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Sawyer County committee reopens definition of 'dwelling,' debates camping cabins and hunting-cabin exclusion
Summary
At a Sawyer County Planning and Zoning Committee meeting, members discussed whether camping cabins should be treated like dwellings and voted to remove language excluding primitive rural hunting cabins from the local definition of "dwelling," prompting questions about inspections, shoreland density and wastewater calculations.
At a Sawyer County Planning and Zoning Committee meeting, members debated whether new camping cabins should be treated the same as residential dwellings and voted to remove a clause that excluded “primitive rural hunting cabins” from the county’s definition of dwelling.
The change came after public comment and several committee exchanges about how camping cabins — small, often-seasonal structures with utilities — affect shoreland density, wastewater expectations and building inspections. The committee approved the change to the dwelling definition by voice vote; the motion carried.
Why it matters: The county’s definition of “dwelling” determines which structures must meet the Uniform Dwelling Code (UDC) inspections, the minimum lot and shoreline dimensional standards, and wastewater design assumptions that underpin septic sizing. If camping cabins or hunting cabins are treated as dwellings, they may be subject to inspection and the same lot-area or frontage calculations the county applies to year-round homes.
Public commenters and several committee members pressed the group to reconcile state and local language. "I would ask that you give the same consideration of density on shorelines in size of the months, a 100 foot 100 foot width as well as occupancy, density when you're looking at the cabin definition as you would. The same the same guidelines for residential as well as the camping cabins," said Dana Cola, president of the SurveyPoint Lakes Forum, during public comment.
Committee discussion centered on the existing ordinance distinction between "camping units" and dwellings. "Due to the way that camping cabins are structured in the ordinance ... they're not gonna be classified as dwellings," said Committee member Benjamin Kurtzweig during the meeting, summarizing the current interpretation. County staff and other committee members noted that the distinction has consequences: primitive rural hunting cabins historically were excluded from UDC inspection requirements, while camping cabins with utilities increasingly look like tiny homes and may require UDC review.
Resident Lynn Zomer said the state is considering shoreland-related changes and urged clarity: "The state needs to do something so that the counties are protected," she said, referencing recent state-level conservation surveys that called for updated shoreland guidance on camping units and wastewater flow rates.
The committee discussed practical elements that follow from changing the definition: whether hunting cabins should be required to meet minimum lot or plumbing standards, how wastewater design flow assumptions for camping units (noted in the meeting as 30 gallons per day under current guidance, compared by one commenter to 100 gpd used in some states) should change, and how changing the dwelling definition interacts with shoreland density rules the committee is concurrently revising.
What the committee decided: Members voted to remove the sentence that explicitly excluded primitive rural hunting cabins from the county’s dwelling/dwelling-unit definition. The removal means the county’s local definition will no longer carry that particular exclusion; the practical regulatory effect will depend on how the county’s code and implementation guidance treat such structures (for example, UDC inspection triggers and septic design). The motion carried by voice vote; a roll-call tally was not recorded in the public transcript.
Next steps and limits: Committee members asked staff to fold the change into the next red-line draft for legal review and to clarify which structures will trigger UDC inspections and septic sizing. They did not adopt specific new wastewater rates or inspection protocols at this meeting. Linda (staff) and Jay (staff member) said they will incorporate the committee’s guidance into version 6 of the draft ordinance for further review.
Ending: The committee’s edit narrows a previously explicit exclusion and raises practical questions the county intends to resolve in its next draft and through legal review. Further changes to shoreland density and wastewater rules were discussed separately during the meeting and may affect how the revised definition is enforced.
