Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 236 - Platting lands and recording and vacating plats.
236.20 - Final plat.

236.20 Final plat. A final plat of subdivided land shall comply with all of the following requirements:
(1) General requirements. All plats shall be legibly prepared and meet all of the following requirements:
(a) The plat shall have a one-inch margin on all sides. A graphic scale of not more than 100 feet to one inch shall be shown on each sheet showing layout features. When more than one sheet is used for any plat, each sheet shall be numbered consecutively and shall contain a notation giving the total number of sheets in the plat and showing the relation of that sheet to the other sheets and each sheet shall bear the subdivision and county name.
(c) For processing under s. 236.12 (2), the original copy of the final plat shall be 22 inches wide by 30 inches long and on any material that is capable of clearly legible reproduction.
(2) Map and engineering information. The final plat shall show correctly on its face all of the following:
(a) The exterior boundaries of the land surveyed and divided.
(b) All monuments erected, corners, and other points established in the field in their proper places. The material of which the monuments, corners, or other points are made shall be noted at the representation thereof or by legend, except lot, outlot, and meander corners need not be shown. The legend for metal monuments shall indicate the kind of metal, the outside diameter, length, and weight per lineal foot of the monuments.
(c) The length and bearing of the exterior boundaries, the boundary lines of all blocks, public grounds, streets, and alleys, and all lot lines, except that when the lines in any tier of lots are parallel it shall be sufficient to mark the bearings of the outer lines on one tier. Easements not parallel to a boundary or lot line shall be shown by center line distance, bearing, and width or by easement boundary bearings and distances. Where easement lines are parallel to boundary or lot lines, the boundary or lot line distances and bearings are controlling. Where the exterior boundary lines show bearings or lengths that vary from those recorded in abutting plats or certified surveys there shall be the following note placed along the lines, “recorded as (show recorded bearing or length or both)."
(d) Blocks, if designated, shall be consecutively numbered, or lettered in alphabetical order. The blocks in numbered additions to subdivisions bearing the same name shall be numbered or lettered consecutively through the several additions.
(e) All lots and outlots in each block consecutively numbered within blocks and the subdivision and throughout numbered additions to the subdivision.
(f) The exact width of all easements, streets and alleys.
(g) All shore meander lines for all lakes or navigable streams that are established by the professional land surveyor in accordance with s. 236.15 (1) (d), the distances and bearings thereof, and the distance between the point of intersection of such meander lines with lot lines and the determined or approximated ordinary high water mark.
(h) The center line of all streets.
(i) A north point properly located thereon identified as referenced to a magnetic, true or other identifiable direction and related to a boundary line of a quarter section, recorded private claim or federal reservation in which the subdivision is located.
(j) The area in square feet of each lot and outlot.
(k) When a street is on a circular curve, the main chords of the right-of-way lines shall be drawn as dotted or dashed lines in their proper places. All curved lines shall show, either on the lines or in an adjoining table, the radius of the circle, the central angle subtended, the chord bearing, the chord length, and the arc length for each segment. The tangent bearing shall be shown for each end of the main chord for all nontangent circular lines. When a circular curve of 30-foot radius or less is used to round off the intersection between 2 straight lines, it shall be tangent to both straight lines. It is sufficient to show on the plat the radius of the curve and the tangent distances from the points of curvature to the point of intersection of the straight lines.
(L) When strict compliance with a provision of this section will entail undue or unnecessary difficulty or tend to render the plat or certified survey map more difficult to read, and when the information on the plat or certified survey map is sufficient for the exact retracement of the measurements and bearings or other necessary dimensions, the department or, in 1st class cities, the city engineer may waive such strict compliance.
(3) Name, location and position. The name of the plat shall be printed thereon in prominent letters, and shall not be a duplicate of the name of any plat previously recorded in the same county or municipality. All of the following information relating to the position and location of the subdivision shall be shown on the plat:
(a) The location of the subdivision by government lot, recorded private claim, quarter-quarter section, section, township, range, and county noted immediately under the name given to the subdivision.
(b) The location of the subdivision shall be indicated by bearing and distance from a boundary line of a government lot monumented in the original survey or resurvey of Wisconsin, quarter section, recorded private claim, or federal reservation in which the subdivision is located. The monumentation at the ends of the boundary line shall be described and the bearing and distance between them shown.
(c) A small drawing of the section or governmental subdivision of the section in which the subdivision lies with the location of the subdivision indicated thereon or, if approved by the department, a location sketch showing the relationship of the subdivision to existing streets. The drawing or sketch shall be oriented on the sheet in the same direction as the main drawing.
(d) The names of adjoining streets, state highways and subdivisions shown in their proper location underscored by a dotted or dashed line.
(e) Abutting street and state highway lines of adjoining plats shown in their proper location by dotted or dashed lines. The width of these streets and highways shall be given also.
(4) Roads and public spaces.
(a) The name of each road or street in the plat shall be printed on the plat.
(b) All lands dedicated to public use shall be clearly marked “Dedicated to the Public".
(c) All roads or streets shown on the plat which are not dedicated to public use shall be clearly marked “Private Road" or “Private Street" or “Private Way".
(d) Each lot within the plat must have access to a public street unless otherwise provided by local ordinance.
(5) Site conditions and topography. The final plat shall show all of the following:
(a) All existing buildings.
(b) All watercourses, drainage ditches and other existing features pertinent to proper subdivision.
(c) The water elevations of adjoining lakes or navigable streams at the date of the survey and the approximate high water elevations of those lakes or streams. All elevations shall be referred to some permanent established datum plane.
(6) Public trust information. A final plat of a subdivision, or a certified survey map of land, to which s. 236.16 (4) applies shall show on its face the following statement:
“Any land below the ordinary high water mark of a lake or a navigable stream is subject to the public trust in navigable waters that is established under article IX, section 1, of the state constitution."
History: 1979 c. 221, 248; 1983 a. 473; 1999 a. 85; 2001 a. 16, 103, 104; 2013 a. 358.
When a strip of land was labeled on a plat “Public Access" that abutted a lake and connected to a public highway, the plat substantially met the statutory requirement of a “clear dedication to the public." While the dedication did not contain the exact formula found in sub. (4), under Hunt, 19 Wis. 2d 113 (1963), that is not necessary. Vande Zande v. Town of Marquette, 2008 WI App 144, 314 Wis. 2d 143, 758 N.W.2d 187, 07-2354.
Discussing the circumstances under which the statutory platting standards set forth in sub. (4) (d) and s. 236.16 (1), (2), and (3) may be waived or varied, with specific reference to the approval of island subdivision plats. 62 Atty. Gen. 315.
Discussing the extent to which local governments may vary the terms of sub. (4) (d) and s. 236.16 (1) and (2) by ordinance. 64 Atty. Gen. 175.
A proposed plat may not consist solely of outlots. 66 Atty. Gen. 238.