Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Shoreland Density topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee removes multifamily from some zones, sets draft shoreland density rule requiring doubled lot area/width per extra unit
Summary
The Sawyer County Planning and Zoning Committee voted to remove multifamily dwelling from conditional-use permissions in RR1 and RR2 zones and adopted a policy direction that shoreland proposals and new resorts must meet doubled lot-area and lot-width requirements for each additional dwelling unit, pending legal review and red-line drafting.
The Sawyer County Planning and Zoning Committee voted to remove multifamily dwelling as a conditional use from the RR1 and RR2 residential-recreational zone districts and to direct staff to add shoreline density language requiring that each additional dwelling unit meet doubled minimum lot area and lot width in shoreland areas.
The committee's action on multifamily came after members said the prior red-line draft had included multifamily permissiveness in RR1 and RR2 without the committee’s explicit approval. A motion to remove multifamily dwelling from RR1 and RR2 carried by voice vote.
Why it matters: Multifamily and two-family dwellings in shoreland areas raise concerns about lake impacts, septic capacity and shoreline crowding. The committee’s instruction to double lot-area and lot-width requirements for additional dwelling units is intended to limit density and protect shoreline water quality by increasing the land area required to add rental units or convert properties to multi-unit uses.
Discussion at the meeting covered multiple scenarios: existing condominium plats that already contain multiple units, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and cases where property owners might try to avoid resort or multifamily classification by placing units in separate LLCs or on noncontiguous parcels. Committee members and staff wrestled with enforcement and legal boundaries, especially where existing structures and condo maps complicate simple reclassification.
Committee direction and votes: - Members voted to remove "multifamily dwelling" as a conditional use from RR1 and RR2 (motion approved by voice vote). - The committee also adopted a motion directing that shoreland density requirements be written so that the minimum lot area and the minimum lot width are doubled for each additional dwelling unit; staff also received direction to require that any new resort proposals meet those shoreland intensive requirements. That motion was approved by voice vote; the committee asked staff to insert the requirements into the red-line draft and the shoreland tables for legal review.
Committee members stressed enforcement limits: existing condos and nonconforming structures would create complicated implementation paths, and several members said legal review will determine whether the county can recharacterize existing uses or only apply the new standards prospectively to new proposals and new resort classifications.
Ending: The committee sent the red-line edits to staff for version 6, asked legal for a focused review of the multifamily/duplex prohibition and of the doubled shoreland density approach, and scheduled follow-up once the county attorney has reviewed the draft.
