Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 66 - General municipality law.
66.10015 - Limitation on development regulation authority and down zoning.

66.10015 Limitation on development regulation authority and down zoning.
(1) Definitions. In this section:
(a) “Approval" means a permit or authorization for building, zoning, driveway, stormwater, or other activity related to a project.
(as) “Down zoning ordinance" means a zoning ordinance that affects an area of land in one of the following ways:
1. By decreasing the development density of the land to be less dense than was allowed under its previous usage.
2. By reducing the permitted uses of the land, that are specified in a zoning ordinance or other land use regulation, to fewer uses than were allowed under its previous usage.
(b) “Existing requirements" means regulations, ordinances, rules, or other properly adopted requirements of a political subdivision that are in effect at the time the application for an approval is submitted to the political subdivision.
(bs) “Members-elect" means those members of the governing body of a political subdivision, at a particular time, who have been duly elected or appointed for a current regular or unexpired term and whose service has not terminated by death, resignation, or removal from office.
(c) “Political subdivision" means a city, village, town, or county.
(d) “Project" means a specific and identifiable land development that occurs on defined and adjacent parcels of land, which includes lands separated by roads, waterways, and easements.
(e) “Substandard lot” means a legally created lot or parcel that met any applicable lot size requirements when it was created, but does not meet current lot size requirements.
(f) “Zoning ordinance” means an ordinance enacted by a political subdivision under s. 59.69, 60.61, 60.62, 61.35, or 62.23.
(2) Use of existing requirements.
(a) Except as provided under par. (b) or s. 66.0401, if a person has submitted an application for an approval, the political subdivision shall approve, deny, or conditionally approve the application solely based on existing requirements, unless the applicant and the political subdivision agree otherwise. An application is filed under this section on the date that the political subdivision receives the application.
(b) If a project requires more than one approval or approvals from one or more political subdivisions and the applicant identifies the full scope of the project at the time of filing the application for the first approval required for the project, the existing requirements applicable in each political subdivision at the time of filing the application for the first approval required for the project shall be applicable to all subsequent approvals required for the project, unless the applicant and the political subdivision agree otherwise.
(c) An application for an approval shall expire not less than 60 days after filing if all of the following apply:
1. The application does not comply with form and content requirements.
2. Not more than 10 working days after filing, the political subdivision provides the applicant with written notice of the noncompliance. The notice shall specify the nature of the noncompliance and the date on which the application will expire if the noncompliance is not remedied.
3. The applicant fails to remedy the noncompliance before the date provided in the notice.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law or rule, or any action or proceeding under the common law, no political subdivision may enact or enforce an ordinance or take any other action that prohibits a property owner from doing any of the following:
1. Conveying an ownership interest in a substandard lot.
2. Using a substandard lot as a building site if all of the following apply:
a. The substandard lot or parcel has never been developed with one or more of its structures placed partly upon an adjacent lot or parcel.
b. The substandard lot or parcel is developed to comply with all other ordinances of the political subdivision.
(3) Down zoning. A political subdivision may enact a down zoning ordinance only if the ordinance is approved by at least two-thirds of the members-elect, except that if the down zoning ordinance is requested, or agreed to, by the person who owns the land affected by the proposed ordinance, the ordinance may be enacted by a simple majority of the members-elect.
(4) Merging. Notwithstanding the authority granted under ss. 59.69, 60.61, 60.62, 61.35, and 62.23, no political subdivision may enact or enforce an ordinance or take any other action that requires one or more lots to be merged with another lot, for any purpose, without the consent of the owners of the lots that are to be merged.
(5) Expiration dates. A political subdivision may not establish an expiration date for an approval related to a planned development district of less than 5 years after the date of the last approval required for completion of the project. This section does not prohibit a political subdivision from establishing timelines for completion of work related to an approval.
(6) Zoning limitations, inspections.
(a) If a political subdivision or a utility district requires the installation of a water meter station for a political subdivision, neither the political subdivision nor the utility district may require a developer to install a water meter that is larger than a utility-type box, and may not require a developer to include heating, air conditioning, or a restroom in the water meter station. Any requirements for such a project that go beyond the limitations specified in this paragraph must be funded entirely by the political subdivision or utility district.
(b)
1. If a political subdivision employs a building inspector to enforce its zoning ordinance or other ordinances related to building, and a developer requests the building inspector to perform an inspection that is part of the inspector's duties, the inspector shall complete the inspection not later than 14 business days after the building inspector receives the request for an inspection.
2. If a building inspector does not complete a requested inspection as required under subd. 1., the developer may request a state building inspector to provide the requested inspection, provided that the state inspector has a comparable level of zoning and building inspection qualification as the local building inspector.
3. If a developer provides a political subdivision with a certificate of inspection from a state building inspector from an inspection described under subd. 2., which meets the requirements of the inspection that was supposed to be provided by the local building inspector, the political subdivision must accept the certificate provided by the state building inspector as if it had been provided by the political subdivision's building inspector.
History: 2013 a. 74; 2015 a. 391; 2017 a. 67, 68, 243; 2021 a. 239.
Sub. (2) (a) merely states that, when an applicant submits a zoning application, the existing requirements apply unless the applicant and the political subdivision agree otherwise. Nothing in the statute's text indicates that such agreement must be formal, in writing, or memorialized in meeting minutes. The statutory language does not dictate how or when the parties must agree, only that they agree. Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass'n, U.A. v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, 396 Wis. 2d 622, 957 N.W.2d 605, 20-0858.
For purposes of determining the applicable comprehensive plan under sub. (2) (a), what matters is whether a county and an applicant agree to proceed under a later adopted comprehensive plan as of the date of the county board's vote. Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass'n, U.A. v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, 396 Wis. 2d 622, 957 N.W.2d 605, 20-0858.

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