La Crosse, Wisconsin

Unified Development Ordinance 
   

For the City of La Crosse, Duncan Associates drafted a new unified development ordinance which combined this Mississippi River community's existing zoning, subdivision and sign codes. The first task of the 13-month long effort was an assessment of key ordinance weaknesses and the second task was the actual drafting of new development review procedures. Assessment findings indicated that all three existing ordinances were outmoded and very difficult to use and understand. The assessment noted that all three codes lacked detailed tables of contents and page

headers and footers. Their numbering style was difficult to follow and their page layout made it difficult to find important provisions. There was also an overall lack of an organizational scheme which added to the difficulty of administration and enforcement. Many regulations were also scattered throughout the ordinance. Many use types were also not defined and several definitions were outdated or inconsistent with currently accepted legal principles. These included such words or phrases as; family, mobile home, home occupation and group homes. The existing code also lacked variety and choice in its offering of residential districts. It had was only one true single- family district and an there was an awkward treatment of duplex units. There was also no accommodation for attached single-family units, such as townhouses, and there was only one true multi-family district. The existing lack of variety was a problem for local developers, builders and neighborhoods. A similar lack of choice existed in nonresidential districts. Some standards related to intangible characteristics such as number of employees (difficult to administer and enforce). Too much parking was required for some uses and too little for others. Some uses allowed within districts were too specific and often outdated. The ordinance also lacked modern home occupation provisions.

Period:     November 1997 - Present               Contact:    Larry Kirch
Team:       Duncan Associates                                          Community Development Director
                                                                                   608.789.7512