Brown County - Unincorporated

Apply for an Improvement Location Permit at the Brown County Area Plan Commission office. Staff send it to the zoning appeals board for a public hearing. You pay for a newspaper notice that runs at least 10 days before the hearing. If the board approves, the office issues the permit.

 

A special exception costs $125. A home occupation permit costs $20 a year.

 

Special exception approval stays with the use. It ends if no improvements are made for 12 months in a row. A home occupation permit lasts one year. Renew it before the end of December each year.

 

Short term rental means stays of 30 days or less. A tourist home has up to 5 guest rooms for paying guests. It needs a special exception in the FR, R1, R2, and LR zones and is allowed in GB and AB. A home stay is an owner occupied single family home with up to 2 guest rooms. It is allowed in FR, R1, R2, LR, GB, and AB under home occupation rules. A bed and breakfast is run by a live in operator with up to 7 guest rooms and needs a special exception in FR, R1, R2, and LR. You cannot use an accessory dwelling unit as a short term rental.

 

Board guidelines allow one guest per 50 square feet of guest room space, four guests per room, and ten guests total, no matter the home’s size. Guests of any age count. A home stay can have 2 guest rooms.

 

Board guidelines say a tourist home should be at least 250 feet from an existing home and at least 1,320 feet from another tourist home. The 250 foot distance can be less with hills or woods as a buffer. You can have one tourist home building per lot and no other business on that lot, except in an approved planned unit development or the GB or AB zones. A tourist home has 5 guest rooms at most and cannot be in an accessory building.

Safety and inspectionsA tourist home must meet all life, health, and safety codes. Board guidelines call for county and state inspections at least every three years. The board can require working smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, safe heat, hot and cold water, a septic system approved by the Health Department for the guest count, and a yearly lab test of a private well. Home occupation renewals include an inspection by the Planning Director.

 

A tourist home needs 1 parking space per worker plus 1 per sleeping room. Off street parking must let guests leave without backing onto a public road. You can have one unlit sign up to 4 square feet. No guns may be fired. Give guests a map of the property lines. The home needs a private drive to a state or county road that is wide enough for emergency vehicles. A home occupation cannot cause more nuisance than a normal home.

 

Board guidelines say each tourist home should have a local manager who can fix problems fast. Register the manager’s name, address, and phone number with the Area Plan Commission office and post them in the home. A local manager works within a reasonable 30 minute drive.

 

The fine is up to $10,000 for each violation, and each day counts as a new violation. The county can also go to court, stop work, and hold back permits. Breaking a special exception condition is a violation.

 

November 6, 2023