AN ORDINANCE APPROVING AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 9 FLOODPLAIN ZONING ORDINANCE

Wisconsin Statutes §§ 59.69, 59.692, 59.694, and 87.30 provide the authority for counties to administer floodplain ordinance regulations.  Wisconsin Administrative Code ch. NR 116 establishes Wisconsin’s Floodplain Management Program, which sets the minimum requirements that must be met by development to comply with state and federal standards.  These laws and rules recognize that floodplain zoning is a necessary tool to protect human life and health, and to minimize property damages and economic losses. Sauk Co. Code Ord. § 9.002 and the appendix to Ch. 9 include by reference DNR and FEMA approved floodplain maps, flood profiles, floodway data tables, regional and base flood elevations and other information with which the county regulates floodplain development.   

In October 2005, the DNR approved a dam failure analysis for the Dutch Hollow Lake Dam located in the NE Quarter of Section 18, Township 13 North, Range 3 East, Town of La Valle, Sauk County, across the Dutch Hollow Creek. The dam break analysis shows hydraulic shadow floodway and floodplain within Sauk County. Sauk County adopted the 2005 hydraulic shadow map into their floodplain ordinance in August 2005.  Since that adoption, Vierbicher submitted a Dam Break Analysis Map Revision, which the DNR approved on May 10, 2021. In order to ensure that current and accurate data is reflected within the Floodplain Ordinance, an amendment to the ordinance to update the 2005 dam failure analysis and include the new Dutch Hollow Dam Break Analysis 2021 Map Revision and associated information is necessary. 

The above changes are contained in the attached Appendix.