Buying Land in Green Lake County, Wisconsin

County Zoning Covers Only 6 of the County's 10 Towns -- Know Which Before You Buy

Case-by-case / verify locally

Of Green Lake County's 10 towns, 6 have adopted the county's general zoning ordinance -- Berlin, Brooklyn, Green Lake, Mackford, Manchester, and Marquette -- while 4 have not: Kingston, Princeton, Saint Marie, and Seneca. In the 4 unzoned towns, there is no general zoning-district map or use table (a land-use permit still isn't required outside county-administered land division, shoreland, and floodplain rules), so confirm which category your specific town falls into before assuming a zoning designation applies -- see our dedicated zoning page for this county for the fuller breakdown.

Shoreland Zoning Reaches a Large Share of This Small, Lake-Dense County Either Way

Case-by-case / verify locally

Regardless of which of the two zoning regimes above applies to a specific town, Wisconsin's statewide NR 115 shoreland zoning (1,000 ft of a lake/pond/flowage, 300 ft of a river/stream) cannot be opted out of by any town, county-zoned or not. Given Green Lake County's small size and its concentration of lakes -- Green Lake itself has roughly 27 miles of shoreline, plus Little Green Lake, Puckaway Lake, and other water bodies -- a genuinely large share of the county's land falls inside the shoreland zone. Confirm shoreland status directly for any parcel near water, in either a zoned or unzoned town.