Buying Land in Rusk County, Wisconsin

Zoning: a township-by-township question, with only 9 of 24 comprehensively zoned

The Rusk County Zoning Office (311 East Miner Ave., Suite N110, Ladysmith, WI 54848; 715-532-2156) administers the county's Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 50), but general zoning coverage in Rusk County is narrower than in many other Wisconsin counties: only 9 of the county's 24 towns -- Atlanta, Flambeau, Grant, Grow, Marshall, Thornapple, Stubbs, Washington, and Wilson -- are "comprehensively zoned," meaning divided into the county's 9 zoning districts (Agricultural, Residential, Residential/Recreational, Commercial, Industrial, Forestry, Resource Conservation, Planned Unit Development, and Shoreland) with the full set of permitted-use, conditional-use, and setback rules that implies.

In the other 15 towns (including Big Bend and Rusk, among others), that general zoning-district system does not apply. What does apply everywhere in the county, in every town regardless of comprehensive-zoning status, is Land Use Permit jurisdiction within the statewide-mandatory shoreland band -- within 1,000 feet of a lake, pond, or flowage, or 300 feet of a river or stream. A Land Use Permit is required from the county in that band no matter which of the 24 towns a parcel sits in. Outside that band, in one of the 15 non-comprehensively-zoned towns, land use is governed by a narrower set of rules (this research pass found a reference to a 100-foot-wide, 20,000-square-foot minimum lot size applying in at least Big Bend and Rusk townships specifically, but could not independently verify this figure as a general rule across all 15 non-comprehensively-zoned towns -- confirm directly for a specific parcel).

Land Use Permits and Building Permits are two separate processes in Rusk County: the county Zoning Office issues Land Use Permits (for new construction, additions, land-use changes, or setback questions), while each individual town issues Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code (UDC) building permits for site-built 1- and 2-family dwellings, through a town-appointed UDC inspector. A new home in Rusk County will generally require both.

Land division, septic, and permit types

Rusk County's Land Division ordinance applies to divisions of land under 10 acres and addresses minimum lot sizes, access-road standards, and floodplain/wetland/topography concerns as part of the review. Beyond a straightforward Land Use Permit, larger or more sensitive projects may require a Conditional Use Permit (for uses that could conflict with surrounding land, such as a non-farm residence in an Agricultural district, reviewed at a public hearing before the county Zoning Committee, typically 3-6 weeks) or a formal rezoning (requiring town board approval plus a public hearing, typically 1-3 months).

Septic (POWTS) permitting in Rusk County is handled by the Zoning Office rather than the county's separate Health & Human Services department -- a Sanitary Permit, administered under the county's Private Sewage Ordinance and the statewide SPS 383 standard, must be issued before other permits, and this requirement applies countywide regardless of a town's comprehensive-zoning status. Rusk County Health & Human Services (311 Miner Ave. E., Suite C220, Ladysmith; 715-532-2299), separately, handles general environmental-health matters such as drinking-water-safety complaints and food/housing sanitation.

GIS, parcel records, and agriculture/forestry support

The Rusk County Land Information/Surveyor's Office (part of the county's Land & Water Conservation function) maintains the county's GIS parcel mapping, tax-parcel maps, and land-survey/remonumentation records. The Register of Deeds (311 Miner Ave. E., Suite 132N, Ladysmith; 715-532-2139) holds recorded deeds, land contracts, mortgages, and plats, and the Treasurer's office (311 Miner Ave. E., Suite C140, Ladysmith) handles property tax records.

Extension Rusk County (311 Miner Ave. E., Ladysmith; 715-532-2151), part of the UW-Madison Division of Extension, supports the county's agricultural base, and the Rusk County Land & Water Conservation Division offers technical and financial assistance for agriculture, water-resources, wildlife-habitat, and shoreline-restoration projects -- relevant if you're evaluating farmland, forestland, or lakeshore property specifically.