Town Plan Commission 10/6/26
MINUTES
Town of Clover Plan Commission
Tuesday October 6, 2026 7 PM
Historic Gym Meeting Room
Call to Order: 7 pm
Roll Call: Pete Berton, James Stemwedel, Katherine Merrill, Keith Koenning (chair); Mark Pope, absent.
Audience Attendance: None
Approval of Minutes: June 2, 2026 by consensus
Announcements: None
New Business: Bayfield County Comprehensive Rezoning–the new Zoning Code will consist of six ordinances. Draft versions of two of these were released on May 15 and they were reviewed at the June meeting. The Shoreland-Wetland and the Mining ordinances were released on June 5 and these were to be discussed at the July 7 meeting which was informally held without a quorum. The Land Divisions draft ordinance was released on August 14 and to be discussed at the September 1 meeting (no quorum). On September 29 the chair sent to members his review of the General Zoning draft. The draft ordinances are available on the Bayfield County Planning and Zoning Department website.
The review of the General Zoning draft at the October 6 meeting is to determine if the ordinance is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Consistent is defined as “. . . furthers or does not contradict the objectives, goals and policies contained in the comprehensive plan.”
The analysis of this draft follows:
This is the fourth analysis (see previous emails of May 21, June 11, and August 21) of the draft zoning ordinances, the subject being General Zoning. My analysis and conclusion (in bold italics at the end of the analysis) address consistency with our Comprehensive Plan.
The draft ordinance and existing ordinances are available on the Planning and Zoning Department (the Department) website. Anyone may comment on the draft online version.
Regarding when we will have the draft of the Town of Clover Zoning Districts map, I was advised on September 25 by the Department: “After the public comment period closes and any revisions are made to the zoning districts, then the county will start work on revising the zoning district map. We need to know with greater certainty what possible zoning districts will be before we start the process of comprehensively updating the zoning district map.” Once we have a new map for the Town of Clover, we will compare it to our Future Land Use Map.
I was under the erroneous assumption that the General Zoning Code would have newly defined zoning districts based on the land use classifications in our Future Land Use Map. In our 2023-2043 Future Land Use Map we used the land use classifications recommended to us by the County. Instead, the draft General Zoning Code has the same zoning districts as the current zoning code, with a few additional zoning districts.
In my opinion, based on my long time involvement in comprehensive planning and land use, there is a general consensus among those involved in land use, that the R-RB zoning district (which now includes our 12 miles of shoreline), is no longer a viable district because it combines small lot residential development with recreational commercial development. I believe and it is generally agreed upon that residential and commercial development should be in distinct zoning districts. My first recommendation addresses this.
In the procedures there are notification requirements, and my second recommendation addresses this.
In Sec 13-1-5 (C) Data Centers there is the statement “Data centers shall be set back a minimum of 200 feet from a lot line adjacent property used or zoned for residential use.” This strikes me as an insufficient set back, however, I reviewed several model data center ordinances, and 200 feet is the generally accepted distance, so I made no recommendation on this subject.
General Zoning Code changes according to the Department:
- Formatted changes to fit best practice
- Put most relevant information like zoning districts, use table, and lot dimensional standards in the beginning
- Relocated shoreland regulations to Chapter 3 Shoreland Protection Ordinance
- Put all use standards in same Article
- Put all development standards in the same Article
- Put all definitions in the same Article at the end of the Chapter. Separated definitions into general, use, and signage
- Updated zoning districts, including:
- Added the C-2 Commercial Center/Hamlet to provide for limited, smaller scale commercial or service-oriented uses serving daily needs
- Separated the Industrial District into Light Industrial and Heavy Industrial districts
- Added the AP Airport District and Airport Buffer District to better identify and protect airports
- Added the Red Cliff Overlay District to help property owners understand the regulatory authority
- Added the Wetland Overlay District to regulate wetlands outside of the shoreland
- Added the Floodplain Overlay District to help property owners understand that additional regulations will apply if their property is in the floodplain
- Modernized the use table by:
- Creating two tables: one for principal uses and one for accessory uses
- Grouping uses into general categories such as agricultural, residential, commercial, etc.
- Simplifying uses such as combining barber and beauty shop and using financial institution for bank and trust company and loan company. Added uses definitions as needed
- Added uses to reflect requests and best practices, such as aquaculture, CAFO, mixed use, rowhouse, car wash, solar energy, battery energy storage facility, and data center
- Added a column that indicates if there are additional use specific standards that apply and note they are included in Article C
- Revised setback standards, including:
- Reduced the principal building setback for A-1, F-1, and R-2 to 30 feet so that it is the same as the accessory building setback
- Simplified the calculation of minimum average lot width for non-riparian lots
- Reordered setback standards to group similar ones and place more common setbacks earlier in the regulations
- Relocated street frontage regulations from Land Divisions Ordinance
- Incorporated steep slope setbacks previously discussed
- Added and modified use specific standards to reflect current practices and needs, including:
- Added Accessory Dwelling Unit, Battery Energy Storage System, Special Event Campgrounds, CAFO, Data Centers, Electric Vehicle Charging Station, Rowhouse, Storage of Vehicles and Equipment, Wind Energy Systems, and Solar Energy Systems
- Clarified standards for recreational and educational summer camps under the Campground standards
- Revised Campground and Recreational Vehicle standards, reduced setback to state minimum for Manufactured Home Communities, and modified open space requirements for Multiple Unit Developments
- Moved conservation subdivision standards to Land Division
- Added development standards, including:
- General nuisance
- Parking
- Outdoor lighting
- Screening
- Fencing
- Reorganized and modified procedures by:
- Gathering general requirements at the beginning
- Reorganizing to place more common requests earlier in the article
- Modified Class A Special Use permit to enable it to be reviewed administratively unless the Town Board requests that it be a Class B Special Use Permit. Note: This is allowed in the current code, so I don’t know why this is noted here.
Recommendations approved by consensus:
The General Zoning Code draft provides for land use that is consistent with the Town of Clover 2023-2043 Comprehensive Plan, with one clear exception for land use and another exception in procedures.
The Town of Clover Plan Commission recommends to the Town of Clover Board of Supervisors that the following comments be submitted online at Sec 13-1-1 (A)(9), at Sec 13-1-52 (B)(2)(a)(i) and Sec 13-1-53 (C)(1)(b):
The Town of Clover Board of Supervisors recommends that the R-RB Residential-Recreational Business district be removed from the draft ordinance. R-RB allowable uses, such as Hotels-Motels, Animal Kennels, Bars and Restaurants, and Self Storage Facilities, are incompatible with residential development. The four residential and the two commercial zoning districts in the draft ordinance provide sufficient replacements for the R-RB district.
The Town of Clover Board of Supervisors recommends that the procedures for Class B and Conditional Use Permits be changed be changed from a 7 day notification before the next regularly scheduled Town Board Meeting to a 21 day notification to the Town. A 7 day notification is an insufficient amount of time to allow for the Town Plan Commission to consider the permit application and submit an advisory opinion to the Town Board.
If the Town Board adopts these recommendations (and any others that the TPC develops at its meeting or supervisors create), I will submit the comments online on behalf of the Town. There is a tight time constraint because the Town Board meets on the 14th and the comment deadline is the 16th.
Future Business: Zoning District Map review at such time that the map is provided by the County.
Adjournment: 7:35 pm
Minutes prepared on October 7 by the Plan Commission Chair, Keith Koenning, and questions may be directed to him at keith.koenning@gmail.com or 715 813 0521.