Sauk County, WI Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

Sauk County has no citywide density-bonus ordinance; instead, Subchapter IX of the zoning chapter runs a Planned Rural Development (PRD) density credit system that functions the same way. Sec. 7.110 sets the base allotment at one density credit for every 35 acres in a parcel zoned Exclusive Agriculture or Resource Conservancy, calculated as parcel acreage minus any preexisting easement acreage, divided by 35, minus existing dwellings on the parcel. Sec. 7.111 lets an owner transfer those credits to another parcel within or between the Exclusive Agriculture and Resource Conservancy districts, or send them into an incorporated city or village, in exchange for placing a PRD preservation area easement on at least 35 acres of the sending parcel.

Lands mapped as part of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway or the Baraboo Range National Natural Landmark cannot receive credits from outside those areas except to expand an existing PRD lot or add dwellings on it. Sec. 7.108 caps each PRD development area created with credits at one dwelling unit unless additional credits are spent, and Sec. 7.111(2) requires the transfer to be negotiated directly between the property owners, with the county's role limited to approving the number of credits, the easement placement and the sending and receiving areas.

Sec. 7.112 and Sec. 7.113 route every PRD through a conditional use application to the agency, including town review, a farmland preservation agreement check with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and a public interest finding by the agency.