Dunn County considers amending zoning ordinance to eliminate rental housing in commercial zoning
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — For several months now, the Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development Committee has been discussing whether to allow owner-occupied or non-owner occupied (rental housing) residential in commercial zoning.
Non-owner occupied dwellings, including single family and multi-family, currently are allowed in Dunn County’s general commercial and limited commercial zoning,
As it turns out, Wisconsin has a “right to rent” law that was enacted in 2017. The law states that cities, villages, towns and counties cannot prohibit the rental of residential property for seven days in a row or longer, so the zoning ordinance cannot specify only owner-occupied dwellings, the Planning, Resources and Development Committee learned at the January 23 meeting.
Michael Kneer, county board supervisor from Menomonie, a member of the PR&D committee and a resident of the Town of Menomonie, has been advocating for removing non-owner occupied dwellings from commercial zoning and reverting back to the 2015 language of the zoning ordinance.
In 2015, Dunn County’s zoning code allowed owner-occupied dwellings in commercial zoning as a permitted accessory use, which means that the owner of a business could have a residence on a parcel zoned for commercial where his or her business is located.
Prior to the update of the county’s zoning ordinance in 2017, because the zoning needed to be updated, Dunn County worked with the townships on the updates for what would be allowed or not allowed and what would be allowed by special exception, Kneer said at the January 23 meeting.
The townships determined what the zoning would be by parcel, and Dunn County never told the towns which zoning should be applied to which parcels, he said.
Changes
The changes adopted in 2017 included setbacks and definitions and special exceptions, and the zoning code was changed to, essentially, make general commercial into Residential-3 zoning by allowing multi-family non-owner occupied dwellings, Kneer said.
No one remembers why multi-family non-owner occupied dwellings ended up in general commercial, he said, adding that he, personally, also does not remember why it was included.
Non-owner occupied multi-family dwellings turn commercial into R-3 zoning, and no one knows why it is there, and the towns did not approve it, Kneer said.
Anne Wodarczyk, Dunn County zoning administrator, has suggested the wording is “odd” and that it sounded like the way a realtor would refer to that kind of residential, he said, and wondered if it could have been a hold-over from a “copy and paste” from another document.
The original language allowing residential as an accessory use does not harm anyone and permits someone to start out with a small business that could eventually be expanded at some point, Kneer said.
The Town of Menomonie has 120 parcels designated as limited commercial, he said, adding that he would like to see non-owner occupied dwellings removed from commercial zoning.
Dunn County needs housing, but the county should not be telling the towns where housing should be located, he said.
Housing
The housing study recently completed for Dunn County suggests adding 2,000 to 3,000 housing units by 2025, said Diane Morehouse, county board supervisor from Menomonie, a member of the PR&D committee and chair of the Health and Human Services board, which arranged for the housing study.
Morehouse said she was not sure she understood the concern about multi-family dwellings in commercial zoning and wondered if there was a concern that duplexes would fill the commercially zoned areas.
Including non-owner occupied dwellings in commercial zoning is telling the towns that they must allow non-owner occupied dwellings in their commercial parcels, Kneer said.
If a developer wants multi-family non-owner occupied residential, then the developer can apply for a rezone to R-3, and then the towns would be able to weigh in about allowing R-3 zoning, he said.
Large apartment complexes are not appropriate in rural areas, and being in a position of having to apply for a rezone gives the town boards some leverage while at the same time not prohibiting development, Kneer said.
Gary Bjork, county board supervisor from Colfax and a member of the PR&D committee, asked Kneer how many R-3 zoning designations there are in the Town of Menomonie.
“Not many,” Kneer replied.
People have indicated they do not want duplexes and multi-family residential in rural areas, he said.
NIMBY
Sometimes NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) can be legitimate, and the zoning should be amended so towns can offer incentives, said Tom Quinn, county board supervisor from Downing and chair of the PR&D committee.
One option is to go back to the original language of the zoning ordinance, with appropriate modifications, and bring the draft back the PR&D committee for review, he said.
The 2015 language allows residential as an accessory use so businesses can be on the same property where the owner lives, Wodarczyk said.
The ordinance amendment will have to define “adjacent,” she said.
The way adjacent is used now means on adjoining property and the residential does not have to be attached to the business or on the same parcel as the business, Wodarczyk said.
The ordinance should also expand the square footage from 750 square feet for home occupations, she said.
The limit of 750 square feet is very small, like a garage. Some counties set the limit at 1,000 square feet, and some do not specify the size, Wodarczyk said.
Accessory use
Wodarczyk said if she was understanding the intent of the PR&D committee, then the zoning ordinance language should be changed to eliminate non-owner occupied dwellings in commercial zoning, and single family housing should be allowed as an accessory use.
Bjork asked how home businesses are zoned.
Home occupations that have maybe one or two employees are a permitted use in several zoning designations, Wodarczyk said.
Dunn County should not want to limit business opportunities, such as a business being run out of a garage or someone doing catering in their kitchen, she said.
Ray Witke, owner of Classic Protective Coatings on state Highway 25, is an example of someone who started a home-base business that later expanded its operations, Quinn said.
Wodarczyk said she would draft language to change the zoning code concerning residential in commercial zoning so the PR&D committee could review it.
The townships then can review the proposed change so that the town boards do not feel as if they are not aware of the changes, she said.
