Land Use

Zoning Districts

 

R-1       Single Family Residential (Low Density) - Single family detached dwellings and their permitted accessory structures.  (New Development Areas of Village)

 

R-2       Single-family Residential (Medium Density).  Single Family detached dwellings and their permitted accessory structures.  (Older neighborhoods)

 

R-3       Two-Family Residential District.  Two-family dwelling units, particularly in new subdivision and growth areas.

 

R-4       Multiple-Family Residential District.  Multiple-Family dwelling units and to delineate areas where more compact residential development, including condominiums and rental apartments has occurred, or will likely occur.

 

R-5       Residential Estate District.  Single Family residential countryside estate development: density not to exceed one dwelling per gross two acres of land.

 

C-1       Conservancy District.  Conservancy District is to preserve, protect and maintain the natural environment and character of areas exhibiting significant natural resource features with contribute to the productive, recreational, or aesthetic value of the community. 

 

B-1       Central Commercial District.  Central Commercial District is intended to provide an area for business, financial professional, and commercial needs of community; compact and centrally located business districts. 

 

B-2       Highway Commercial District.  Highway Commercial District is intended to provide for orderly and attractive groupings at appropriate locations along principal highway routs.

 

B-3       Extensive Commercial District.  Extensive Commercial Districts are intended to provide a suitable location for activities which require a large area of land for which its desirable that they be located and appropriate distance from other activities

 

B-4       Business Park District.  Business Park District – to provide and aesthetically attractive working environment exclusively for and conductive to the development and protection of offices, non-nuisance type manufacturing and development institutions. 

 

I-1        Industrial District.  Industrial District intended to provide an area for manufacturing, marketing, and industrial and heavy agribusiness activities.

 

P-1       Public Facilities.  Public Facilities District is characterized by parks and outdoor recreation for large groups, schools, utilities, institutional, and/or government offices, museums, police/fire/EMS.

 

A-1       Agricultural District (Limited Livestock).  Agriculture District is intended to provide for continuation of general non-livestock or limited livestock farming and related uses.  (Includes nurseries and production of crops)

 

A-2       Agriculture Enterprise District.  Agriculture Enterprise District is intended to preserve and promote a full range of agricultural uses, secure land for livestock productions and other agricultural uses that may be more intensive than crop production, strengthen agricultures contribution.

 

A-3       Exclusive Agricultural District.  Exclusive Agricultural District is intended for farm operations and farming practices.

 

SP-1     Special Purpose District.  Special Purpose District is intended to provide for uses which present special problem, hazards, or other circumstances regarding the use of land. 

 

WHP   Well Head Protection Overlay District.  Well Heald Protection Overlay District is intended to protect the Villages wells and groundwater. 

 

AEO     Adult Entertainment Overlay District.  Adult Entertainment Overlay District intends to create an overlay zoning district whereby adult establishments are sufficiently separated from each other and conflicting uses to ameliorate the negative secondary effects of adults uses while providing adult establishments sufficient area and opportunity to operate within the Village so as not to suppress their existence. 

 

. Land Use Element

Goal 1: Maintain the village as a residential/service center in a larger rural community dedicated to preserving agricultural land use and open space.

Objective: Maintain basic village services to the larger Edgar community and preserve a community identity distinct from Wausau metro.

Objective: Participate in regional planning through Marathon County, UW-Extension, and the Wausau/Marathon County Chamber of Commerce in the hopes of generating new entrants to farming and make farming more sustainable.

Objective: Coordinate residential housing development in the larger Edgar community with surrounding townships to best meet the goal of preserving open space and agricultural land.

Objective: Coordinate residential housing development in the larger Edgar community with surrounding township to best meet the goal of preserving open space and agricultural land.

Objective: Develop a conservation with landowners in and adjacent to the village concerning the orderly transition of cropland to residential housing or other development uses. General scenarios for future development and growth in and around Edgar.

Policies

The Village of Edgar will encourage future residential, commercial, and industrial development to locate in the Village, where these developments are easier to provide services to.

Strategies/Actions

• Meet with surrounding Towns to develop a regional strategy to direct growth to the Village of Edgar.
• Discuss the development of a regional tax base sharing program with surrounding towns, to direct growth to the village, while ensuring that town revenues and tax base are not negatively impacted.
• Support the Marathon County incubator farm and mentoring program to connect new farm operators with agricultural operators that wish to sell their land and equipment and retire.
• In cooperation with Marathon County, UW-Extension, and other neighboring communities, develop a regional plan to encourage enhancement and further development of regional agricultural economy.
• In concert with Marathon County and UW-Extension, develop a visitation program to meet with local agricultural operators and discover how to assist them.
• Develop joint land use plans with the surrounding towns.

Future Land Use – The Village of Edgar Future Land Use map, shown in Figure 3-1 illustrates the anticipated future pattern of land uses. The map includes thirteen land use categories to guide where new residential and non-residential development should be encouraged. Descriptions of each land use category and the number of acres within each category are provided in Table 3-1. Figure 3-3 shows areas with development constraints due to environmental conditions such as wetlands and floodplains, or policy constraints such as restrictive zoning or other programs (i.e., Exclusive Agriculture, Forest Crop Law). Areas where existing development precludes additional development are also shown.

[INSERT TABLE 3-1 HERE]

 

Table 3-1: Future Land Use, 2005
Land Cover Category	Description	Acres		% of Total Land Area
Single Family Residential	One family structure, farm residences, mobile homes	334		35
Multi-Family Residential	Attached residential units with more than one unit per structure	19		2
Commercial Services	Retail stores, taverns, restaurants, truck stops, gas stations, farm coops, farm implement dealerships, automobile dealerships, business offices, motels/hotels, offices, telephone/gas company		99		10
Industrial	Saw/paper/lumber mills, dairies, industrial parks, trucking operations, distribution centers, mining		11		1
Cropland	Tilled agriculture, prime farmland		106		11
Utilities	Public easements and facilities used to provide municipal services		18		2
Other Agriculture	Fallow, pasture and undetermined agriculture, power lines and towers, water towers, municipal wells		79		8
Public/Quasi-Public	Schools, churches, cemeteries, libraries, government buildings, National Guard, utility facilities		111		11
Park and Recreation	Public and private parks, trails, ball fields, golf courses, playgrounds, campgrounds, shooting ranges, et.		1		<1
Woodlands	Privately-owned forested land, including nurseries, paper mill forests, etc.		76		8
Water and Wetlands	Open waters, such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, creeks, reservoirs, etc.		5		1
Transportation	Airports, highways, road rights-of-way, railroads, logging roads		97		10
Barren Land	Unused open land in wooded areas, along streams, along roadsides		10		1
Total Land Area			966		100

Source: Future Land Use map

As indicated in the table, much of the land is projected to be used for single-family residential (35% within the next 20 years. During the last 20 years, there was considerable planning to increase commercial, single family residential, and multi-family residential mostly north of the Village, west of Third Avenue. See Table 3-1a.

Table 3-1a: Future Land Use Past 20 Years
Land Cover Category	Description	Acres
Single Family Residential	One family structure, farm residences, mobile homes	187
Multi-Family Residential	Attached residential units with more than one unit per structure	58
Commercial Services	Retail stores, taverns, restaurants, truck stops, gas stations, farm coops, farm implement dealerships, automobile dealerships, business offices, motels/hotels, offices, telephone/gas company	219

 

 

 

Land Needs – Projections of future population and employment growth in Edgar are provided in the Issues and Conditions report. These were used to estimate the amount of land needed to accommodate future residential and non-residential development over the next 20 years. Acreage projections were based on assumptions about density of houses per acre and employees per acre.

It is estimated over the next 20 years, there will be 47 acres needed to accommodate future residential development, and 60 acres are needed for future non-residential development. Potential locations for these land uses are identified on the Future Land Use Map.

[INSERT TABLE 3-2]

Table 3-2: Acreage Projections, 2000-2030
	Estimated Total Acreage Needed by Year
	2000	2005	2010	2015	2020	2025	2030
Agricultural	535	517	499	481	463	445	428
Residential	186	194	202	210	218	226	233
Industrial	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Commercial	49	58	67	76	85	94	103

Source: determined from NCWRPC and Marathon County projections

Consistency between Land Use and Zoning – Land use and zoning designations are related, but not necessarily identical. Land use categories tend to be general whereas zoning districts regulate specific land uses and development requirements. Because the land use categories are general it is common for more than one zoning district to correspond to each land use category. It is also possible that some zoning districts might be consistent with more than one land use designation.

Achieving consistency between land use and zoning is required by State Statutes. This generally occurs when a community is considering a proposed zoning change. The decision to approve a zoning change must be based on the adopted comprehensive plan, and specifically, the future land use map. Generally, if the requested zooning is consistent with the land use designation on the property it should be approved, unless unique circumstances indicated the rezoning would negatively impact surrounding properties or the community. If a rezoning request is not consistent with the land use designation, the community should consider denying the rezoning request.

In situations where a rezoning request is not consistent with the land use designation- but the community believes the requested zoning is appropriate in the specific location and would benefit the community – the zoning change can be approved; however, the Land Use Map should be amended accordingly to establish land use and zoning consistency. The process for amending the Land Use Map is discussed in greater detail in the Implementation Element.