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Division XI. DEFINITIONS

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For the purpose of this Ordinance, certain words or phrases shall have meanings that either vary somewhat from their customary dictionary meaning or are intended to be interpreted to have a specific meaning. Words used in the present tense 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”. The singular number includes the plural number, and the plural number includes the singular number. The word “shall” is mandatory and not advisory, the word “should” is advisory, and the word “may” is permissive. Any words not defined in this Ordinance shall be presumed to have their customary dictionary definitions.

Agency, Advisory. 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 town and County and suggest that certain changes be made to the plat or certified survey map, or it may suggest that a plat or certified survey map be approved or denied. Suggestions made by an advisory agency are not binding on the County zoning committee or town board. Examples of advisory agencies include the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, local school districts, and local utility companies.

Agency or Authority, Approving. Each governmental body having authority to approve or reject a subdivision plat or minor land division as set forth in Section 236.10 of the Wisconsin Statutes. Governing bodies with approving authority include the town board, the governing body of the municipality having extraterritorial plat approval authority such as the City of Kenosha and villages within the County, and the Kenosha County Board.

Agency, Objecting. An agency empowered to object to a subdivision plat pursuant to Chapter 236 of the Statutes. The town and County 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 Safety and Professional Services if the land to be subdivided will be served by a private onsite wastewater treatment system (POWTS), and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation if the land to be subdivided abuts a State trunk highway or connecting highway or street.

Alley. A special public way providing only secondary access to abutting properties.

Block. A tract of land bounded by streets or by a combination of one or more streets and public parks, cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, bulkhead lines, or shorelines of waterways, or corporate boundary lines.

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

Buildable Lot Area. The portion of a lot remaining after required yards have been provided and conservancy, floodplain, and other unbuildable areas excluded, which contains sufficient buildable area to properly accommodate a building and driveway, and a well and POWTS if required.

Building. Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls.

Building Setback Line. A line generally parallel to a lot line and at a distance from the lot line to comply with the County zoning ordinance’s yard requirements and the requirements of this Ordinance.

Certified Check. 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. 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. A map prepared in accordance with Section 236.34 of the Statutes and this Ordinance for the purpose of dividing land into not more than 4 (or 6 in the B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, B-5, BP-1, B-94, M-1, or M-2 zoning districts) parcels or building sites; or used to document, for recording purposes, survey and dedication data relating to single parcels. Certified survey maps are also referred to as minor land divisions.

Common Open Space. See “Open Space, Common”.

Comprehensive Plan. Any extensively developed plan adopted by the County board or by the governing body of a city, village, or town pursuant to Section 66.1001 of the Wisconsin Statutes. Components of a comprehensive plan include, but are not limited to, a land use, transportation system, urban redevelopment, park and open space, stormwater management, and neighborhood unit development plans, and public facility plans. Devices for the implementation of such plans include zoning, official map, and land division control ordinances.

Condominium. A form of ownership combining individual unit ownership with shared use and ownership of common property or facilities, established in accordance with Chapter 703 of the Wisconsin Statutes. 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. 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. The association is responsible for maintaining the common facilities and grounds and delivering services, but does not own the common facilities.

Condominium Declaration. The condominium instrument by which property becomes subject to Chapter 703 of the Statutes.

Condominium Instrument. Recorded documents relating to the creation and subsequent modification of the condominium, including the declaration, plats, and plans of a condominium together with any attached exhibits or schedules and addendums or amendments.

Condominium Plat. See “Plat, Condominium.”

Condominium, Small. For the purpose of this Ordinance, small condominium means a condominium with not more than 6 units.

Condominium Unit. 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.

Conservation Easement. 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, agricultural, or wooded state, precluding future or additional development.

Conversion Condominium. 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 or those who occupy with the consent of the purchasers.

County Zoning Committee and/or Planning Agency. The Kenosha County Planning, Development and Extension Education Committee created by the County Board as authorized by Statute to plan land use and to review subdivision plats, condominium plats, and certified survey maps. The Committee is supported by staff from the Kenosha County Division of Planning and Development and other applicable supporting County departments.

County Zoning Ordinance. Chapter 12, “Kenosha County General Zoning and Shoreland/Floodplain Zoning Ordinance,” of the County municipal code.

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

Cross Access. 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 or highways.

Datum. A system that serves as a basis for land survey measurements and calculations.

Declaration of Restrictions. A set of restrictions filed by a subdivider, 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 or condominium 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. A restriction on the use of a property set forth in a deed.

Development or Subdivider’s Agreement. An agreement entered into by and between a town and a subdivider whereby the town and subdivider agree as to the design, construction, and installation of required public improvements, including improvements required by this Ordinance; the payment for such public improvements; dedication of land; and other matters related to the requirements of this Ordinance. The development agreement shall not come into effect unless and until a letter of credit or other appropriate surety or fees have been provided to the town and County by the subdivider.

Engineer, Town or County. A professional engineer who is a full-time employee of the town or County or consulting professional engineer who provides consulting or resident staff services to the town or County.

Environmental Corridor. Those lands containing concentrations of scenic, recreational, and other natural resources as identified and delineated by SEWRPC. These natural resources and resource-related elements include the following: 1) lakes, rivers, and streams, and their associated riparian buffers and floodplains; 2) wetlands; 3) forests and woodlands; 4) prairies; 5) wildlife habitat areas; 6) rugged terrain and high-relief topography;7) wet, poorly-drained, and organic soils; 8) existing park and open space sites; 9) potential parks and open space sites; 10) historic sites; 11) significant scenic areas and viewpoints; and 12) natural areas and critical species habitat sites.

Environmental Corridor, Primary. A concentration of significant natural resources at least 400 acres in area, at least 2 miles in length, and at least 200 feet in width, as delineated and mapped by SEWRPC.

Environmental Corridor, Secondary. A concentration of significant natural resources at least 100 acres in area and at least one (1) 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.

Extraterritorial Plat and Certified Survey Map Approval Jurisdiction. The unincorporated area within one-and-one-half (1 1/2) miles of a fourth class city or a village and within 3 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. See “Plat, Final.”

Floodplains. Those lands, including the floodplains, floodways, and channels, subject to inundation by the one percent annual probability (100-year recurrence interval) flood, or, where such data is not available, the maximum flood of record.

Frontage. The smallest dimension of a lot abutting a public street measured along the street line.

Green Development. 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. public 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 infrastructure; 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. 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, curb openings into tree wells, rain gardens and barrels or cisterns, rooftop and wall or “vertical” gardens, porous or permeable pavements with restricted salt and pollutants in such areas, drought-tolerant landscaping materials and techniques, 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. A row of shrubs or trees planted or preserved for enclosure or separation of fields.

High Groundwater Elevation. 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. 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. The association is responsible for maintaining the common facilities and grounds and delivering services, but may or may not own such common facilities.

Improvement, Public. Any sanitary sewer, storm sewer, open channel, water main, roadway, park, parkway, public sidewalk, pedestrian or recreational way, planting strip, or other facility for which the County or town may ultimately assume the responsibility for maintenance and operation.

Isolated Natural Resource Area. An area containing significant natural resources at least 5 acres in area and at least 200 feet in width, as delineated and mapped by SEWRPC.

Land Division. Any division or conveyance of land or of an interest in land that results in the creation of one or more additional lots or parcels, including, without limitation, any subdivision or minor land division (certified survey map). A land division can be legally created only by means of a subdivision plat or certified survey map, and not a condominium plat.

Land Division, Minor (Certified Survey Map). A minor land division is any division of land that:

(1) Creates at least 2 but not more than 4 parcels or building sites, inclusive of the original remnant parcel, any one of which is less than 35 acres in size, by a division or by successive divisions of any part of the original parcel within a period of 5 years; or

(2) Divides a block, lot, or outlot within a recorded subdivision plat into at least 2 but not more 4 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.

For the purpose of this Ordinance and in accordance with Sections 236.015(12)(bm) and 236.34(1)(ar) of the Statutes, a minor land division also includes a division of land into 6 or fewer parcels or lots, not including outlots, that may be created by a certified survey map for land zoned commercial, industrial, or mixed-use development (land in a B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, B-5, BP-1, B-94, M-1, or M-2 zoning district).

Landscaping. Living noninvasive plant material, such as grass, groundcover, flowers, shrubs, vines, hedges, and trees; nonliving durable material such as rocks, pebbles, sand, mulch, wood chips, or bark; and structures such as fences, walls, and trellises.

Letter of Credit. 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 town, which secures a subdivider’s obligation to pay the cost of designing, constructing, and installing required public improvements (including any improvements required by this Ordinance), and certain other obligations in connection with an approved land division.

Lot. A parcel of land having frontage on a public street or other officially approved means of access occupied or intended to be occupied by a principal structure or use and sufficient in size to meet the minimum lot width, lot frontage, lot area, yard/setback, parking area, and other provisions of the County zoning ordinance. No land dedicated to the public or reserved for roadway purposes shall be included in the computation for meeting minimum lot or parcel area requirements except in the A-1, A-2, A-3 and A-4 Agricultural Districts.

Lot, Corner. 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. 5.)

Lot, Through (Double Frontage Lot). A lot which has a pair of opposite lot lines along two substantially parallel streets, and which is not a corner lot. On a through lot, both street lines shall be deemed front lot lines but in the case of two or more contiguous through lots, a common front lot line shall be identified on the plat or CSM. The term is also sometimes referred to as a “double frontage lot”. (See Illustration No. 5).

Lot, Flag. A lot not fully fronting on or abutting a public street and where access to the public street system is by a narrow strip (sometimes called a “neck,” “narrow leg,” or “flag staff”) of land, easement, or private right-of-way where a driveway is usually located. Flag lots generally are not considered to conform to sound planning principles. (See Illustration No. 5.)

Lot, Interior. A lot with frontage on one street which is bounded by adjacent lots along each side and usually a lot behind it fronting on a different street. (See Illustration No. 5.)

Minor Land Division. See “Land Division, Minor.”

Municipality. An incorporated city or village.

Native Plants. Plants such trees, shrubs, grasses, and other plants that have developed naturally, or existed for many years in a given area.

Navigable Water. Lake Michigan, all natural inland lakes within Wisconsin, and all rivers, streams, ponds, sloughs, flowages, and other waters within the territorial limits of Wisconsin which are navigable under the 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.

Official Map. A document prepared and adopted by a city, village, or town with village powers pursuant to Section 62.23(6) of the Wisconsin Statutes, which shows the location of existing and planned streets, parkways, parks, playgrounds, railway rights-of-way, waterways, and public transit facilities.

Open Space. 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 shall be substantially free of structures, but may be used for landscaping and contain recreational facilities approved by the town or County. Such open space may include, but not be limited to, floodplains, wetlands, woodlands, prairie remnants, steep slopes, natural areas, critical species habitat sites, and other significant natural resource features, including those within environmental corridors and isolated natural resource areas.

Open Space, Common. 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 be substantially free of structures, but may be used for landscaping and contain recreational facilities approved by the town or County.

Open Space, Public. 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 be used for landscaping and contain recreational facilities approved by the town or County.

Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM) or Elevation. The average annual high water level of a pond, stream, lake, flowage, or wetland referred to an established datum plane, or where such elevation is not available, the elevation of the line up to which the presence of the water is so frequent as to leave a distinctive mark by erosion, change in, or destruction of, terrestrial vegetation, predominance of aquatic vegetation, or other easily recognized topographic, geologic, or vegetative characteristic.

Outlot. A parcel of land, other than a lot or block, so designated on the plat, but usually not of standard lot size, 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 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 POWTS, but which may be buildable if public sewer is extended to the lot or land division.

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

Parcel. A single piece of land separately owned, either publicly or privately, and capable of being conveyed separately. For the purpose of this Ordinance, public dedications and public rights-of-way are not considered parcels. No land dedicated to the public or reserved for roadway purposes shall be included in the computation of parcel or lot area except in the A-1, A-2, A-3 and A-4 Agricultural Districts.

Planning Documents. Plans adopted by the town and County Boards for public facilities, transportation, future land use, sanitary sewer, water, storm sewer, capital improvements, and the County highway width map.

Plat, Condominium. A map (not a certified survey map) prepared in accordance with Chapter 703 of the Wisconsin Statutes and this Ordinance for the purpose of creating and recording condominium units as defined herein. A “condominium plat” may be used to create condominium units along with specifying a condominium owner’s proportional share or ownership of common facilities and/or grounds and shall not be used to create lots or parcels. The creation of lots or parcels requires a “certified survey map” or “subdivision plat.”

Plat, Final. A map prepared in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 236 of the Statutes and this Ordinance for the purpose of creating a subdivision.

Plat, Preliminary. 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, streets, and other improvements.

Plat, Subdivision. A map prepared in accordance with Chapter 236 of the Wisconsin Statutes and this Ordinance for the purpose of creating and recoding a subdivision as defined herein.

Public Improvement. Any sanitary sewer, storm sewer, open channel, water main, street, park, sidewalk, bicycle or pedestrian way, or other facility for which the town or County may ultimately assume the responsibility for maintenance and operation.

Public Way. Any public road, street, highway, bicycle or pedestrian way, drainageway, or part thereof.

Recreation Path or Way. For the purpose of this Ordinance, a multi-use path that provides opportunities for hiking/pedestrians and may accommodate bicycling, rollerblading, skateboarding, and other recreational uses.

Redoximorphic Features. A feature formed in the soil matrix by the process of reduction, translocation, and oxidation of iron and manganese compounds in seasonally saturated soil which appear “mottled.”

Replat. 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 legal dividing of a large block, lot, or outlot within a recorded subdivision plat or certified survey map without changing exterior boundaries of said block, lot, or outlot is not a replat. Changes to condominium plats, such as merging or removal of condominiums, must meet the requirements of Chapter 703 of the Wisconsin Statutes, and condominium plats may not be used nor are considered a replat of a subdivision, certified survey map, or part thereof.

Reserve Strip. 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.

Resiliency. To withstand or recover from social, economic, and environmental crises or disasters.

Sanitarian, County. The Kenosha County Division of Planning and Development, Environmental Sanitarian, and Assistant Environmental Sanitarian, operating under the jurisdiction of the County and duly licensed by the State of Wisconsin, responsible for enforcement of County sanitary code and private sewage system ordinance (Chapter 15 of the County municipal code).

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

Sketch or Concept Plan. A conceptual plan of a proposed land division that is submitted for informal review and shows the proposed layout of streets, lots, and other features in relation to existing conditions.

Soil. The naturally occurring pedogenically developed and undeveloped regolith overlying bedrock.

Soil, In Situ. Soil that is naturally formed or deposited in its present location or position and includes soil material that has been plowed using normal tillage implements and depositional material resulting from erosion or flooding.

Soil Horizon. A layer of soil material approximately parallel to the land surface and differing from adjacent genetically related layers in physical, chemical, or biologic characteristics.

Soil Horizon, “A.” A layer of mineral soil or soil material that formed at the surface or below an “O” horizon and 1) are characterized by an accumulation of humified organic matter intimately mixed with the mineral fraction and not dominated by properties characteristic of “E” or “B” horizons or 2) have properties resulting from cultivation, pasturing, or similar kinds of disturbance.

Soil Horizon, “A+4.” A layer of mineral soil or soil material located typically at ground surface and containing 4 inches of soil below the “A” horizon that is free of any redoximorphic soil features indicative of soil saturation and consist of soil diagnostic characteristics indicative of “B”, “C”, or “E” horizons. [For purposes of this Ordinance and Chapter 15 of the County municipal code, this is the soil criteria used for all lands being subdivided.]

Soil Horizon, “B.” A layer formed below an A, E, or O horizon and is dominated by an obliteration of all or much of the original rock structure and by 1) illuvial concentration of silicate clay, iron, aluminum, humus, carbonates, gypsum, or silica, alone or in combination thereof; 2) evidence of removal of carbonates; 3) residual concentration of sesquioxides; 4) coatings of sesquioxides that make the horizon conspicuously lower in value, higher in chroma, or redder in hue than overlying and underlying horizons without apparent illuviation of iron; 5) alteration that forms silicate clay or liberates oxides or both and that forms granular, blocky, or prismatic structure if volume changes accompany changes in moisture content; or 6) any combination of these.

Soil Horizon, “C.” A layer, excluding hard bedrock, that is little affected by pedogenic processes and lack properties of O, A, E, or B horizons. Most C horizons are mineral layers, but limnic layers, whether organic or inorganic, are included. The material of C layers may be either like or unlike that from which the solum presumably formed.

Soil Horizon, “E.” A mineral horizon in which the main feature is loss of silicate clay, iron, aluminum, or some combination thereof, leaving a concentration of sand and silt particles of quartz or other resistant minerals.

Soil Horizon, “O.” A layer dominated by organic material, except limnic layers that are organic. Some layers are saturated with water for long periods or were once saturated by are now artificially drained and others have never been saturated.

Soil Mapping Unit. Soil type, slope, and erosion factor boundaries as shown on the operational soil survey maps prepared by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly known as the U.S. Soil Conservation Service).

Street, Arterial. A street used, or intended to be used, primarily for fast or heavy through traffic. Arterial streets shall include freeways and expressways as well as standard arterial streets and highways.

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

Street, Cul-de-sac. A minor land-access street with only one (1) outlet and closed at the other end with a turn-around for safe and convenient traffic movement.

Street, Frontage. 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.

Street, Minor Land-Access. A street used, or intended to be used, primarily for access to abutting properties. Such streets are sometimes called land-access streets or minor streets.

Street or Highway, Connecting. A marked route, not a State trunk highway per se, of the state trunk highway system over certain streets and highways in municipalities which the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has designated as a “connecting highway” (see Section 86.32 of the Wisconsin Statutes).

Subdivider. Any person, firm or corporation, or any agent thereof, dividing or proposing to divide land resulting in a subdivision, minor subdivision, or replat, or any person who creates a condominium under Chapter 703 of the Wisconsin Statutes.

Subdivision. The division of a lot, outlot, parcel, or tract of land by the owner thereof, or the owner’s agent, for the purpose of sale, transfer of ownership, or building development, where the act of division creates 5 or more parcels or building sites, inclusive of the original remnant parcel, of less than 35 acres in area, by a division or by successive division of any part of the original property within a period of 5 years. In accordance with Sections 236.015(12)(bm) and 236.34(1)(ar) of the Statutes, the word “subdivision” does not include a division of land into 6 or fewer parcels or lots, not including outlots, that may be created by a certified survey map for land in a B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, B-5, BP-1, B-94, M-1, or M-2 zoning district.

Surety Bond. A bond guaranteeing performance of a contract or obligation through forfeiture of the bond if said contract or obligation is unfulfilled by the subdivider.

Sustainability. The capacity to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Vision Clearance Triangle. A triangular shaped portion of land established at street or highway intersections in which nothing is erected, placed, planted, or allowed to grow in such a manner as to severely limit or substantially obstruct the sight distance of motorists entering or leaving the intersection. (See Illustration No. 2 in the Kenosha County zoning ordinance.)

Wetlands. 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.

Wisconsin Administrative Code. Regulations, commonly referred to as rules, written and promulgated by State agencies to supplement, implement, or interpret laws enacted by the Wisconsin Legislature. The rules are referred to based on the agency that is responsible for administering the rules. For example, “SPS” refers to rules administered by the Department of Safety and Professional Services; “NR” refers to rules administered by the Department of Natural Resources, and “Trans” refers to rules administered by the Department of Transportation. Portions of the Administrative Code that particularly affect planning include SPS 383 (requirements for private onsite wastewater treatment systems); NR 115 (requirements for shoreland areas and shoreland-wetlands in towns and counties; NR 116 (floodplain requirements); NR 117 (requirements for shoreland-wetlands in cities and villages); and Trans 233 (requirements for subdivisions abutting State highways). The Wisconsin Administrative Code is available on the Legislature’s web page at https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code.

Wisconsin Statutes. The body of law enacted by the Wisconsin State Legislature. Portions of the Wisconsin Statutes that particularly affect planning include Chapter 236 (land division requirements); Chapter 703 (condominium plat requirements); Section 62.23 (zoning and master planning requirements for cities and villages, and towns that have adopted village powers); Section 66.1001 (comprehensive planning requirements); and Chapter 59 (zoning requirements for counties). The Wisconsin Statutes are available on the Legislature’s web page at https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes.

Woodlands. Upland areas at least one (1) acre in extent covered by deciduous or coniferous trees as delineated and mapped by SEWRPC.

Zoning Administrator. The officer designated by the County Board of Supervisors to administer this Ordinance such as the Director of the Division of Planning and Development.