§ 50-4. Definitions.

For the purpose of this chapter, certain words, terms or phrases shall have meanings that either vary somewhat from their customary dictionary meanings or are intended to be interpreted to have a specific meaning. Words used in the present tense in the chapter include the future. The word "person" includes a firm, association, partnership, trust, company, or corporation, as well as an individual. The word "he" includes the word "she," and the word "his" includes the word "her." The word "shall" is mandatory, the word "should" is advisory, and the word "may" is permissive. Any words not defined in this section shall be presumed to have their customary dictionary definitions unless a specific definition is provided in section 1-2 of this Code.

Advisory agency means any agency, other than an objecting agency, to which a plat or certified survey map may be submitted for review and comment. An advisory agency may give advice to the village and suggest that certain changes be made to the plat or certified map, or it may suggest that a plat or certified survey map be approved or denied. Suggestions made by an advisory agency are not, however, binding on the village board of trustees or plan commission. Examples of advisory agencies include the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC), school districts, and local utility companies.

Alley means a public way affording only secondary access to abutting properties.

Approving authorities means a governmental body having authority to approve or reject a preliminary or final plat. Approving authorities are set forth in Wis. Stats. § 236.10, which includes the village board.   

Arterial street means a street used, or intended to be used, primarily for fast or heavy through traffic, whose function is to convey traffic between municipalities and activity centers. An arterial street shall include freeways and expressways as well as standard arterial streets and highways.

Block means a tract of land bounded by streets, or a combination of streets, public parks, cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, shorelines of navigable waters, and village, city or town boundaries.

Buildable lot area means the portion of a lot remaining after required yards have been provided and contains sufficient buildable area on the lot to properly accommodate a building and driveway.

Building means any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls.

Building line means a line parallel to a lot line and at a specified minimum distance from the lot line to comply with the yard or building setback requirements of the Village Zoning Ordinance and the requirements of this chapter.

Building setback line. See "building line."

Buffer means an area separating land uses and may consist of open areas, existing natural vegetation or new landscaping, such as trees, shrubs and berms.

Certified check means a form of check in which a bank verifies that sufficient funds exist in an account to cover the check, and the bank certifies accordingly, at the time the check is written while the funds are then held in the bank's internal account until the check is cashed or returned by the payee. Said check shall have sufficient funds, and its liquidity is similar to cash, absent failure of the bank.

Certified survey map means a map prepared in accordance with Wis. Stats. § 236.34 and this chapter for the purpose of dividing land into not more than four parcels or building sites (also referred to as a minor land division), or used to document, for recording purposes, survey and dedication data relating to single parcels.

Collector street means a street used, or intended to be used, to carry traffic from minor land-access streets to the major system of arterial streets, including the principal entrance streets to residential developments and/or activity or employment centers.

Common open space. See "open space, common."

Communication facilities or services means telephone, television, internet and other related communication facilities or services.

Community means a town, municipality, or a group of adjacent towns and/or municipalities, having common social, economic or physical interests.

Comprehensive plan means an extensively developed plan adopted by the village board pursuant to Wis. Stats. § 66.1001. Components of a comprehensive plan include, but are not limited to, a land use, transportation system, park and open space, sanitary sewer, public water supply, and stormwater management system elements, and neighborhood unit development plans. Devices for the implementation of such plans include zoning, official mapping and land division control.

Condominium means a form of ownership combining individual unit ownership with shared use and ownership of common property or facilities, established in accordance with Wis. Stats. ch. 703. Common areas and facilities are owned by all members of the condominium association on a proportional, undivided basis. A condominium is a legal form of ownership and not a specific building type or style.

Condominium association means an association, whose members consist of owners of units in a condominium, which administers and maintains the common property and common elements of a condominium.

Condominium declaration means the condominium instrument by which property becomes subject to Wis. Stats. ch. 703.

Condominium instruments mean the declaration, plats and plans of a condominium together with any attached exhibits or schedules.

Condominium unit means a part of a condominium intended for any type of independent use, including one or more cubicles of air at one or more levels of space or one or more rooms or enclosed spaces located on one or more floors (or parts thereof) in a building. A unit may include two or more noncontiguous areas.

Connecting highway means a marked route, not a state trunk highway per se, of the state trunk highway system over certain streets and highways in cities and villages which the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) has designated as a connecting highway (see Wis. Stats. § 86.32).

Conservation easement means the grant of a property right or interest from the property owner to another person, agency, unit of government or other organization stipulating that the described land shall remain in its natural, scenic, open or wooded state, precluding future or additional development.

Conversion condominium means a structure which, before the recording of a condominium declaration, was wholly or partially occupied by persons other than those who have contracted for the purchase of condominium units and those who occupy with the consent of the purchasers.

Cross access means a shared access drive or traffic aisle between adjoining or adjacent properties with compatible land uses which usually allows access between adjacent parking areas located on different lots without traveling on adjacent public streets.

County planning agency means the agency created by the county board and authorized by Statute to plan land use and to review subdivision plats and certified survey maps.   

Covenant means a restriction on the use of land, usually set forth in the deed.

Cul-de-sac street means a local or minor street with only one outlet and having an appropriate turnaround at the end for safe and convenient traffic movement.

Declaration of restrictions means a set of restrictions filed by a developer, subdivision (homeowners) association or condominium association stating rules residents must follow, including a statement of all the covenants, conditions and restrictions that affect a parcel of land. A subdivider may note the restrictions on the map or plat when recording the subdivision plat. If the restrictions are numerous, the subdivider may prepare a separate document called a declaration or declaration of restrictions, listing all the restrictions, and then record that declaration.

Deed restrictions means a restriction on the use of a property set forth in the deed.

Director of public works (DPW) means the Village of Hartland Director of Public Works or designee.

Engineer, village means a registered professional engineer who is a full time employee of the village, or a consulting engineer who provides resident staff services to the village, and who is duly appointed by the village board to the position.

Environmental corridor. See "primary environmental corridor," "secondary environmental corridor," and "isolated natural resource area."

Extraterritorial plat approval jurisdiction means the unincorporated area within 1½ miles of a fourth-class city or a village and within three miles of all other cities. Wherever such statutory extraterritorial powers overlap with those of another city or village, the jurisdiction over the overlapping area shall be divided on a line, all points of which are equidistant from each community, so that not more than one city or village exercises extraterritorial powers over any area.

Final plat means a map prepared in accordance with the requirements of Wis. Stats. ch. 236 and this chapter for the purpose of creating a subdivision.

Floodplains means those lands, including the floodplains, floodways and channels, subject to inundation by the 100-year recurrence interval flood, or, where such data is not available, the maximum flood of record.

Frontage means the total dimension of a lot abutting a public street measured along the street line.

Frontage street means a minor land-access street auxiliary to and located on the side of an arterial street for control of access and for service to the abutting development.

Green development means the integration of techniques that help conserve natural resources by arranging land uses and site features (i.e. lots, buildings and infrastructure) to include or be close to services, employment centers and alternative transportation systems (i.e. mass transit, sidewalks, and bicycle facilities); protecting existing natural resources; providing opportunities to practicably harness renewable energy sources, where possible (i.e. south-oriented buildings capturing passive solar radiation); utilizing sun, wind, and/or earth for natural lighting, ventilation, heating, cooling, and other purposes (i.e. solar panels, wind turbines, wind catchers/ventilation shafts, and geothermal systems); using green infrastructures; incorporating local, reused, recycled, recyclable, or eco-friendly construction materials and energy efficient appliances; and including other energy and water conservation and efficiency measures into site and building designs. The term is also sometimes referred to as "low impact development (LID)."

Green infrastructure means incorporating stormwater management systems (sometimes called "green stormwater infrastructure") that mimic nature to improve water quality and reduce flooding by storing, infiltrating or evapotranspiring stormwater through the use of bioswales, infiltration trenches, bioretention basins with under drains, rain gardens and barrels or cisterns, rooftop and wall or "vertical" gardens, porous or permeable pavements with restricted salt and pollutants in such areas, xeriscaping (landscaping that conserves water by using drought-tolerant plants and ornate hardscapes or mulch versus traditional mowed turf/grass), and other energy and water conservation and efficiency measures into site and building designs. It also means to include or use natural hydrologic features of an ecological system such as vegetation (wetlands and woodlands), soil, waterways and other natural processes often located in environmental corridors that provide habitat, flood protection, and cleaner air and water.

Hedgerow means a row of shrubs or trees planted for enclosure or separation of fields.

High groundwater elevation means the highest elevation to which subsurface water rises. This may be evidenced by the actual presence of water during wet periods of the year, or by soil mottling during drier periods. Mottling is a mixture or variation of soil colors. In soils with restricted internal drainage, gray, yellow, red and brown colors are intermingled giving a multicolored effect.

Homeowners association means an association combining individual home ownership with shared use, ownership, maintenance, and responsibility for common property or facilities, including private open space, within a land division.

Isolated natural resource area means an area containing significant remnant natural resources at least five acres in area and at least 200 feet in width, as delineated and mapped by SEWRPC.

Land division means a generic term that includes both subdivision and minor land divisions (also referred to as certified survey maps), as those terms are defined in this section.

Landscaping means living plant material, such as grass, groundcover, flowers, shrubs, vines, hedges, and trees; nonliving durable material such as rocks, pebbles, sand, mulch, woodchips or bark; and structures such as fences and walls.

Letter of credit means an irrevocable written agreement guaranteeing payment for improvements, entered into by a bank, savings and loan, or other financial institution authorized to do business in the State of Wisconsin and which has a financial standing acceptable to the village, which secures a subdivider's obligation to pay the cost of designing, constructing, and installing required public and public-like improvements as well as certain other obligations in connection with an approved land division.

Loop street means a local or minor street that has its only outlets or ingress and egress at two points on the same collector street.

Lot means a parcel of land having frontage on a public street or other village officially approved means of access, occupied or intended to be occupied by a principal structure or use and of sufficient size to meet minimum lot width, lot frontage, lot area, setback, yard, parking, and other requirements of the Village Zoning Ordinance as set forth in chapter 46 of this Code.

Lot, corner means a lot abutting two or more streets at their intersection, provided that the corner of such intersection shall have an angle of 135 degrees or less, measured on the lot side. (See Illustration No. 50-1)

Lot, double frontage means a lot, other than a corner lot, with frontage on more than one street. Double frontage lots, sometimes called through lots, shall normally be deemed to have two front yards and two side yards and no rear yard. (See Illustration No. 50-1)

Lot, flag means a lot not fully fronting on or abutting a public street and where access to the public street system is by a narrow strip of land, easement or private right-of-way. Flag lots generally are not considered to conform to sound planning principles. (See Illustration No. 50-1)

Lot, interior means a lot with frontage on one street which is bounded by adjacent lots along each side and a lot behind it fronting on a different street. (See Illustration No. 50-1)

Minor land division means any division of land not defined as a subdivision and that:

(1)

The division of land by the owner or subdivider results in the creation of two, but not more than four, parcels or building sites, inclusive of the original remnant parcel, any one of which is 1.5 acres or less in area, by a division or by successive division of any part of the original parcel within a period of five years; or

(2)

Divides a block, lot or outlot within a recorded subdivision plat into not more than four parcels or building sites, inclusive of the original remnant parcel, without changing the exterior boundaries of said plat or the exterior boundaries of blocks within the plat, and the division does not result in a subdivision.

All minor land divisions shall be made by a certified survey map.

Minor street means a street used, or intended to be used, primarily for access to abutting properties. Such streets are sometimes called land-access streets or minor land-access streets.

Municipality means an incorporated village or city.

National map accuracy standards means standards governing the horizontal and vertical accuracy of topographic maps and specifying the means for testing and determining such accuracy, endorsed by all federal agencies having surveying and mapping functions and responsibilities. These standards have been fully reproduced in Appendix D of SEWRPC Technical Report No. 7, Horizontal and Vertical Survey Control in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Navigable water means Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, all natural inland lakes within the state, and all streams, ponds, sloughs, flowages and other waters within the territorial limits of Wisconsin, including the state portion of boundary waters, which are navigable under laws of this state. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has declared navigable all bodies of water with a bed differentiated from adjacent uplands and with levels of flow sufficient to support navigation by a recreational craft of the shallowest draft on an annually recurring basis. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is responsible for determining if a water body or watercourse is navigable.

Objecting agency means an agency empowered to object to a subdivision plat pursuant to Wis. Stats. ch. 236. The village may not approve any plat upon which an objection has been certified until the objection has been satisfied. Objecting agencies include the Wisconsin Department of Administration, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation if the subdivision abuts or adjoins a state trunk highway (STH) or a connecting highway or proposes a street connecting to a STH in accordance with Wis. Stats. § 236.12(2)(a), and the Waukesha County Planning Agency in relation to parks, drainage channels or other planned public developments within or near the subdivision in accordance with Wis. Stats. § 236.12(2)(a) and if the subdivision abuts or adjoins a county trunk highway (CTH) or proposes a street connecting to a CTH.

Official map means a document prepared and adopted pursuant to Wis. Stats. § 62.23(6), which shows the location of existing and planned streets, parkways, parks, playgrounds, railway rights-of-way, waterways, and public transit facilities.

Open space means any site, parcel, lot, area, or outlot of land or water that has been designated, dedicated, reserved or restricted from further development. Open space may be privately- or publicly-owned, and substantially free of structures, but may contain recreational facilities approved by the village.

Open space, common means privately-owned land within a land division that has been restricted in perpetuity from further development and is set aside for the use and enjoyment by residents of the land division. Common open space shall not be part of individual residential lots, and shall be substantially free of structures, but may contain recreational facilities approved by the village.

Open space, public means land within a land division that has been dedicated to the public for recreational or conservation purposes. Open space lands shall be substantially free of structures, but may contain recreational facilities approved by the village.

Ordinary high water mark means the point on the bank or shore up to which the presence and action of surface water is so continuous as to leave a distinctive mark such as by erosion, destruction, or prevention of terrestrial vegetation, predominance of aquatic vegetation, or other easily recognized characteristic.

Outlot means a parcel of land, other than a buildable lot or block, so designated on the plat, which is used to convey or reserve parcels of land. Outlots may be created to restrict a lot which is unbuildable due to high groundwater, steep slopes, or other physical constraints, or to create common open space. Outlots may also be parcels of land intended to be either redivided into lots or combined with one or more other adjacent outlots or lots in adjacent subdivisions or minor land divisions in the future for the purpose of creating buildable lots. An outlot may also be created if a lot fails to meet requirements for a private onsite wastewater treatment system, but which may be buildable if public sewer is extended to the lot or land division.

Wis. Stats. § 236.13(6) prohibits using an outlot as a building site unless it complies with all the requirements imposed for buildable lots. The village will generally require that any restrictions related to an outlot be included on the face of the plat.

Parcel means a lot or outlot as a single piece of land separately owned, either publicly or privately, and capable of being conveyed separately. For the purpose of this chapter, public dedications and public rights-of-way are not considered parcels.

Plat means a map prepared, as required in section 50-11 of this chapter, for the purpose of recording a subdivision or condominium.

Planning documents means the following: plans adopted by the village board for public facilities, transportation, future land use, sanitary sewer, water and storm sewer, and capital improvements and the village official map. These documents have been developed by the village board and/or the plan commission pursuant to Wis. Stats. §§ 61.35, 62.23 and 66.1001.

Preliminary plat means a map showing the salient features of a proposed subdivision submitted to an approving authority for purposes of preliminary consideration. A preliminary plat precisely describes the location and exterior boundaries of the parcel proposed to be divided, and shows the approximate location of lots and other improvements.

Primary environmental corridor means a concentration of significant natural resources at least 400 acres in area, at least two miles in length, and at least 200 feet in width, as delineated and mapped by SEWRPC.

Public improvement means any sanitary sewer, storm sewer, open channel, water main, street, park, sidewalk, bicycle or pedestrian way, or other facility for which the village may ultimately assume the responsibility for maintenance and operation.

Public way means any public road, street, highway, bicycle or pedestrian way, drainageway or part thereof.

Recreational path means, for the purpose of this chapter, a multi-use path that provides opportunities for hiking/pedestrians and may accommodate bicycling, rollerblading, skateboarding and other recreational uses and further persons with disabilities, including those with wheelchairs and personal assistive mobility devices.

Replat means the process of changing, or the map or plat which changes, the boundaries of a recorded subdivision plat, certified survey map, or part thereof. The division of a large block, lot or outlot within a recorded subdivision plat or certified survey map without changing the exterior boundaries of such block, lot or outlot is not a replat.

Reserve strip means any land which would prohibit or interfere with the orderly extension of streets, bicycle or pedestrian ways, sanitary sewer, water mains, storm water facilities or other utilities or improvements between two abutting properties.

Secondary environmental corridor means a concentration of significant natural resources at least 100 acres in area and at least one mile in length. Where such corridors serve to link primary environmental corridors, no minimum area or length criteria apply. Secondary environmental corridors are delineated and mapped by SEWRPC.

Shorelands means those lands lying within the following distances: 1,000 feet from the ordinary high water mark of navigable lakes, ponds and flowages; or 300 feet from the high water mark of navigable streams, or to the landward side of the floodplain, whichever is greater.

Sketch plan means a conceptual plan of a proposed land division that is submitted for informal review.

Slope means the degree of deviation of a surface from the horizontal, usually expressed in percent or degrees.

Soil mapping unit means soil type, slope and erosion factor boundaries as shown on the operational soil survey maps prepared by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Subdivider means any person, firm or corporation, or any agent thereof, dividing or proposing to divide land resulting in a subdivision, minor land division (certified survey map) or replat or any person who creates a condominium under Wis. Stat. ch. 703.

Subdivider's agreement means an agreement (sometimes called a "development agreement") entered into by which the village and subdivider agree as to the design, construction and installation of required public improvements; the payment for such public improvements; dedication of land; and other matters related to the requirements of this chapter. The subdivider's agreement shall not come into effect unless and until a letter of credit or other appropriate surety or fees has been provided to the village by the subdivider.

Subdivision means the division of a lot, parcel or tract of land by the owner thereof or the owner's agent/representative for the purpose of transfer of ownership or building development, including condominium development, where the act of division creates five or more parcels or building sites, inclusive of the original remnant parcel, any one of which is of 1.5 acres each or less in area, by a division or by successive divisions of any part of the original property within a period of five years.

Surety bond means a bond guaranteeing performance of a contract or obligation through forfeiture of the bond if such contract or obligation is unfulfilled by the subdivider.

Sustainability means creating and maintaining the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations, as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Wetland means an area where water is at, near or above the land surface long enough to be capable of supporting aquatic or hydrophytic vegetation and which has soils indicative of wet conditions.

Woodlands means upland areas at least one acre in extent covered by deciduous or coniferous trees as delineated and mapped by SEWRPC.

(Ord. No. 802-13, § 1(Att.), 4-22-2013)

Editor's note

The illustration referenced above is not set out herein but is on file and available for inspection in the village offices.