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St. Croix County committee advances broad zoning rewrite; burial plots, slaughterhouses and home‑occupation limits debated
Summary
At a Jan. 8 Community Development Committee meeting, staff presented preliminary amendments to chapters 14, 15 and 17 to align county zoning with state code and DATCP guidance. Key debates centered on whether private burial plots should require conditional use permits, how to treat small versus commercial slaughterhouses, and limits on home occupations; staff will file petitions and schedule public hearings.
Speaker 4, a community development staff presenter, told the St. Croix County Community Development Committee on Jan. 8 that the proposed package of zoning changes is in a "very preliminary stage" and that staff have not yet filed the petition to amend the ordinances. The draft bundles several changes — incorporating Chapter 14 (nonmetallic‑mining overlay) into Chapter 15, updating Chapter 17 Riverway definitions to match state code, and revising use tables and performance standards — and reflects requests from the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and the DNR.
Why it matters: staff said the revisions are intended to make the county ordinance consistent with state requirements and to add clearer citations and performance standards for uses such as nonmetallic mining, water supply, and shoreland protections. Speaker 4 summarized the DATCP request that certain farmland‑preservation districts (Ag‑1 and Ag‑2) include statutory citations and suggested changes staff will bundle before filing.
Burial plots: CUP or land‑use permit? Speaker 4 said DATCP asked that private burial plots be identified and treated as conditional uses in Ag‑1 and Ag‑2 zoning. He explained the statutory process for private burial…
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