Guide to Community Planning in Wisconsin by Brian W. Ohm

Chapter 2:  Types of Plans & Overview of Implementation Tools
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2.6  Subdivision or Land Division Regulation

Subdivision regulation relates to the way in which land is divided and made ready for development. Communities can control the subdivision of land by requiring a developer to meet certain conditions in exchange for the privilege of recording a plat. While imposing conditions restricts the use of private property, the cumulative effect of land subdivision on the health, safety, and welfare of a community is so great as to justify public control of the process.

Of all the land use control devices available, subdivision regulation has probably the greatest potential. When compared with zoning, a well-administered subdivision control is more useful in achieving planning goals and its influence is far more lasting. Once land is divided into lots and streets are laid out, development patterns are set. Subdivision regulations can ensure that those development patterns are consistent with community standards. Subdivision regulations can also ensure the adequacy of existing and planned public facilities such as schools, wastewater treatment systems, water supply, to handle new growth. Finally, subdivision regulation can help ensure the creation and preservation of adequate land records.

There is room for overlap between zoning and subdivision codes in terms of standards. Both ordinances, for example, can set lot sizes. Both can deal with the suitability of land for development. Implementing important plan techniques such as rural cluster development often requires use of the zoning ordinance and the subdivision ordinance.(76)

Wisconsin law allows any city, village, town, or county that has established a planning agency to adopt a land division ordinance.(77)  At a minimum, local subdivision regulations must meet the State platting requirements specified in Chapter 236 of the Wisconsin Statutes. The laws authorizing local governments to regulate subdivisions are different from the laws authorizing local governments to zone land. County approval is not necessary for a town to have its own subdivision regulations. City and village subdivision regulations may also be applied to the unincorporated areas which fall within the extraterritorial plat approval jurisdiction of the city or village.(78)

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(76)  For a complete guide to rural cluster development, see the Rural Cluster Development Guide prepared by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (Planning Guide No. 7, 1996).
 (77)  Wis. Stat. § 236.45.
 (78)  The extraterritorial plat approval jurisdiction is the area within 3 miles of the corporate limits of a first, second, or third class city and within 1½ miles of a fourth class city or village. Wis. Stat. § 236.02.

Wisconsin Statutes