DNR pushing NR 115 rewrite though Vilas remains opposed

From the Vilas County News Review

County opposition to revised statewide shoreline zoning standards won’t stop the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from its mission of five-plus years.

Agency officials say they’ll take proposed revisions of the 40-year-old rules in Chapter NR 115 to the Natural Resources Board this summer, the results of which will be subject to legislative review.

If approved, the stricter regulations — including a 20% cap on impervious surfaces — would have to be incorporated into county zoning ordinances within two years.

The impervious surface standards have been the major stumbling block for counties such as Vilas, where waterfront property owners have been allowed up to 30% impervious surfaces on thousands of projects.

Vilas County Zoning Administrator Dawn Schmidt is a leading opponent of the latest draft revisions, saying the proposed process for determining impervious surfaces on lakefront lots is unenforceable guesswork.