St. Croix County committee approves four ordinance rewrites: mining, zoning, riverway and recycling
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Summary
The Community Development Committee voted Feb. 19 to repeal and recreate four county ordinances — chapters 14 (nonmetallic mining), 15 (general zoning), 17 (Lower St. Croix Riverway), and 21 (municipal solid waste/recycling) — moving the county into compliance with multiple DNR administrative codes and state statute; an amendment clarified one-room schoolhouse use in the R1 district.
St. Croix County’s Community Development Committee on Feb. 19 approved a package of ordinance updates covering nonmetallic mining, general zoning, the Lower St. Croix Riverway overlay and municipal recycling standards.
Staff presented each rewrite as needed to align county code with state administrative rules. Jason, community development staff, said the chapter 14 revision was prompted by a petition and intended to bring the county into compliance with Department of Natural Resources administrative code NR 135; staff moved certain more restrictive zoning provisions (setbacks, on-site fuel storage, groundwater-related standards) out of chapter 14 and into chapter 15 to match the DNR model ordinance. "St. Croix County is the only county in the state that doesn't have an ordinance that complies with NR 135," Jason said, noting much of the draft mirrors the DNR model.
During the chapter 14 public hearing, Candy Anderson of Milestone Materials said she supports the update but asked staff to reconcile overlapping permit-duration language in two sections of the draft.
Chapter 15 (general zoning) amendments included updated cross-references for farmland-preservation certification with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, clarification that only one dwelling is allowed per parcel (no ADUs), limitations on major home occupations, and a proposal to move nonmetallic mining performance standards into chapter 15. A public request from the Amish community asked the committee to make private one-room schoolhouses a permitted use in R1 and R2 districts rather than require a land-use permit; after debate a motion to allow the use in both R1 and R2 failed on a split voice vote, but a subsequent motion to permit the use in R1 only (with sanitary-permit requirements remaining) passed unanimously.
Chapter 17 consolidates three subsections into a single Lower St. Croix Riverway Overlay District and updates stormwater design standards, moving from a 1.5-inch rainfall-volume standard to runoff calculations based on a 25‑year storm (approximately 4.7–4.8 inches) as approved by DNR guidance.
Chapter 21 changes respond to administrative-code updates under NR 544 and Wisconsin Statute 287.11 that clarify recyclable items, landfill-banned items and enforcement; staff said the changes will help the county retain recycling grant eligibility.
Motions to repeal and recreate chapters 14, 15, 17 and 21 carried in committee (voice votes recorded as unanimous where noted). The committee instructed staff to strike duplicative or conflicting draft language in chapter 14, and the approved chapter 15 includes the R1 one-room schoolhouse amendment. These approvals send the ordinances forward consistent with the county’s ordinance-adoption procedures; the committee’s votes were procedural approvals of drafts pending final formal adoption by the county board per process.
