Zoning › State preemptions › Wisconsin

Wisconsin Shoreland Zoning — Wis. Stat. § 59.692 + NR 115 (WI)

Tracked preemption from the Wisconsin overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
1966-01-01
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:WI
Other Wisconsin preemptions
Wisconsin Livestock Facility Siting — Wis. Stat. § 93.90 + ATCP 51 (CAFO preemption)Wisconsin Nonmetallic Mining (Frac Sand) Reclamation — Wis. Stat. Ch. 295 + NR 135Lower Wisconsin State Riverway — Wis. Stat. § 30.40 et seq.Wisconsin Local Historic Preservation — Wis. Stat. § 44.44 (Certified Ordinance)Fort McCoy / Volk Field AICUZ + Military Influence Area — federal/local coordinationWisconsin Brownfield Response / Spill Law — Wis. Stat. § 292.11 + DNR RR ProgramWisconsin Farmland Preservation — Wis. Stat. Ch. 91Wisconsin Tax Increment Law (TIF) — Wis. Stat. § 66.1105
Primary-source summary
§60.61: general town zoning (typically applied to shoreland, floodplain, and limited comprehensive zoning in unincorporated areas of counties without county zoning). §60.62(1): town with village powers may adopt zoning under the procedure and scope of §61.35 (and therefore §62.23) — BUT §60.62(3): in counties with a countywide §59.69 ordinance in force, the town ordinance must be approved by the county board. This is an affirmative preemption — absent county sign-off, a town cannot zone contrary to the county. §60.627 — shoreland zoning in towns; now preempted by statewide DNR shoreland…

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

parcel.intersects_navigable_water_shoreland_jurisdiction == True

Preempted fields

3 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
review_typerequirecounty_shoreland_zoning_per_NR_115§59.692 requires every county to zone all shorelands in unincorporated areas: within 1,000 ft of a navigable lake, pond, or flowage, or 300 ft of a navigable river or stream (or to the landward edge of the floodplain, whichever is greater). Standards per Wis. Admin. Code NR 115.
base_districts[*].min_setback_from_ohwm_ftfloor_at75NR 115 / §59.692 establishes a 75-foot default setback from the ordinary high water mark, with reduced-setback exceptions tied to adjacent existing-structure averaging.
shoreland_local_standardscap_atnr_115_state_ceiling2015 Wis. Act 55 inverted the regime — counties may NOT regulate shorelands more restrictively than NR 115. Vegetative buffers on previously developed land, expanded outdoor lighting reviews, and certain maintenance-permit fees were specifically curtailed.

Citation

Authority source
Wis. Stat. § 59.692; Wis. Admin. Code NR 115; 2015 Wis. Act 55
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/59.692

Research notes

Wisconsin's foundational environmental overlay. Mandatory in all 72 counties; ~15,000+ regulated navigable waterbodies. Act 55 made NR 115 a CEILING (counties cannot exceed) — the single largest preemption of local environmental zoning in any US state. Cities and villages exercise shoreland authority via §62.231 / §61.353 within municipal limits, also subject to NR 115.