Plan Commission approves DNR-requested rewrite separating floodplain rules from zoning

Milwaukee City Plan Commission approved a substitute ordinance on Oct. 20 that removes shoreland and wetland regulations from the city’s floodplain chapter and moves them into the regular zoning code, a change made at the request of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Ed Richardson, principal planner with the Department of City Development, told commissioners the DNR’s legal counsel asked the city to separate the floodplain ordinance from the rest of the zoning code so the city’s ordinance matches the DNR’s model floodplain ordinance. "This has absolutely nothing to do with the floods that we suffered last year," Richardson said, adding the revisions are largely a technical restructuring prompted by the DNR.

Richardson said two floodplain map panels are being updated for small portions of the city that lie in Waukesha and Washington counties and that the change reduces the city's risk of losing FEMA or DNR support for flood-related assistance. "If we do not approve this sort of stuff, we are putting ourselves at risk of not being able to get either FEMA or DNR support when this happens," he said. Planning staff recommended approval and the commission voted to carry the motion.

There was no public testimony on the item. The substitute ordinance removes references to the zoning code from the floodplain chapter and relocates shoreland and wetland regulations into the regular zoning chapters; staff noted the revision met the Zoning Code Technical Committee criteria. The commission's approval authorizes the updated ordinance language and adapts the city's maps to match the latest DNR panels.

The vote was taken during the meeting’s regular agenda and commissioners recorded the motion and a second before voting in favor. No amendments were made during the commission discussion.