A structure incidental to that of the main structure located on the same lot (i.e., garage, shed). Accessory buildings attached to the principal building by a breezeway, passageway, or similar means are part of the primary structure. They are subject to the regulations that apply to the principal building. Accessory buildings attached by structures less than 30 inches in height (e.g., patios, walks, pools, decks without railing) are not part of the primary structure and are subject to accessory building and structure regulations. The total impervious coverage of accessory buildings per lot shall not exceed the impervious coverage of the primary structure.

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a smaller, independent residential dwelling unit located on the same lot as a stand- alone (i.e., detached) single-family home. ADUs go by many different names throughout the U.S., including accessory apartments, secondary suites, and granny flats. ADUs can be converted portions of existing homes (i.e., internal ADUs), additions to new or existing homes (i.e., attached ADUs), or new stand-alone accessory structures or converted portions of existing stand-alone accessory structures (i.e., detached ADUs).

See Subsection U, definition of "utility and accessory uses."

Maintenance of sufficient vegetation types and densities such that the physical integrity of the streambank or lakeshore is preserved. Self-sustaining vegetative cover includes grasses, forbs, sedges and duff layers of fallen leaves and woody debris.

A governmental employee, or a regional planning commission empowered under § 62.234, Wis. Stats., that is designated by the Common Council to administer this chapter.

Has the meaning given in § 281.16(1), Wis. Stats.

A public way which affords a secondary means of access to abutting property.

Assembly uses include, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for the gathering of persons for purposes such as civic, social, or religious functions; recreation; food or drink consumption; or awaiting transportation.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 Precipitation-Frequency Atlas of the United States, Volume 8 (Midwestern States), published in 2013.

A typical calendar year of precipitation as determined by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for users of models such as WinSLAMM, P8 or equivalent methodology. The average annual rainfall is chosen from a department publication for the location closest to the municipality.

A basement is a story wherein on every side of the building the average floor line is below the grade and the average ceiling height in every elevation is not more than five feet above such grade.

Structural or nonstructural measures, practices, techniques or devices employed to avoid or minimize sediment or pollutants carried in runoff to waters of the state.

See "lodging house."

As defined in § 30.121(1), Wis. Stats., means a permanent structure used for the storage of watercraft and associated materials and includes all structures which are totally enclosed, have roofs or walls or any combination of structural parts.

A building is any structure built for the support, shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, or personal property of any kind; and when separated by a fire separation wall, each portion of such structure so separated shall be deemed a separate building.

A building erected for a period to exceed one year.

Height of building is the vertical distance measured at the center line of its principal front from the established grade or from the natural grade to the level of the highest point of the building.

Business uses include, among others, the use of a building for office, professional, or service-type transactions, including storage of records and accounts. Business uses include animal hospitals, kennels, and pounds; banks and financial services; automobile show rooms, car washes; civic administration; dry cleaning and laundry pick-up and delivery stations; food processing establishments and commercial kitchens not associated with restaurants, cafeterias, and similar dining facilities not more than 2,500 square feet (232 m²) in area; laboratories; outpatient healthcare; salons; showrooms; post offices; print shops; and professional services offices.

A court-issued order to halt land-disturbing construction activity that is being conducted without the required permit or in violation of a permit.

A nonprofit association of persons, who are bona fide members paying annual dues, which owns, hires, or leases a building or portion thereof, the use of such premises being restricted to members and their guests. A club or lodge must either be registered as a 501(c)(3) with the Internal Revenue Service or provide sufficient documentation to the City that it is a bona fide nonprofit organization. It shall be permissible to serve food on such premises, provided that adequate dining room space and kitchen facilities are available and such facilities comply with applicable codes. Where properly licensed under existing City ordinance, the sale and/or consumption of intoxicating beverages by members of such club or lodge or their guests may be permitted. A club does not include an association of persons organized primarily to render a service customarily carried on as a business. All club premises or portions of buildings shall be subject to annual inspection as commercial space.

A system for conveying both sanitary sewage and stormwater runoff.

An impervious surface connected to the waters of the state via a separate storm sewer, an impervious flow path, or a minimally pervious flow path.

An area upon which one or more land-disturbing construction activities occur, including areas that are part of a larger common plan of development or sale where multiple separate and distinct land-disturbing construction activities may be taking place at different times on different schedules but under one plan. A long-range planning document that describes separate construction projects, such as a 20-year transportation improvement plan, is not a common plan of development.

An open space, other than a yard, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward on the same lot with a building which is bounded on two or more sides by the walls of such building.

An open, uncovered structure designed for gathering, entering, or exiting an adjoining structure, or for aesthetic purposes. Decks may be physically attached to or separate from the adjoining building. Covered or enclosed porches and decks shall be a part of the adjoining building and shall conform with the setback requirements for said adjoining building.

A hypothetical discrete rainstorm characterized by a specific duration, temporal distribution, rainfall intensity, return frequency and total depth of rainfall.

Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, the construction of buildings, structures or accessory structures; the construction of additions or substantial alterations to buildings, structures or accessory structures; the placement of buildings or structures; ditching, lagooning, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations; and the deposition or extraction of earthen materials.

Wells, sinkholes, swallets, fractured bedrock at the surface, mine shafts, non-metallic mines, tile inlets discharging to groundwater, quarries, or depressional groundwater recharge areas over shallow fractured bedrock.

One or more artificial ditches, tile drains or similar devices which collect surface runoff or groundwater and convey it to a point of discharge.

A private road or paved area giving access from a public way leading to a house, garage or building.

One or more rooms and a single kitchen in a dwelling designed as a unit for occupancy by one family for living purposes.

Educational uses include, among others, the use of a building by six or more persons at any one time for educational purposes through the 12th grade. These uses include buildings, structures, or portions thereof occupied by more than five children older than 2.5 years of age who receive educational, supervision, or personal care services for fewer than 24 hours per day.

The area of the infiltration system that is used to infiltrate runoff and does not include the area used for site access, berms, or pretreatment.

A person, firm, corporation, or organization that has a freehold interest; a possessory interest entitled to exclusive possession; a contractual interest which may become a freehold possessory interest; or any exclusive possessory interest in the subject property.

An enclosed deck shall be a deck that has the walls and/or roof closed/covered to the extent that it is a secondary building. Enclosed decks shall be considered a part of the adjoining structure and shall conform with applicable codes for same.

The process by which the land's surface is worn away by the action of wind, water, ice, or gravity.

A comprehensive plan developed to address pollution caused by erosion and sedimentation of soil particles or rock fragments during construction.

Waters listed in § NR 102.11, Wis. Adm. Code.

Factory uses include, among others, the use of a building, structure, or a portion thereof for assembling, disassembling, fabricating, finishing, manufacturing, packaging, repair, or processing operations that the City does not classify as hazardous uses or storage uses. Example uses include building products, chemicals; clothing; commercial food and beverage operations not associated with restaurants, cafeterias, and similar dining facilities more than 2,500 square feet (232 m²) in area; dry cleaning and dyeing; electronics; filming without spectators; furniture; machinery; metals; plastics; printing; textiles; utility plants.

An individual or a group of individuals related by blood, marriage, court order or adoption, or a group of not more than four persons not all so related, together with his or their domestic servants, maintaining a common household in a dwelling unit. A family may also include not more than two boarders or roomers when the basic family unit is a group of related individuals as defined above.

Soil that has at least a three-foot-deep layer with at least 20% fines; or at least a five-foot-deep layer with at least 10% fines; or an engineered soil with an equivalent level of protection as determined by the regulatory authority for the site.

That all land-disturbing construction activities at the construction site have been completed and that a uniform perennial vegetative cover has been established with a density of at least 70% of the cover for the unpaved areas and areas not covered by permanent structures or that employ equivalent permanent stabilization measures.

A performance bond, maintenance bond, surety bond, irrevocable letter of credit, or similar guarantees submitted to the City Engineer by the responsible party to assure that requirements of the ordinance are carried out in compliance with the stormwater management plan.

The area within the exterior wall lines of any building provided that the floor area of a building used for dwelling purposes shall be the aggregate habitable area excluding attics not furnished as living quarters, basements or utility rooms, attached garages, unenclosed porches, breezeways and other unheated areas.

An obstacle like a fence, wall, or thick vegetation used to force bees to fly upwards when they leave a hive to avoid contact with people and reduce the risk of stinging.

A chicken, duck, or quail.

All of the property abutting on a public street right-of-way.

An accessory building or part thereof or an accessory portion of the main building intended for and used to store the private motor vehicles of the person resident upon the premises and in which no business, service or industry connected directly or indirectly with motor vehicles is carried on.

A building or premises used for the storage only of motor vehicles pursuant to previous arrangements and not transients; when no equipment, parts, fuel, grease or oil is sold and vehicles are not required, rebuilt, serviced, hired or sold.

An open or enclosed structure either standing alone or attached to a deck and used for gathering or aesthetic purposes. Gazebos shall be considered an accessory use and shall conform with applicable codes for same.

High-hazard uses include, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, that involves the manufacturing, processing, generation, or storage of materials that constitute a physical or health hazard in quantities in excess of those allowed in control areas complying with IBC 2024 Section 414, based on the maximum allowable quantity limits for control areas set forth in IBC 2024 Tables 307.1(1) and 307.1(2). High-hazard uses include the manufacturing, processing, generation, or storage of uses that pose a detonation, deflagration, combustion, or health hazards and semiconductor fabrication facilities and comparable research and development areas in which hazardous production materials (HPM) are used and the aggregate quantity of materials is in excess of those specified in IBC 2024 Tables 307.1(1) and 307.1(2).

Home occupation uses include uses accessory to residential uses that allow residents to engage in customary home-based work activities while also helping to ensure that they do not subject neighboring residents to adverse impacts, such as excessive noise, traffic, or public safety hazards, that are not typical of the areas in which the home occupation use is located. The City classifies home occupation uses into HO-1 and HO-2. The City classifies group living (R uses), day cares (R or E uses), and bed and breakfasts (R uses) separately.

The total square footage of structures, paving, and other hardscape surfaces which do not allow water directly into the soil.

An area that releases as runoff all or a large portion of the precipitation that falls on it, except for frozen soil. Rooftops, sidewalks, driveways, gravel or paved parking lots and streets are examples of areas that typically are impervious.

An undeveloped area of land located within an existing urban sewer service area, surrounded by development or development and natural or man-made features where development cannot occur.

The entry of precipitation or runoff into or through the soil.

A device or practice such as a basin, trench, rain garden or swale designed specifically to encourage infiltration, but does not include natural infiltration in pervious surfaces such as lawns, redirecting of rooftop downspouts onto lawns or minimal infiltration from practices, such as swales or road side channels designed for conveyance and pollutant removal only.

Institutional uses include, among others, the use of a building, structure, or a portion thereof, in which care or supervision is provided to persons who are or are incapable of self-preservation without physical assistance, persons are detained for penal or correctional purposes, or the liberty of the occupants is restricted. Institutional occupancies shall be classified as I-1, I-2, or I-3.

Any man-made alteration of the land surface resulting in a change in the topography or existing vegetative or non-vegetative soil cover, that may result in runoff and lead to an increase in soil erosion and movement of sediment into waters of the state. Land-disturbing construction activity includes clearing and grubbing, demolition, excavating, pit trench dewatering, filling and grading activities.

Any person holding fee title, an easement or other interest in property, which allows the person to undertake cropping, livestock management, land-disturbing construction activity or maintenance of stormwater BMPs on the property.

Light projected onto a property from a light source located on a different property.

An off-street space or berth on the same lot with a building or contiguous to a group of buildings for the temporary parking of a commercial vehicle while loading or unloading merchandise or materials which abuts upon or affords direct access to a street or alley.

A building or portion thereof containing lodging rooms which accommodate three, but not more than 12, non-transient persons who are not members of the keeper's family and where lodging or meals or both are provided for compensation.

A parcel of land occupied or to be occupied by one building and its accessory buildings and uses having sufficient width and depth to include the open spaces required under this chapter and abutting on a public street or officially approved place.

A lot located at the intersection of two or more streets provided that the corner of such intersection shall have an angle of 120° or less measured on the lot side.

The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

A lot other than a corner lot.

A lot having frontage of two non-intersecting streets.

The lines bounding a lot as defined herein.

The width of a lot shall be the distance between side lot lines measured on a line which coincides with the required setback line for the lot.

A legal document that provides for long-term maintenance.

The highest level of performance that is achievable but is not equivalent to a performance standard identified in this chapter as determined in accordance with of this chapter.

Mercantile uses include, among others, buildings or structures or a portion thereof for the display and sale of merchandise, and involves stocks of goods, wares, or merchandise incidental to such purposes and where the public has access. The aggregate quantity of nonflammable solid and nonflammable or noncombustible liquid hazardous materials stored or displayed in a single area of an M use shall not exceed the limits set forth in Chs. SPS 301-399; Safety, Buildings, and Environment. Mercantile occupancies shall include department stores, drug stores, greenhouses, markets, gas stations, retail or wholesale stores, and sales rooms.

Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, all natural inland lakes within Wisconsin, and all streams, ponds, sloughs, flowages and other waters within the territorial limits of this state, including the Wisconsin portion of boundary waters, which are navigable under the laws of this state. Under § 144.26(2)(d), Wis. Stats., notwithstanding any other provision of law or administrative rule promulgated thereunder, shoreland ordinances required under § 61.351 or 62.221, Wis. Stats., and Ch. NR 117, Wis. Adm. Code, do not apply to lands adjacent to farm drainage ditches if:

Development resulting from the conversion of previously undeveloped land or agricultural land uses.

A building structure, land or premises occupied at the time of the passage of this chapter or amendments thereto by a lawful use which does not conform with the provisions of this chapter or amendments thereto for the zone in which it is situated.

A specific precipitation distribution developed by the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, using precipitation data from Atlas 14.

Located outside the property boundary described in the permit application.

Located within the property boundary described in the permit application.

See § NR 115.03(6), Wis. Adm. Code.

Outdoor uses include, among others, uses which generally lack primary buildings or structures. The City shall classify outdoor uses as O-1, O-2, or O-3.

Waters listed in § NR 102.10, Wis. Adm. Code.

A building or premises containing one or more parking spaces open to the public free or for a fee.

An unobstructed area exclusively for the temporary storage of one automobile.

An accessory paved area less than six inches in height which may go to the property boundary.

The percentage of a given sample of soil, which passes through a # 200 sieve.

A narrative or measurable number specifying the minimum acceptable outcome for a facility or practice.

An area that releases as runoff a small portion of the precipitation that falls on it. Lawns, gardens, parks, forests or other similar vegetated areas are examples of surfaces that typically are pervious.

Has the meaning given in § 283.01(13), Wis. Stats.

Has the meaning given in § 281.01(10), Wis. Stats.

A construction site following the completion of land-disturbing construction activity and final site stabilization.

The extent and distribution of land cover types present before the initiation of land-disturbing construction activity, assuming that all land uses prior to development activity are managed in an environmentally sound manner.

Has the meaning given in § NR 140.05(17), Wis. Adm. Code.

The office of a doctor or practitioner, dentist, minister, architect, landscape architect, professional engineer, lawyer, author, musician and other recognized professions.

An area of land that commences at the top of the channel of lakes, streams and rivers, or at the delineated boundary of wetlands, and that is the greatest of the following widths, as measured horizontally from the top of the channel or delineated wetland boundary to the closest impervious surface.

Areas where development is replacing older development.

Residential uses include, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for sleeping purposes when not classified as an institutional use. Residential uses shall be classified as R-1, R-2, or R-3.

The landowner or any other entity performing services to meet the requirements of this chapter through a contract or other agreement.

Stormwater or precipitation including rain, snow or ice melt or similar water that moves on the land surface via sheet or channelized flow.

Settleable solid material that is transported by runoff, suspended within runoff or deposited by runoff away from its original location.

A conveyance or system of conveyances including roads with drainage systems, streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, constructed channels or storm drains, which meets all of the following criteria:

The minimum distance between the property line and the nearest point of a building excluding permitted projections.

Activities including tree nursery operations, tree harvesting operations, reforestation, tree thinning, prescribed burning, and pest and fire control. Clearing and grubbing of an area of a construction site is not a silviculture activity.

An order issued by the City Engineer which requires that all construction activity on the site be stopped.

Storage uses include, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for storage not classified as an H use. A room or space used for storage purposes that is accessory to another occupancy shall be classified as part of that occupancy.

A comprehensive plan designed to reduce the discharge of pollutants from stormwater, after the site has under gone final stabilization, following completion of the construction activity.

Is a comprehensive plan designed to reduce the discharge of runoff and pollutants from hydrologic units on a regional or municipal scale.

That portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there be no floor above it, then the space between such floor and the ceiling next above it except that a basement shall not be considered a story if its ceiling is less than four feet above the finished grade along the front of the building.

A story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which on at least two opposite exterior walls are not more than four feet above the floor of such story.

Public thoroughfares which afford a primary means of access to abutting property or any proposed thoroughfares designated "new streets" on the Official Map for the City of South Milwaukee.

Any change in the supporting members of a building such as bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders.

Anything constructed or erected taller than six inches, the use of which requires a permanent location on the ground or attached to something having a permanent location on the ground for any occupancy or use whatsoever.

A document that specifies design, predicted performance and operation and maintenance specifications for a material, device or method.

An edge, or point on the landscape landward from the ordinary high-water mark of a surface water of the state, where the slope of the land begins to be less than 12% continually for at least 50 feet. If the slope of the land is 12% or less continually for the initial 50 feet landward from the ordinary high-water mark, the top of the channel is the ordinary high-water mark.

The amount of pollutants, specified as a function of one or more water quality parameters, that can be discharged per day into a water quality limited segment and still ensure attainment of the applicable water quality standard.

Technical Paper No. 40, Rainfall Frequency Atlas of the United States, published in 1961.

The United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (previously Soil Conservation Service), Urban Hydrology for Small Watersheds, Second Edition, Technical Release 55, June 1986, which is incorporated by reference for this chapter.

Any vehicle, house car or any portable or mobile vehicle on wheels, skids, rollers or blocks, either self-propelled or propelled by any other means, which is used or designed to be used for living, sleeping or commercial purposes.

A highway, a railroad, a public mass transit facility, a public-use airport, a public trail or any other public work for transportation purposes such as harbor improvements under § 85.095(1)(b), Wis. Stats. "Transportation facility" does not include building sites for the construction of public buildings and buildings that are places of employment that are regulated by the Department pursuant to § 281.33, Wis. Stats.

Total suspended solids.

A rainfall type curve as established in the "United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Technical Paper 149, published in 1973."

Buildings and structures of an accessory character and miscellaneous structures not classified in any other specific use. Utility and miscellaneous uses include amateur radio service antennas; beekeeping; carports; composting structures; donation drop-off boxes; electric vehicle charging stations; fowl; geothermal energy systems; portable storage units; livestock shelters; private garages; satellite antennas; sheds; solar energy systems, and temporary structures (not including children's play structures) existing no longer than 60 days.

A departure from the terms of this chapter as applied to a specific building, structure or parcel of land which the Board of Appeals may permit, contrary to the regulations of this chapter for the zone in which such building, structure or parcel of land is located, when the board finds that a literal application of such regulations will effect a hardship limitation on the use of the property which does not generally apply to other properties in the same zone and for which there is no compensating gain to the public health, safety or welfare.

A vehicular use area is an outdoor area on a lot used for the storage and operation of motor vehicles, including parking lots, vehicle storage areas, vehicle display areas, loading areas, driveways, and drive-through lanes. Includes those portions of Lake Michigan and

An area of unobstructed visibility at the intersection of two streets or at the intersection of a driveway and a street, intended to provide adequate sight distance for drivers entering or crossing roadways.

Includes those portions of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior within the boundaries of this state, and all lakes, bays, rivers, streams, springs, ponds, wells, impounding reservoirs, marshes, watercourses, drainage systems and other surface water or groundwater, natural or artificial, public or private, within this state or its jurisdiction.

Any filling, flooding, draining, dredging, ditching, tiling, excavating, temporary water level stabilization measures or dike and dam construction in a wetland area.

Those areas where water is at, near or above the land surface long enough to support aquatic or hydrophytic vegetation and which have soils indicative of wet conditions.

An open space on a lot upon which a building is situated, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward except as otherwise provided in this chapter.

A yard extending across the full width of a lot between the front lot line and the nearest point of a principal building and at a setback distance as provided for in the zone.

A yard directly opposite from the front yard extending the full width of the lot between a lot line and the nearest point of a building at a setback distance as provided for in the zone.

A yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard and between a side lot line and the nearest point of a building and a setback distance as provided for in the zone.

A yard extending the full width of a lot between a street line and the nearest point of a building at a setback distance as provided for in the zone.