Zoning in Pepin County, Wisconsin: There Is No County Zoning -- Only Town Zoning

Why Pepin County is different: no general zoning ordinance to begin with

In the typical Wisconsin arrangement described on our state hub, a parcel's general zoning runs through either the county (if it has adopted general zoning and the town has been included) or the town (if the county has none, or the town has withdrawn). Pepin County simplifies -- and complicates -- that picture by never having adopted a general zoning ordinance in the first place. There is no county zoning map, no county-wide list of permitted uses, and no county zoning district to look up for a given parcel outside of the specific narrower ordinances described below. General land-use zoning in Pepin County is purely a town-level (or, inside a municipality, a city/village-level) matter.

The eight towns: five zoned, three apparently not

Pepin County has eight towns: Albany, Durand, Frankfort, Lima, Pepin, Stockholm, Waterville, and Waubeek (the Town of Durand is a separate unit of government from the City of Durand, the county seat, even though they share a name). Search-confirmed sources put five of these towns as having adopted their own zoning ordinance: Frankfort (adopted July 31, 2013), the Town of Pepin, the Town of Stockholm (which also maintains its own Conservation Subdivision Ordinance), the Town of Waterville (adopted February 22, 2017), and the Town of Waubeek. The City of Durand and the Villages of Pepin and Stockholm each separately administer their own municipal zoning, entirely apart from the towns of the same name.

That leaves the Towns of Albany, Durand, and Lima with no zoning ordinance identified in this research pass. Because Pepin County itself has no general zoning to apply by default, land in these three towns appears to be effectively unzoned for general land-use purposes outside the state-mandated and county-administered overlay layers below -- meaning there may be no permitted-use list, no minimum-lot-size rule, and no setback requirement (beyond the highway-setback and shoreland/floodplain rules that do apply) governing what can be built on a given parcel there. This is a genuinely unusual situation for a Wisconsin buyer to encounter, and it cuts both ways: less regulatory friction for an unconventional use, but also fewer guardrails and less predictability about what a neighboring parcel could become. Confirm directly with the town clerk and Pepin County Land Conservation & Planning before assuming either general zoning or a total absence of it applies to a specific parcel -- a town's status can change, and this pass could not verify a negative (the absence of zoning) with full confidence.

What still applies no matter which town a parcel sits in

Three layers reach a Pepin County parcel regardless of whether its town has its own zoning ordinance, because the county administers them directly and towns cannot opt out. First, the county's Shoreland Protection Ordinance (Chapter 16) applies within 1,000 feet of a lake, pond, or flowage, 300 feet of a navigable river or stream, and in any DNR-identified wetland in the county -- this is Pepin County's implementation of the statewide NR 115 program described on our Wisconsin hub, and it reaches a meaningful share of the county given its Mississippi River/Lake Pepin frontage. Second, the county's Floodplain Zoning Code (Chapter 20) applies wherever FEMA-mapped floodplain exists, also a state/federally mandated layer. Third, a county Highway Setback ordinance requires a Pepin County land-use permit before erecting, moving, or structurally altering any structure within 63 feet of a town road's centerline, 75 feet of a county road's centerline, or 110 feet of a state highway's centerline -- but only in the Towns of Lima, Pepin, and Stockholm specifically, not countywide.

A fourth, more geographically narrow layer -- the Mississippi River Bluffland Zoning Code (Chapter 19) -- applies only in the Towns of Pepin and Stockholm, where it was adopted in the early 1990s to address the steep bluff terrain rising above the Mississippi River/Lake Pepin valley. Within its mapped bluffland area, this overlay requires a separate county land-use permit and imposes setback and land-disturbance standards beyond the ordinary shoreland rule, aimed at preventing groundwater contamination and soil erosion on unstable bluff slopes and protecting the area's wildlife habitat and aesthetics. If a parcel in Pepin or Stockholm includes bluff terrain -- not just Mississippi River bottomland -- ask specifically whether it falls inside this overlay's mapped boundary.

What to actually do before buying a Pepin County parcel

1. Identify the specific town (not just the nearest city or village) the parcel sits in, and confirm with that town's clerk whether it has its own zoning ordinance -- Frankfort, Pepin, Stockholm, Waterville, and Waubeek are confirmed to have one; Albany, Durand, and Lima were not confirmed to have one in this research pass and should be checked directly rather than assumed either way.
2. Regardless of the town's zoning status, ask Pepin County Land Conservation & Planning ((715) 672-8897) whether the parcel falls within the countywide shoreland band (1,000 ft of a lake/pond/flowage, 300 ft of a river/stream, or a mapped wetland) or the floodplain zone.
3. If the parcel is in the Town of Lima, Pepin, or Stockholm, ask specifically about the county's Highway Setback ordinance before planning where to place a structure relative to any adjoining road.
4. If the parcel is in the Town of Pepin or Stockholm and includes bluff or steep-slope terrain, ask specifically whether it falls within the mapped Mississippi River Bluffland Zoning Code overlay and what land-use permit and setback requirements that triggers.
5. If the parcel is in a town with no identified zoning and no county general zoning applies, do not assume that means no permitting is required at all -- septic (POWTS), subdivision/land-division review (countywide under Chapter 18), building code, and any applicable state or federal permit still apply independently of general zoning.