Zoning Administrator.

Building Inspector.

Plan Commission.

Board of Appeals.

Town Board.

The Plan Commission will conduct the public hearings for amendment, modification and conditional use requests. The Board of Appeals will conduct the public hearings for appeals and variances.

Notice of hearings.

Evidence. The applicant may appear in person or be represented by his agent or attorney. In the absence of an appearance for or against an application, the application may be denied.

Decision. Conditions such as landscaping, architectural design, type of construction, construction commencement and completion dates, sureties, lighting, fencing, planting screens, operation control, hours of operation, improved traffic circulation, deed restrictions, highway access restrictions, increased yards or parking requirements may be required upon the finding that these are necessary to fulfill the purpose and intent of this chapter. A permit shall be valid only as long as the conditions upon which it is granted are observed.

Resubmission. No application which has been dismissed or denied shall be considered again without material alteration or revision within one year of the decision, except on the grounds that substantial new evidence or proof of change to comply with the applicable conditions is included in the resubmitted application.

Rehearing. No rehearing shall be held except upon the affirmative vote of four or more members upon finding that substantial new evidence is submitted which could not reasonably have been presented at the previous hearing. Requests for rehearing shall be in writing, shall state the reasons for the request and shall be accompanied by necessary data and diagrams. Rehearings shall be subject to the same notice requirements as original hearings.

A zoning permit shall be required for any change in the use of land, the short-term rental of a dwelling, and for any construction, relocation or alteration of a building or structure. Alterations that do not change the exterior dimensions of the building or structure shall be exempt from the requirement of a zoning permit.

Except as hereinafter provided, no permit pertaining to the use of land or buildings shall be issued unless the application for such permit has been examined and approved by the Zoning Administrator. Any permit issued in conflict with the provisions of this chapter shall be null and void.

Application. All applications shall be filed with the Zoning Administrator on the prescribed form(s) together with the fee set by the Town Board. The application shall be accompanied by such plans and/or data required by the Zoning Administrator. In the event that the lot lines for the subject property are not readily identifiable, the Zoning Administrator has the authority to require that the applicant have the lot lines located and marked by a registered land surveyor.

The Zoning Administrator shall, after reviewing an application for a zoning permit, determine whether all requirements of this chapter have been satisfied. The Zoning Administrator shall issue the permit if that burden is satisfied. If it is not satisfied, the Zoning Administrator shall issue a written denial explaining the reasons that the application was denied. The Zoning Administrator may refer the zoning permit application to the Plan Commission for approval when deemed necessary and appropriate.

The Zoning Administrator shall retain continuing jurisdiction over all permitted uses for the purpose of resolving complaints and may order the removal or discontinuance of any unauthorized alterations or violations.

Should a permit applicant, his heirs or assigns, fail to comply with the conditions of the permit issued or should the use or characteristics of the use be changed without prior approval, the permit may be revoked.

A permit shall expire 24 months from the date of issuance, except that zoning permits issued for the short-term rental of a dwelling shall be indefinite as long as the current property owner holds a Town of Rome short-term rental license. The permit may be extended for a period of 90 days for justifiable cause, if an application is made to the Zoning Administrator at least 30 days before the expiration of said permit. Where a permitted use does not continue in conformity with the conditions of the original approval, the permit shall be terminated and may be considered as a violation of this section.

Purpose. For the purpose of promoting the public health, safety, morals, comfort, and general welfare, conserving the value of property throughout the Town, and lessening or avoiding congestion in the public streets and highways, the Town Board may, from time to time, in the manner hereinafter set forth, amend the regulations imposed in the districts created by this chapter, provided that in all amendatory ordinances adopted under the authority of this section, due allowance shall be made for existing conditions, the conservation of property values, the direction of building development to the best advantage of the entire community, and the uses to which property is devoted at the time of such amendatory ordinance.

Procedure.

Purpose. Appeals to the Board of Appeals may be taken by any person aggrieved or by any officer, department, Board or bureau of the Town affected by any decision of the administrative officer.

Procedure. An appeal shall be taken within 30 days after the decision or the action complained of, by filing with the Zoning Administrator a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof together with the fee set by the Town Board. The Zoning Administrator shall forthwith transmit to the Board of Appeals all of the papers constituting a record upon which the action appealed from was taken.

Stay. An appeal shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from unless the Zoning Administrator certifies to the Board of Appeals, after the notice of the appeal has been filed with him, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life and property, in which case the proceedings shall not be stayed unless otherwise by a restraining order which may be granted by the Board of Appeals or by a court of record on application, on notice of the Zoning Administrator and on due cause shown.

Condition and guarantees. The Board of Appeals shall thereafter reach its decision within 90 days from the filing of the appeal. The Board of Appeals may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination appealed from, and may make such order, requirement, decision or determination as ought to be made, and to that end, shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken, and may direct the issuance of a permit.

Purpose and applicability. The development and execution of this chapter is based upon the division of the Town into districts, within which districts the use of land and buildings, and the bulk and location of buildings and structures in relation to the land, are mutually compatible and substantially uniform. However, there are certain uses which, because of their unique characteristics or potential impacts on adjacent land uses, cannot be properly classified as unrestricted permitted uses in any particular district or districts, without consideration, in each case, of the impact of those uses upon neighboring land and of the public need for the particular use at the particular location. Such uses, nevertheless, may be necessary or desirable to be allowed in a particular district, provided that due consideration is given to their location, development, and operation to mitigate the impact of the proposed use or development. These uses are classified as conditional uses and require a conditional use permit except as specified under Subsection O. The authority to grant or deny a conditional use permit is vested in the Plan Commission.

Initiation of conditional use permit. The owner of a subject property may submit an application to use such land for one or more of the conditional uses in the zoning district in which the land is located.

Application for conditional use permit. An applicant shall provide a complete application and other required materials to the Zoning Administrator along with the application fee. A complete application shall be comprised of all of the following for proper review:

Zoning Administrator review and recommendation.

Public hearing. The Zoning Administrator shall schedule a public hearing before the Plan Commission to be held within 60 days after acceptance of a complete application as determined by the Zoning Administrator. Notice of the time, place, and purpose of such hearing shall be given by publication as a Class 2 notice in conformance with the requirements of § 62.23(7)(d) and (de), Wis. Stats. The Zoning Administrator shall also send said notice to the applicant, persons of interest including owners of record of all lands within 200 feet of the boundaries of the subject property, and the Clerk of any municipality whose boundaries are within 1,000 feet of any portion of lands included in the application at least 10 days prior to the date of such public hearing. Failure to mail said notice or failure to meet the time requirements herein, provided it is unintentional, shall not invalidate proceedings under this section.

Review and action by the Plan Commission. Within 60 days after the public hearing, or an extension of said period requested in writing by the applicant and granted by the Commission, the Plan Commission shall take final action on the conditional use permit request. Prior to acting on a conditional use permit application, the Plan Commission may request further information and/or additional reports from the Zoning Administrator, the applicant, outside experts and/or any other source. The Commission may approve the conditional use as originally proposed, may approve the proposed conditional use with conditions or modifications, or may deny approval of the proposed conditional use and include reasons for denial. Any action to approve or amend the proposed conditional use permit requires a majority vote of Commission members in attendance. Based on the action of the Commission, a decision document indicating the findings of fact and outcome shall be prepared and adopted. The property owner must sign the decision document to acknowledge the terms of the approval and return the same to the Zoning Administrator.

Review criteria for conditional use permits. When reviewing conditional uses, the Plan Commission shall consider the following criteria:

Imposition of conditions and guarantees.

Issuance and notice of conditional use permit or denial. Within 30 days following the granting of a conditional use permit, the Zoning Administrator shall issue to the applicant the approved conditional use permit. Said permit shall enumerate the details of the conditional use permit, including an identifiable description of the use and subject property and any specific conditions or requirements of approval. In the case of a denial of a conditional use permit, the Zoning Administrator shall provide written notification to the applicant that the conditional use permit was denied, including the reasons for denial.

Effect of denial. No conditional use permit application that has been denied (either wholly or in part) shall be resubmitted for a period of 12 months from the date of said order of denial, except on grounds of new evidence or proof of change of factors relative to the review criteria in Subsection G that are found valid by the Zoning Administrator.

Appeal to the Town Board. An appeal of a decision under Subsection F may be taken to the Town Board by any person aggrieved by the decision. Such appeal shall be made in writing to the Zoning Administrator within 10 days after the date of the Commission's decision. In the case of an appeal:

Duration and transfer. The term of the conditional use permit shall be set by the Plan Commission at the time it is granted and such permit may be renewed by the Plan Commission. The Commission may approve a conditional use permit with a limitation on the permit's start date, duration and/or transfer if such limitation(s) relate to the purpose of this section and the conditional use permit review criteria in Subsection G. Unless the Commission approves a conditional use permit with a transfer limitation, all requirements of the approved conditional use permit shall be continued regardless of ownership or operation of the subject property or use and shall run with the land.

Amendments to approved conditional uses. Any change, addition, modification, alteration and/or amendment of any aspect of a conditional use permit granted by the Plan Commission, including but not limited to an addition, modification, alteration, and/or amendment to the use, premises, structures, lands or owners, other than as specifically authorized by the conditional use permit conditions, shall require a new permit and all procedures in place at the time must be followed, except where its initial approval allowed expansion or amendment by some other process.

Penalties, revocation, or modification of an approved conditional use permit.

Uses now regulated as conditional uses that were legal land uses prior to the effective date of this chapter or subsequent amendment. A use regulated as a conditional use under this chapter that was a legal land use prior to the effective date of this chapter or any amendment thereto, shall be considered a legal conforming land use so long as the use is not modified, expanded on or discontinued for a period of 12 consecutive months. Any substantial expansion or modification of such use, in the determination of the Zoning Administrator, shall require application and Town consideration of a conditional use permit under this section.

Application for a variance shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator on the prescribed form.

The Board of Appeals may authorize, in specific cases, such variance from the terms of this chapter as will not be contrary to the public interest, where owing to special conditions a literal enforcement of the provisions of this chapter will result in unnecessary hardship and so that the spirit of zoning shall be observed and substantial justice done. A variance granted to a nonconforming use brings that use into conformance with the district and zoning requirements. There are two types of variances:

A variance may not be granted unless the following four conditions have been proven by the applicant:

A property owner is not entitled to a variance simply to increase the value of the property or for economic gain.

A variance will not be granted if it would impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property, or substantially increase the congestion of the public streets or increase the danger of fire, or endanger the public safety, or possess the likelihood to diminish or impair property values within the neighborhood.

Conditions and guarantees. The Board of Appeals may impose such conditions and restrictions upon the premises benefited by a variance as may be necessary to comply with the standards established in this chapter.

Authorized variances. Variances from the regulations of this chapter shall be granted by the Board of Appeals only in accordance with the standards established in this section, and may be granted only in the following instances and in no others:

In determining whether to grant or deny a requested variance, the Board of Appeals shall prepare written finding of fact setting forth the criteria it considered in reaching its decision and what facts it considered in relation to the criteria.