Revised land division ordinance in effect for Dunn County
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Following approval by the Dunn County Board, a revised land division ordinance is in effect for Dunn County.
The Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development Committee has been working on revising the land division ordinance for many months, said Tom Quinn, county board supervisor from Downing and chair of the PR&D Committee, at the Dunn County Board’s July 26 meeting.
Tom Carlson, Dunn County surveyor, outlined the changes to Chapter 16, the county’s land division ordinance.
The existing land division ordinance was adopted in January of 2022, representing a complete rewrite of the land division ordinance adopted in 2006, Carlson said.
Since January of 2022, county staff members have been finding out works with the new ordinance and what does not, he said.
A number of changes were made to the ordinance to make it more useful for land division, Carlson said.
Here are the changes Carlson outlined for the Dunn County Board:
• New definitions were added or revised, such as archaeological site, access easement, private road, outlot, environmental site and land with high agricultural value.
• The 75-foot setback requirement for all wetlands has been removed.
• Section 16.10 has been changed from “division by plat of high value agricultural land” to “division by plat of land with high agricultural value.”
• Changes have been made to the certified survey maps (CSM), preliminary plats and final plats, with some requirements removed and other standards added in, such as showing the 75-foot setback line of the high water mark of all navigable streams and lakes.
• Revisions were made to the required shoreland zoning note.
• The requirement to show all slopes of 20 percent or greater on CSMs has been removed.
• The requirement for a note when parcels have wetlands or hydric soils has been added.
• Clarity has been added to the language about the owner’s certificate.
• A requirement has been added for a wetland delineation for a preliminary plat when wetlands or hydric soils are identified on a site.
• A provision has been added for location identification of all environmentally sensitive areas to be shown on all preliminary plats.
• Language has been added to the surface drainage and erosion control section that encourages a subdivider to request assistance and consultation from the Dunn County Land and Water Conservation Division with respect to managing surface water.
• Drainage and minimum soil erosion has been removed.
• The street and road section has been revised and provides better distinction between public and private roads and access easements.
• Revisions provide better clarity on how many lots can be served by an access easement with respect to lots existing prior to the ordinance.
• The section on a proposed permanent dead-end road has added other options for a turn-around rather than only a traditional cul-de-sac, which was made at the suggestion of several town officials.
• The section on lots and outlots has been revised to be in better alignment with the county zoning ordinance with respect to minimum lot size.
• The requirement for 30,000 square feet of contiguous buildable space on newly created lots has has been removed, and the adequacy of buildable space will now be approved by department staff on each individual site. Carlson said that in his opinion, removing the requirement for 30,000 square feet of contiguous buildable space was the biggest change to the land division ordinance.
• All newly proposed outlots will require frontage on public or private roads or access easements, unless the outlot is intended to be conveyed to an adjoining land owner.
• An amendment made to the variance section allows an applicant to combine multiple variance requests on the same application.
• A permanent variance will now be allowed to attach to the property and apply to all subsequent land owners.
• A minor modification was made to the fee schedule allowing variance requests to be on a tiered structure if the applicant wants to combine requests.
Town officials and surveyors gave input on some of the revisions, and the amendments will greatly improve the ordinance, Carlson said.
Larry Bjork, county board supervisor from Menomonie, asked how the land division ordinance would affect, for example, subdividing 10 acres that he owns on county Highway E with Iron Creek to the west and the road to the east.
The property is located in the Town of Spring Brook, so there is no county zoning, although the parcel would be subject to shoreland zoning and would require setbacks from the stream, Carlson said.
On a 10-acre contiguous tract of land, four one-acre splits could be done by CSM every five years, with a minimum lot size of one acre and a minimum of 33 feet of frontage on Highway E, Carlson said.
More splits than four in five years could be accomplished with a plat map, he noted, adding that if the Town of Spring Brook has more restrictive land division provisions, then the Town of Spring Brook’s ordinance would apply.
The Dunn County Board unanimously approved the revised Chapter 16 land division ordinance.
