Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 236 - Platting lands and recording and vacating plats.
236.12 - Procedure for approval of plats.

236.12 Procedure for approval of plats.
(1) This section shall not apply to cities of the first class nor to unincorporated land in a county having a population of 750,000 or more.
(2)
(ac) The subdivider or subdivider's agent shall submit an electronic copy of the preliminary or final plat, or a copy of the preliminary or final plat that is capable of clearly legible reproduction, to the department, which shall examine the plat for compliance with ss. 236.15, 236.16, 236.20, and 236.21 (1) and (2).
(ap) Within 2 days after a preliminary or final plat is submitted under par. (ac), the department shall transmit an electronic copy of the plat, or, if the department prefers, 2 legible hard copies of the plat, to each state agency authorized to object to the plat under this paragraph. If the subdivision abuts or adjoins a state trunk highway or connecting highway, the department shall transmit a copy or copies of the plat to the department of transportation so that the agency may determine whether it has any objection to the plat on the basis of its rules as provided in s. 236.13. If the subdivision is not served by a public sewer and provision for that service has not been made, the department shall transmit a copy or copies of the plat to the department of safety and professional services so that the agency may determine whether it has any objection to the plat on the basis of its rules as provided in s. 236.13. In lieu of this procedure the agencies may designate local officials to act as their agents in examining the plats for compliance with the statutes or their rules by filing a written delegation of authority with the approving body.
(b) Within 2 days after a preliminary or final plat is submitted under par. (ac), the department shall transmit an electronic copy of the plat, or, if the department prefers, 4 legible hard copies of the plat, to the county planning agency, if the agency employs on a full-time basis a professional engineer, a planner, or other person charged with the duty of administering planning legislation and adopts a policy requiring submission so that the body may determine if it has any objection to the plat on the basis of a conflict with park, parkway, expressway, major highways, airports, drainage channels, schools, or other planned public developments. If no county planning agency exists, then 2 copies to the county park commission except that in a county with a county executive or county administrator, 2 copies to the county park manager, if the subdivision abuts a county park or parkway so that the body may determine if it has any objection to the plat on the basis of a conflict with the park or parkway development.
(3) Within 20 days after the date of receiving the copies of the plat any agency having authority to object under sub. (2) shall notify the subdivider or subdivider's agent and all other agencies having the authority to object of any objection based upon failure of the plat to comply with the statutes or rules that its examination under sub. (2) is authorized to cover, or, if there is no objection, it shall so certify on the face of a copy of the plat and return that copy to the department. After each agency and the department have certified that they have no objection or that their objections have been satisfied, the department shall so certify on the face of the plat. If an agency fails to act within 20 days from the date on which it received the copy or copies of the plat, and the department fails to act within 30 days from the date on which it received the copy of the plat, it shall be deemed that there are no objections to the plat and, upon demand, the department shall so certify on the face of the plat.
(4m) In order to facilitate approval of the final plat whenever more than one approval is required, the subdivider or subdivider's agent shall file with each approving authority a true copy of the plat that the subdivider or subdivider's agent submitted to the department.
(7) The department and the state agencies referred to in s. 236.13 (1) may charge reasonable service fees for all or part of the costs of activities and services provided by the department under this section and s. 70.27. A schedule of such fees shall be established by rule by each such agency.
History: 1973 c. 90; 1977 c. 29 s. 1654 (3), (8) (c); 1979 c. 221; 1979 c. 248 ss. 5, 25 (6); 1979 c. 355; 1985 a. 29; 1995 a. 27; 1997 a. 27; 2011 a. 32; 2013 a. 358; 2017 a. 207 s. 5; 2017 a. 364 s. 49.
A “planned public development" under sub. (2) (b) is one that a county board has adopted by ordinance. Reynolds v. Waukesha County Park & Planning Commission, 109 Wis. 2d 56, 324 N.W.2d 897 (Ct. App. 1982).
Because sub. (2) (a) grants only to a “town or municipality" within which a plat lies the authority to require public improvements as a condition of plat approval, and a county is not a municipality for purposes of this chapter, a county may not regulate the size of cul-de-sacs, the length of street blocks, and the location of town roads when the plat is located within a town. Rogers Development, Inc. v. Rock County Planning & Development Committee, 2003 WI App 113, 265 Wis. 2d 214, 666 N.W.2d 504, 02-0017.

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