Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of Beecher, Wisconsin

Town of Beecher’s own rules

• Building permitRequired

  New buildings, additions, decks, detached accessory buildings, roof work and electrical, HVAC or plumbing for new construction inside Beecher town

  • Permit is also needed from the state building inspector designated by the town board, per section 14.04.
  • Section 14.04(a)1 covers new buildings, attached structures, decks and detached accessory buildings with a value of $1500.00 as determined by the town permit administrator or town chairman.
  • Section 14.04(b) exempts interior finishing, cabinetry, minor repairs, replacement of major equipment (furnaces, central air, water heaters), normal HVAC/plumbing/electrical repairs, and siding or windows that do not change physical size. A permit with structural calculations is still required for a third or more layer of reroofing.
  • A sanitary permit from the Marinette County sanitation/zoning department must be filed before a building permit is issued (section 14.04(g)).
  • Section 14.04(c) requires a site plan showing property lines, setbacks, driveway, well, septic, buried utility lines and gas or propane tank, and compliance with county zoning regulations.
  • Permits are valid for 2 years and may be extended one year with town board approval and payment of fees (section 14.05(1)).

  minimum project value requiring building permit: >= 1500 USD (new buildings, attached structures, decks and detached accessory buildings; value as determined by the town permit administrator or town chairman)

  “no owner or contractor may commence construction of any building or mechanical system prior to obtaining a valid permit from both the state building inspector designated by the town board and the town's required permit.”

• Building code adoptedAdopted

  Dwellings and other structures inside Beecher town

  • Chapter 14 is titled Building Code and states it is adopted pursuant to ss. 101.65, 101.651, 101.76, 101.161, 60.10(2)(c), 60.22(3) and 61.34(1), Wis. Stats.
  • Section 14.03 says the code applies to all dwellings and also to commercial buildings, structures, swimming pools, garages, decks, residential accessory buildings and agricultural buildings, except children's play structures.
  • The town ordinance index separately lists Ordinance 15, Adoption of Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code (added 2-20-2024). That PDF was not opened because the guessed URL returned 404; see followups.

  “14.01 authority. this code is adopted pursuant to”

• InspectionsLimited

  Permitted construction and demolition inside Beecher town

  • The code gives the building inspector access to permitted sites (section 14.05(2)) and provides for inspections of excavations during demolition (section 14.07(4)(b)). It does not state a general, mandatory inspection schedule for each project.
  • Section 14.10 lets the building inspector issue a stop work order.
  • Section 14.20(3): violations discovered by the building inspector must be corrected within 30 days, or longer if permitted by the inspector, after written notice.

  “by accepting a permit, the applicant, owner or contractor grants the building inspector the right of access to the real estate on which the permitted construction or demolition will occur.”

• Minimum dwelling sizeSpecified

  All dwellings inside Beecher town (the town has no zoning districts, so no district-specific figure is given)

  • Applies to all dwellings, including manufactured and mobile homes (section 14.03).
  • The minimum is measured on the main floor.

  minimum main floor area: >= 600 sq ft (main floor only)

  “minimum required 600 sq. ft. on the main floor and minimum of a two (2) acre parcel for erection of all dwellings.”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  Any dwelling or other structure on a parcel inside Beecher town (the town has no zoning districts, so no district-specific figure is given)

  • Parcels must have a minimum of two acres to build or place a dwelling or any other structure, unless the parcel already has a primary dwelling (section 14.03).
  • Only one dwelling per parcel is allowed (section 14.03).

  minimum parcel area to build or place a structure: >= 2 acres (unless the parcel already has a primary dwelling)

  “all parcels are required to have a minimum of two (2) acres to build/place a dwelling or any other structure(s), unless a parcel already has a primary dwelling on it.”

• SetbacksSpecified

  Structures on parcels inside Beecher town, measured from the property line (no zoning districts, so no district-specific figure)

  • Section 14.04(i) sets a 10-foot setback from the property line. For highways and roads, 10 feet is added to the centerline distances stated in that section (state and federal highways 110 feet from centerline and 50 feet right of way; county highways 75 feet from centerline and 42 feet right of way; town roads 33 feet from centerline).
  • Building permits carry conditions for setbacks required by state and local governments (section 14.04(h)).
  • The paragraph is OCR-derived and partly garbled; the highway figures were read from the cleaned text and should be checked against the original PDF.

  setback from property line: 10 feet (road and highway setbacks add to this distance per section 14.04(i))

  “the setback of structures from the property line shall be 10 feet”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Storage or shipping containers placed as accessory storage on parcels inside Beecher town

    “the storage/shipping container must be placed a minimum of (25) twenty-five feet from any lot line”

• Tiny homesLimited

  Tiny homes used as a dwelling inside Beecher town

  • A dwelling must have at least 600 sq. ft. on the main floor (section 14.03), so a smaller tiny home cannot be placed as a dwelling.
  • A dwelling must be on a permanent foundation (section 14.03).
  • Only one dwelling per parcel is allowed (section 14.03).
  • Shipping or storage containers may not be used as a living unit (storage/shipping container ordinance, Chapter 14).

  minimum main floor area: >= 600 sq ft (applies to all dwellings)

  “minimum required 600 sq. ft. on the main floor and minimum of a two (2) acre parcel for erection of all dwellings.”

• Manufactured homesLimited

  Manufactured and mobile homes used as dwellings inside Beecher town

  • The minimum dwelling requirements apply to manufactured and mobile homes too (section 14.03): 600 sq. ft. on the main floor and a two-acre parcel.
  • Dwellings must be on a permanent foundation, defined in section 14.03 as a concrete slab, a concrete foundation wall, a masonry foundation wall, or a wood foundation designed under the NFPA all-weather wood foundation standard.
  • Only one dwelling per parcel is allowed (section 14.03).

  “these minimum requirements apply to all dwellings only; including manufactured and mobile homes.”

• Accessory dwellingsProhibited

  A second dwelling unit on a parcel in Beecher town, including an accessory dwelling

  • Only one (1) dwelling per parcel is allowed (section 14.03).
  • Shipping or storage containers may not be used as a living unit (storage/shipping container ordinance, Chapter 14).
  • No separate accessory-dwelling ordinance was found, so this rests on the one-dwelling-per-parcel rule.

  “only one (1) dwelling per parcel is allowed.”

• Driveway accessRequired

  Construction of a private road intended to serve more than one landowner inside Beecher town

  • Applies to roads, public or private, meant to provide future access to more than one landowner (section 14.04(2)(e)).
  • Application goes to the town board, which inspects the proposed road and may accept or reject it (section 14.04(2)(c)).
  • Violations are subject to a forfeiture of $10 to $200 per day (section 14.04(2)(f)).

  “of any road, public or private, which is intended to provide future access to more than one landowner without first obtaining a permit for such construction from the town board.”

• Permit feesVariable (with conditions)

  Building and road permit fees inside Beecher town

  • Fees are set by the town board and changed periodically (section 14.09).
  • The fee schedule is on file at the town clerk's office, not stated as published online.
  • If work starts before the permit is issued, the fee is doubled (section 14.09).
  • No permit may issue until all required fees are paid (section 14.04(i)).
  • Moving-building permits require a $10,000 bond and insurance of $500,000 per occurrence and $1,000,000 aggregate (section 14.08).

  late-start fee multiplier: 2 x fee (work commenced before permit issuance)

  “the fee schedule is on file in the office of the town clerk.”

• Permit processPartial

  Building permit application process inside Beecher town

  • The application must be in writing on a form furnished by the town board or its designee and must include owner, contractor, legal description, use, cost and site plan (section 14.04(c)).
  • A fire sign must be issued before a building permit (section 14.04(d)).
  • An erosion control plan is required (section 14.04(e)).
  • A sanitary permit from the county must be filed first (section 14.04(g)).
  • Permits are valid for 2 years and may be extended one year (section 14.05(1)).
  • The town forms page lists permit forms, but the building permit application form itself was not found.

  permit validity: 2 years (one-year extension with town board approval and payment of fees)

  “application for a building permit shall be made in writing upon a form furnished by the town board or its designee”

Rules another office applies inside Town of Beecher

Town of Beecher does not set these itself; the county, a health district or the state does, and they apply to every address inside its limits.

• Who permits septicCounty (with conditions)

  Private onsite sanitary (septic) systems for dwellings inside Beecher town: the Marinette County sanitation/zoning department issues the sanitary permit

  • The town requires a sanitary permit from the county before it issues a building permit (section 14.04(g)).
  • Recorded at countywide scope because the schema does not allow a county rule to carry municipality-specific geography; the rule applies inside Beecher town.

  “a sanitary permit shall be issued from the marinette county sanitation/zoning department.”

• Septic permitRequired

  Septic systems for dwellings inside Beecher town, before a building permit is issued

  • No building permit may be issued until a sanitary permit has been filed with the county (section 14.04(g)).
  • A copy of the sanitary permit must accompany the building permit application.
  • Recorded at countywide scope; the rule applies inside Beecher town.

  “no building permit shall be issued until a sanitary permit has been filed with the county. include a copy with the building permit application.”

• Building in a floodplainRequired

  Development on shoreland and floodplain-regulated lands inside Beecher town (within 1000 feet of the ordinary high water mark of a lake, pond or flowage, or within 300 feet of a river or stream or the landward side of the floodplain, whichever is greater)

  • Recorded at countywide scope because the rule is the county's; it applies inside Beecher town.
  • The town's Chapter 14 says these lands are unincorporated lands, which Beecher town is.
  • The owner must contact the county about permits required by the county (section 14.04(h)).

  “these lands require a permit from the county.”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Town of Beecher or Marinette County directly.

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-built dwellings inside Beecher town
• Certificate of occupancy — Occupancy approval for new dwellings inside Beecher town
• Local zoning — Zoning inside Beecher town, Marinette County
• Zoning districts — Zoning districts inside Beecher town
• Lot coverage — Lot coverage for buildings inside Beecher town

Each answer was extracted from an official source and independently re-checked against that source by a second reviewer. That is an evidence check, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the authority before you buy or build.