SHORELAND AND RIPARIAN MANAGEMENT PLAN

Here we go again. Just to confuse the issue, Dane County, in it's infinite wisdom is now trying to expand their reach with regard to "shoreland" and "riparian" property owners.

The new plan being proposed is even more broad reaching than anything having to do with the current Ordinance Amendment 2 in that if it is passed, it will affect not only "shoreland" owners in the towns throughout Dane County but also all cities and villages.

Currently we estimate this to impact a MINIMUM of 44,000 properties within Dane County.

Here's the link to the proposed plan.

Those watching this have asked for an economic impact study to be completed on this. This first request was made earlier this year and as yet to be acting upon.

HOW DO THEY NOT SEE WHAT THE ECONOMIC IMPACT WOULD BE TO THIS?

Here's the point, all of those 44,000+ properties, if this passes, would be deemed "non-conforming use". This becomes an issue for resale, improvement to the property and truly limits each property owner's property rights.

As I receive more information on this, I'll be certain to post it here. We are focusing our resources to get the word out about this.

New Zoning Administrator Named

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced that she has filled the vacant seat of Zoning Administrator yesterday. See the related story in the Wisconsin State Journal here.

I don't know much about Roger Lane but hopefully the additional of someone on staff in this department will help move all issues forward regarding the Zoning Department for Dane County.

Time will tell.....

Let the Fight Begin

For those following the process I've gone through in getting "approval" to build 2 homes on lots purchased near the UW Arboretum in January 2006, you might know we've been granted the variance requests we were pursuing on February 22, 2007.

Time to celebrate right?

Wrong, this is just the beginning of a larger battle. 1 week prior to the variance hearing in front of the Dane County Board of Adjustment, my business partners and I filed suit in circuit court against the Dane County Board of Adjustment. Some might think now that our variance has been granted, we should drop this suit. This is not our intent. Let me explain why.

The basis of the suit is over a decision the BOA made in November 2006 which now requires any and all property owners who fall with in the Shoreland Zone (within 1000 feet of navigable lakes, rivers, streams) must now request a variance for any type of improvements being done on their land if their lot is considered "substandard" by current zoning code. For this purpose, a substandard lot is one that is less than 15,000 sq. ft. in size if the lot is serviced by a municipal sewer system or 20,000 sq. ft. if the lot is serviced by a private septic system. For some context on how large these sq. ft. requirements are for a sewered lot it would need to be 100x150 feet in size to meet the minimum requirements. The 20,000 foot requirement for a lot serviced by septic would be NEARLY 1/2 Acre in SIZE .

Needless to say, our expectation is this will affect well over 1000 property owners in Dane County and could even be greater than that.

So here's how it now works. You own property which is now considered a substandard lot. You decide you'd like to add on to the home to create more living space for you and your family. Your addition doesn't exceed any setback requirements, lot coverage maximums, etc... You make a trip to Dane County Zoning to apply for a zoning permit to start your project. You are now told you must file for a variance request with the BOA. This filing has a deadline of approximately 1 month prior to the next meeting to be placed on the agenda AND you must pay a filing fee of $350. Let's say you missed the deadline for the next meetings agenda, you must wait nearly 2 months to have your variance request heard!

Now you're starting to get mad because it seems the rules have changed and you had no idea that this had happened. Welcome to the world of Dane County land use politics!

This is the reason we're continuing with our lawsuit. I would invite anyone interested to let me know if you'd like to be included in the suit as we've already had other interested parties join in.

You can reach me at 608-662-9501 or e-mail darren@idcnet.com