As part of the 2015-16 legislative session successes was legislation concerning a series of private property issues. Some of these important measures protect private property rights while others remove regulatory barriers to residential and commercial development. The developments highlighted in this Legal Update address the new provisions enacted regarding shoreland zoning and the shifting in authority in shoreland zoning regulation.

The shoreland zoning legislative developments highlighted in this Legal Update include the history of shoreland zoning, recasting Wis. Admin. Code chapter NR 115 as uniform not minimum standards, removal of DNR ability to appeal variance decisions, 75-foot building setback and setback averaging, structure maintenance and replacement for shoreland and nonconforming structures, impervious surfaces, vegetative buffer zones, ordinary high water mark determinations, nonconforming structures, substandard lots, and other shoreland zoning provisions.