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Sawyer County zoning committee weighs tighter rules on holding tanks amid tourist rooming-house concerns
Summary
Committee members and ad hoc committee members debated changing the county sewage rules to make holding tanks a 'last resort' rather than a 'system of choice' to prevent holding-tank use from enabling higher tourist rooming-house occupancy and potential groundwater impacts; staff will draft ordinance language for future consideration.
The Sawyer County Zoning Committee discussed proposed changes to the county’s private onsite wastewater rules to make holding tanks a system of last resort instead of a system of choice, prompted by concerns that holding tanks can be used to increase occupancy in tourist rooming houses and risk groundwater contamination.
Jenny Chabc, chair of the Tourist Rooming (TR) ad hoc committee, urged that holding tanks should be allowed only when soils or site conditions prevent a conventional system, saying, “I do believe that it’s the best thing for the county to say system of Last Resort to go to holding tanks across the board.” Staff confirmed Sawyer County currently allows holding tanks as a system of choice and said draft ordinance language will be prepared for future committee review.
Speakers noted enforcement and staffing challenges: the county has roughly 600 existing tourist rooming-house units and committee members warned that any move to require conditional-use approvals or inspections for many properties would require added staff or fee revenues to fund enforcement. County staff and committee members discussed possible hybrid approaches in which zoning signs off on occupancy tied to sewer capacity while health or HHS handles other inspections.
The committee asked staff to bring back draft ordinance language that would prohibit holding tanks when conventional systems are feasible and to circulate options on enforcement, fee structure and staffing. Members stressed the change would require ordinance amendment and town notices and would be subject to public hearings before any adoption.
Next steps: Staff will draft proposed language to restrict holding-tank use where soils and space allow for conventional systems, and the TR ad hoc committee will continue work on a draft ordinance to present at future meetings, with anticipated further review by county HHS and legal counsel.
