unloading of freight carriers, having adequate ingress and egress to a public street or alley.

(27)

LOT. 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 this chapter.

(28)

LOT LINES AND AREA. The peripheral boundaries of a parcel of land and the total area lying within such boundaries.

(29)

LOT WIDTH. The width of a parcel of land measured at the rear of the specified street yard.

(30)

MACHINE SHOPS. Shops where lathes, presses, grinders, shapers, and other wood and metal working machines are used, such as blacksmith, tinsmith, welding and sheet metal shops; plumbing, heating and electrical repair and overhaul shops, but not stamp mills.

(31)

MINOR STRUCTURES. Any small, movable accessory erection or construction such as birdhouses; tool houses; pethouses; play equipment; arbors; and walls and fences under 4 feet in height.

(32)

MOTEL. A series of attached, semiattached, or detached sleeping units for the accommodation of transient guests.

(33)

NONCONFORMING USES OR STRUCTURES. Any structure, land, or water lawfully used, occupied, or erected on June 6, 1967 or amendments thereto which does not conform to the regulations of this chapter or amendments thereto. Any such structure conforming in respect to use but not in respect to frontage, width, height, area, yard, parking, loading, or distance requirements shall be considered a nonconforming structure.

(34)

PARKING LOT. A structure or premises containing 10 or more parking spaces open to the public for rent for a fee.

(35)

PARKING SPACE. A graded and surfaced area of not less than 180 square feet in area either enclosed or open for the parking of a motor vehicle, having adequate ingress or egress to a public street or alley.

(36)

PARTIES IN INTEREST. Includes all abutting property owners, all property owners within 100 feet, and all property owners of opposite frontages.

(37)

PROFESSIONAL HOME OFFICES. Residences of doctors of medicine, practitioners, dentists, clergymen, architects, landscape architects, professional engineers, registered land surveyors, lawyers, artists, teachers, authors, musicians, or other recognized professions used to conduct their professions where the office does not exceed 1/2 the area of only one floor of the residence and only one nonresident person is employed.

(38)

REAR YARD. A yard extending across the full width of the lot, the depth of which shall be the minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and a line parallel thereto through the nearest point of the principal structure. This yard shall be opposite the street yard or one of the street yards on a corner lot.

(39)

SIDE YARD. A yard extending from the street yard to the rear yard of the lot, the width of which shall be the minimum horizontal distance between the side lot line and a line parallel thereto through the nearest point of the principal structure.

(40)

SIGNS. Any words, letters, figures, numerals, phrases, sentences, emblems, devices, designs, trade names, or trade marks by which anything is made known and which are used to advertise or promote an individual, firm, association, corporation, profession, business, commodity or product and which is visible from any public street or highway.

(41)

STREET YARD. A yard extending across the full width of the lot, the depth of which shall be the minimum horizontal distance between the existing or proposed street or highway line and a line parallel thereto through the nearest point of the principal structure. Corner lots shall have 2 such yards.

(42)

STREET. A public right-of-way not less than 50 feet wide providing primary access to abutting properties.

(43)

STRUCTURE. Any erection or construction, such as buildings, towers, masts, poles, booms, signs, decorations, carports, machinery and equipment.

(44)

STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS. Any change in the supporting members of a structure, such as foundations, bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.

(45)

TURNING LANES. An existing or proposed connecting roadway between two arterial streets or between an arterial street and any other street. Turning lanes include grade separated interchange ramps.

(46)

UTILITIES. Public and private facilities such as water wells, water and sewage pumping stations, water storage tanks, power and communication transmission lines, electrical power substations, static transformer stations, telephone and telegraph exchanges, microwave radio relays, and gas regulation stations, but not including sewage disposal plants, municipal incinerators, warehouses, shops and storage yards.

(47)

YARD. An open space on the same lot with a structure, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward except for vegetation. The street and rear yards extend the full width of the lot.

(48)

COMMUNITY GARDEN. (Cr. 10/1/14) Garden areas for cultivation and related activities divided into one or more plots to be cultivated by more than one operator or member. These areas may be on public or private lands.

ENFORCEMENT

No person shall construct or use any structure, land or water in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter. In case of any violation, the City Council, the Building Inspector, the Plan Commission, or any property owner who would be specifically damaged by such violation may institute appropriate action or proceeding to enjoin a violation of this chapter.

Any person who violates or fails to comply with the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, forfeit not less than $10 nor more than $200 and costs of prosecution for each violation and in default of payment of such forfeiture and costs shall be imprisoned in the County Jail until payment thereof, but not exceeding 30 days. Each day a violation exists or continues shall constitute a separate offense.