Zoning Authority
Zoning authority varies depending on the unit of Government as follows*:
Counties: Counties have the authority to zone land outside of cities and villages to promote public health, safety and general welfare.
Cities & Villages: Cities and villages have the power to zone without the involvement of the county. They can also annex land. Annexation requires the permission of the landowner, but not the town or county. Cities and villages also have jurisdiction over some land use decisions within 1.5 miles (small cities and villages) or 3 miles (medium and large cities and villages) of their border.
Towns: Towns can adopt zoning ordinances if there is no general county zoning in place or if the town petitions the county to adopt an ordinance and the county refuses. However, most towns come under county zoning. In this case, zoning changes require both town and county approval.
* Excerpted from A Citizen’s Guide to Land Use in Wisconsin
by 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin.
Who reviews and approves zoning decisions?*
The approval and administration of local zoning laws often involves a combination of staff, appointed committee volunteers, and elected officials. Though the titles and decision-making structures vary between counties, cities, villages and towns, key players typically include some or all of the following:
- Zoning Administrator/Planning Director: A staffed position responsible for reviewing applications for consistency with local ordinances and a) issuing permits for uses allowed under existing local ordinances (e.g., "permitted uses"), b) making recommendations for approval or denial of conditional use or other zoning variance requests to the Zoning Committee or Board.
- Zoning Committee/Planning Committee: A sub-committee of a Zoning Board or local Governing Body that reviews zoning applications and makes recommendations on the approval or denial of permits authorizing the activity.
- Zoning Board: A quasi-judicial body that exists to hear and decide zoning variance requests and administrative appeals. Other common names for Zoning Boards include boards of adjustments (counties) and boards of appeals (cities, villages & towns).
- Governing Body: The local elected body (e.g., Town or County Board, City Council, etc.) that holds final authority over many local land-use decisions. In some cases zoning decisions made by Town Boards are subject to County approval. The state of Wisconsin (i.e., WDNR) also retains some oversight authority over decisions affecting wetlands in the shoreland zone.
For more information about the Town-County Relationship in Zoning Administration check out: To Play the Game You Need to Know the Rules by the UW Extension Center for Land Use Education.
*More details about the titles and structures of local and county zoning reviews can be found by clicking on Catching up with the Zoning Approval Process on the submenu above.
What criteria must be considered in zoning decisions?
The outline below includes excerpts from the Zoning Board Handbook by the Center for Land Use Education. Chapter references indicate where in the handbook (available online) to look for more in-depth information.
Zoning ordinances generally have two elements:
- Zoning text describing the purpose and land use rules for each available zoning category (e.g., residential, commercial, agricultural, conservation).
- Zoning map showing the assignment of land to the different zoning categories.
For each zoning category, zoning ordinances typically specify two types of allowed uses:
- Permitted uses
are allowed ‘by right’ at all locations in a zoning district. Permitted uses are authorized through permits granted by the zoning administrator or building inspector.
- Conditional uses
may be allowed if found to be compatible with neighboring uses, limitations of the site, and the purposes of the ordinance. Conditions may also be attached to conditional use permits. Typically, the zoning administrator or building inspector makes a recommendation to the Zoning Committee or Board on whether to grant a conditional use permit (Chapter 14, Zoning Board Handbook).
Uses not listed in a zoning ordinance are generally considered prohibited uses. However, zoning ordinances also specify procedures for seeking exceptions to the zoning code in several ways:
- Zoning Variance Approvals allow a property to be used in a manner that is not permitted by the zoning ordinance. State law sets strict criteria that must be met to receive a zoning variance (Chapter 15, Zoning Board Handbook).
- Administrative Appeals provide a process to resolve disputes regarding ordinance interpretation or the reasonableness of a zoning decision (Chapter 17, Zoning Board Handbook).
- Rezoning of land from one zoning category to another in order to redefine the allowable uses assigned to the parcel.
Zoning variances and administrative appeals are typically heard by the Zoning Board (also known as the Board of Adjustments or Board of Appeals) while rezoning decisions qualify as legislative decisions that must typically be approved by the Governing Body.
> Click here to read about catching up with the local approval process.
