Town approves new ordinance that aims to save historical barns

After some tweaking, the Saukville Town Board on Tuesday approved an ordinance designed to preserve historical barns, and thus the town’s rural character.

The ordinance would exempt farmsteads currently zoned for agricultural use from limits on the number of buildings and their total square footage when being subdivided to create A4- or A5-zoned lots of five acres or more.

That would make it easier for farmers to subdivide their properties, especially for those who are retiring from farming but want to remain on the land or allow family members to live there.

Formerly, town zoning only allowed three outbuildings to remain on a new parcel. Cumulatively, those buildings could not total more than 2,500 square feet or take up more than 3% of the new lot.

That forced farmers to unnecessarily tear down outbuildings, some of which are considered historical, to satisfy town codes.

The issue arose last year when one landowner sought to subdivide his property but under the current ordinance would be required to destroy old outbuildings.

That prompted town officials to begin discussing whether to create a historical barn registry to preserve such buildings.

Under the new ordinance, no new buildings will be allowed to be built that would exceed the square footage limit and, if an existing building is destroyed by fire or other disaster, the replacement building cannot be larger than the original.

If the collection of outbuildings exceeds  the 3% lot coverage limit, the owner can apply for a conditional-use permit.