Wisconsin Administrative Code › Department of Natural Resources › NR 100-199 - Environmental Protection - General › Chapter NR 115 - Wisconsin's Shoreland Protection Program › Section NR 115.03 - Definitions

Current through June 24, 2024
(1d) "Access and viewing corridor" means a
				strip of vegetated land that allows safe pedestrian access to the shore through
				the vegetative buffer zone.
(1h)
				"Boathouse" means a permanent structure used for the storage of watercraft and
				associated materials and includes all structures which are totally enclosed,
				have roofs or walls or any combination of these structural parts.
(1p) "Building envelope" means the three
				dimensional space within which a structure is built.
(2) "County zoning agency" means that
				committee or commission created or designated by the county board under s.
				59.69(2)
				(a), Stats., to act in all matters pertaining
				to county planning and zoning.
(3)
				"Department" means the department of natural resources.
(3m) "Existing development pattern" means
				that principal structures exist within 250 feet of a proposed principal
				structure in both directions along the shoreline.
(4) "Flood plain" means the land which has
				been or may be hereafter covered by flood water during the regional flood. The
				flood plain includes the floodway and the flood fringe as those terms are
				defined in ch. NR 116.
(4g)
				"Impervious surface" means an area that releases as runoff all or a majority of
				the precipitation that falls on it. "Impervious surface" excludes frozen soil
				but includes rooftops, sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, and streets unless
				specifically designed, constructed, and maintained to be pervious.
(4r) "Mitigation" means balancing measures
				that are designed, implemented and function to restore natural functions and
				values that are otherwise lost through development and human
				activities.
(5) "Navigable waters"
				means Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, all natural inland lakes within Wisconsin
				and all streams, ponds, sloughs, flowages and other waters within the
				territorial limits of this state, including the Wisconsin portion of boundary
				waters, which are navigable under the laws of this state. Under s.
				281.31(2)
				(d), Stats., notwithstanding any other
				provision of law or administrative rule promulgated thereunder, shoreland
				ordinances required under s.
				59.692,
				Stats., and this chapter do not apply to lands adjacent to farm drainage
				ditches if:
(a) Such lands are not adjacent
				to a natural navigable stream or river;
(b) Those parts of such drainage ditches
				adjacent to such lands were nonnavigable streams before ditching or had no
				previous stream history; and
(c)
				Such lands are maintained in nonstructural agricultural use.
Note:
In
Muench v. Public Service
				  Commission
,
261 Wis. 492 (1952), the Wisconsin Supreme
				  Court held that a stream is navigable in fact if it is capable of floating any
				  boat, skiff, or canoe, of the shallowest draft used for recreational purposes.
				  In DeGayner and Co., v. Department of Natural Resources, 70 Wis. 2d 936 (1975),
				  the court also held that a stream need not be navigable in its normal or
				  natural condition to be navigable in fact. The DeGayner opinion indicates that
				  it is proper to consider artificial conditions, such as beaver dams, where such
				  conditions have existed long enough to make a stream useful as a highway for
				  recreation or commerce, and to consider ordinarily recurring seasonal
				  fluctuations, such as spring floods, in determining the navigability of a
				  stream.