Dunn County PR&D considers removing non-owner occupied dwellings from commercial zoning
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development Committee has asked the county’s zoning administrator to develop a proposal for removing non-owner occupied dwellings as a permitted use in commercial zoning.
Non-owner occupied dwellings are allowed in Dunn County’s general commercial and limited commercial zoning, although the term non-owner occupied is not defined in the ordinance, said Anne Wodarczyk, Dunn County zoning administrator, at the PR&D committee’s September 27 meeting.
The ordinance states non-owner occupied dwellings, including single family and multi-family dwellings, are allowed as a permitted principal use in commercial zoning.
Wodarczyk said she had done some research about what is included in the zoning ordinances of other counties.
St. Croix County allows manufactured homes, single-family homes and modular homes as a permitted use in the C-2 district, but does not specify whether non-owner occupied is a use, meaning that owner-occupied homes are allowed in the C-2 district, she said.
Polk County allows one single-family dwelling unit in General Commercial, Industrial, and Recreational Commercial zones, that is either attached or detached, if the dwelling is in connection with any of the permitted principal uses. The ordinance does not specifically mention non-owner occupied as a use, Wodarczyk said.
Eau Claire County’s draft ordinance allows single-family dwellings, multi-family (without public water and sewer) and modular homes in C-1 as a permitted use. Multi-family and two-family dwellings are allowed as a conditional use, or a special exception, within C-2 and C-3 districts, and manufactured home communities are a conditional use, she said.
Eau Claire County’s draft ordinance permits short-term rentals in all commercial districts, and the ordinance does not specifically mention non-owner occupied as a use, Wodarczyk said.
In Dunn County, non-owner occupied dwellings are allowed in residential, general agriculture, general commercial and limited commercial zoning, she said.
New lots created for non-farm residences in Intensive Agriculture and Primary Agriculture require a special exception, Wodarczyk said.
Non-owner occupied dwellings are not allowed in industrial zoning unless the structure is pre-existing, in which case it would be a legal non-conforming structure, she said.
Housing goals
Dunn County is growing, the need for housing is increasing, the cost of land is increasing and the housing supply is short, Wodarczyk said.
Some of the goals in the Dunn County comprehensive land use plan are to explore sustainable housing, to promote “cluster housing,” and to promote sanitary districts in extra-territorial zoning, she said.
Dunn County residents who have lived in the county for a long time also have expressed concern about new subdivisions being located on what was once prime farmland, Wodarczyk said.
Prime farmland is not usually included in commercial zoning, she noted.
Single-family homes are allowed in general agriculture, but not in primary agriculture or intensive agriculture. A special exception is required to convert primary agriculture or intensive agriculture to allow a non-farm residence, and prime ag land cannot be converted to non-farm use, Wodarczyk said.
Options
Wodarczyk presented three options to the PR&D committee.
The first option is to take no action and leave the ordinance as it is, she said.
Non-owner occupied dwellings would add a source of income for property owners and could result in walkable communities, Wodarczyk said.
The second option would be a partial repeal by removing “non-owner occupied dwelling,” while still allowing single and multi-family dwellings as a principal use and as a permitted accessory use in commercial districts, she said.
The partial repeal would no longer limit dwellings to being rental property in commercial districts and would still allow walkable communities to be developed, Wodarczyk said.
Examples of an accessory use in a commercial district would be a restaurant with a rental Airbnb on the property or a Christmas tree farm with a family home on the property, she said.
The third option would be as a special exception in commercial zoning.
The Dunn County Zoning Board of Adjustment would have to approve the special exception non-owner occupied dwellings in commercial districts, Wodarczyk said.
Conditions could be applied, additional standards could be included in the ordinance, and town boards could potentially recommend denial, she said.
Including non-owner occupied dwellings as a special exception would require additional staff time for applications, staff reports and public hearings, and would create an extra step for approval, Wodarczyk said.
Why?
What is the rationale for not allowing owners to live in dwellings in a commercial district? asked Monica Berrier, county board supervisor from Menomonie and a member of the PR&D committee.
The consensus of the other PR&D members was — “I don’t know.”
Wodarczyk said she thought the reasoning might be that being non-owner occupied would create a commercial use in a commercial district.
Then it would be consistent with the commercial intent of the zoning, said Tom Quinn, county board supervisor from Downing and chair of the PR&D committee.
But why the 3,000 square-foot limitation? Quinn asked.
All buildings are 3,000 square feet in limited commercial while general commercial allows larger buildings, said Mike Kneer, county board supervisor from Menomonie and a member of the PR&D committee.
Would owner-occupied be more difficult to regulate? Kneer asked.
Technically, according to state statute, owner-occupied cannot be regulated, but non-owner occupied can be regulated, Wodarczyk said.
Option 4
Kneer pointed out that there is a fourth option available — to completely remove the language from the zoning ordinance about non-owner occupied dwellings, whether single family or multi-family, in a commercial district.
Removing the language would “be the easiest and the least confusing,” and would bring the zoning ordinance back to the 2015 version, on which the townships’ zoning is based. The language was added to the zoning ordinance in 2017, he said.
On the first option of taking no action to change the zoning ordinance, that would still leave the problem in place, although it would leave more opportunities for multi-family housing, Quinn said.
On the second option of a partial repeal, Berrier asked about the Christmas tree farm with a family home.
That would be an accessory use, and the Christmas tree farm could be moved to a special exception. Any existing would be grandfathered in, Wodarczyk said.
Accessory uses are permitted in limited commercial and were allowed in 2015 and were not changed in 2017, Kneer said.
If someone wants non-owner occupied housing if it is removed from commercial districts, the person can request a rezone to residential, Kneer said.
The town board can veto a request for a rezone, but if non-owner occupied residential is included in commercial districts as a special exception, then the town board can recommend whether to allow the special exception, but the decision is up to the Zoning Board of Appeals, he said.
Walkable communities
Berrier asked about how a walkable community would fit into a rural area.
Dunn County’s zoning ordinance does not apply to the City of Menomonie or any of the villages in Dunn County.
Idella Ridge in the Town of Menomonie would be an example of a large residential development in a commercial district, Wodarczyk said.
The development will have houses and could have small businesses, such as a convenience store or a restaurant, she said.
The zoning would allow a business with an apartment or a restaurant with a home attached, Wodarczyk said, noting that people who live in the residential development would be able to walk to the businesses in the development.
Initially, the entire Idella Ridge development was in a commercial district, and then part of the Idella Ridge development was rezoned to Residential 2, so part of the property is still zoned general commercial, Kneer said.
The Idella Ridge developer was not sure at first if he wanted to own rental properties, or if he would ask for a rezone so the houses could be owner occupied. The developer subsequently applied for a rezone to residential and received the rezone.
Berrier noted that Dunn County is currently conducting a housing study and that perhaps the PR&D committee should wait on making a decision on the non-owner occupied housing in commercial districts until the study is completed.
There is some sense of urgency because if the towns do not want non-owner occupied multi-family housing in their commercial districts, the ordinance will be in effect until it is changed, Quinn said.
Dunn County is short on affordable housing, but the county has zoning available for housing, Kneer said.
There are different zoning designations available for the towns if the town boards want single family or multi-family residential, and the towns that are zoned are zoned that way for a purpose, he said.
“I don’t think it is the PR&D’s job to force towns to do one or the other,” Kneer said.
If the ordinance is changed back, and a developer comes to a town board about housing in a commercial district, then the developer can apply for a rezone and the town board can decide on whether to recommend a rezone, Quinn said.
“This seems like how it should happen,” he said.
Cluster housing
Cluster housing and conservation development are an important consideration worth promoting, Berrier said.
In a cluster housing development, the residences are clustered together on the property, and the homeowners share ownership of a common area, such as a recreational area with woods and walking trails.
Cluster housing and conservation development are allowed in Residential 1, 2 and 3, Kneer said.
But what if the developer wants to add a convenience store too? Berrier asked.
That has not occurred yet in Dunn County, but if a developer wanted to add a convenience store to a cluster housing development, the developer could work with the town and Dunn County on a rezone of the property where the convenience store would be located, just as Idella Ridge has a partial rezone to residential in the commercial zoning, Kneer said.
One thing to think about is “planned unit development,” Quinn said.
In a PUD, it is all part of the plan for housing and some commercial, and a developer’s agreement allows the development to occur, he said.
Planning and discussion is an important part of the process and is not achieved only by zoning, Quinn said.
The Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development Committee asked Wodarczyk to come back to the committee with a proposal for reverting to the original zoning with the removal of non-owner occupied residential from general commercial and limited commercial zoning.
