LRB-5634/1
EHS:skw
2021 - 2022 LEGISLATURE
January 28, 2022 - Introduced by Representatives Swearingen, Callahan and
Dittrich, cosponsored by Senators Felzkowski and Stroebel. Referred to
Committee on Transportation.
AB919,1,3
1An Act to amend 59.692 (1f) (b) 1.; and
to create 59.692 (1n) (d) 7. of the
2statutes;
relating to: the construction of bridges in a shoreland setback area
3and vegetative buffer zone requirements.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill makes changes to shoreland zoning laws relating to the construction
of bridges and required vegetative buffer zones.
Current law requires each county to zone by ordinance all shorelands in its
unincorporated area. The Department of Natural Resources is required to
promulgate by rule shoreland zoning standards, and a county shoreland zoning
ordinance may not regulate a matter more restrictively than the matter is regulated
by a shoreland zoning standard.
Under current law, a “shoreland setback area” is an area in a shoreland that is
within a certain distance of the ordinary high-water mark in which the construction
or placement of structures has been limited or prohibited under a shoreland zoning
ordinance. Current law requires a county shoreland zoning ordinance to establish
a shoreland setback of 75 feet, but provides that a county shoreland zoning ordinance
may not prohibit the construction of certain structures within the shoreland setback
area, such as a boathouse or a structure that provides pedestrian access to the
shoreline. This bill adds that a county shoreland zoning ordinance may not prohibit
within the shoreland setback area the construction of a bridge for which DNR has
issued a bridge permit.
Under current law, a county shoreland zoning ordinance generally may not
require a person to establish a vegetative buffer zone on previously developed land
unless it allows the buffer zone to contain a viewing corridor that is at least 35 feet
wide for every 100 feet of shoreline frontage. Under the bill, the minimum width of
the viewing corridor is 35 percent of the shoreline frontage or 35 feet wide, whichever
is greater.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB919,1
1Section
1. 59.692 (1f) (b) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB919,2,42
59.692
(1f) (b) 1. Allows the buffer zone to contain a viewing corridor
that is at
3least with a width along the shoreline of no less than 35 feet
wide for every 100 feet
4of shoreline frontage or 35 percent of the shoreline frontage, whichever is greater.
AB919,2
5Section
2. 59.692 (1n) (d) 7. of the statutes is created to read:
AB919,2,76
59.692
(1n) (d) 7. A bridge for which the department has issued a permit under
7s. 30.123.
