Portage County, WI Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Section 7.1.4(4)(d)5 of the Portage County Code sets the Neighborhood Commercial District's (C1) lot coverage standard: 'No building or structure, including equipment and material storage, parking lots, Loading berths and driveways, shall cover more than 75 percent of area of any lot.' Unlike a coverage rule that counts only rooflines, this one folds outdoor storage, parking pavement and loading areas into the 75-percent ceiling, so a site plan with a large paved lot can hit the cap well before any building footprint would. The same subsection pairs that coverage limit with dimensional standards for the district: a minimum 20,000-square-foot lot exclusive of road right-of-way under item 3, a 100-foot minimum lot width at the building line under item 4, an eight-foot minimum side yard that must stay in grass, shrubs or trees rather than parking or storage under item 6, and a 12-foot minimum rear yard under item 7.

Buildings in the district are also capped at 35 feet in height under item 1, unless the church or public-building exception in Section 7.1.6(1)(c) applies. The Planning and Zoning Department checks the 75-percent figure against the site plan, including any stormwater control plan required under item 9, before issuing a zoning permit.