Kenosha County, WI Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

County Code § 12.37.070 creates the TCO Town Center Overlay District to allow an 'orderly and attractive grouping of residential and business uses in the style of a downtown or main street' in designated Town Center locations within unincorporated Kenosha County. Before the County will designate a TCO area, an applicant must first prepare an overall development plan showing the location of businesses, traffic circulation, parking areas, parks, arcades and landscaping, along with proposed building styles and architecture. Specific 'Design Guidelines' must then be prepared for that TCO District area and folded into the overall development plan; the guidelines must be approved by the Kenosha County Department of Planning and Development and then adopted as an ordinance by the local town government where the district sits, not just approved administratively.

The Design Guidelines must specifically address on-site landscaping, off-street parking landscaping, bufferyard landscaping, outdoor lighting, minimum lot areas, maximum residential density, loading and access requirements, and architectural design standards including exterior building materials and outdoor display and sales requirements, plus any other design concerns the local town raises. Once adopted, buildings inside the TCO District are capped at 35 feet, multifamily housing is limited to 17 units per net acre for market housing or 22 units per acre for elderly housing, and street yard setbacks drop to as little as 5 feet from federal, state or county highway rights-of-way, provided the ground between the building and the right-of-way is hard-surfaced as a pedestrian way. All new structures and additions must also comply with the county's site plan review requirements under § 12.08.020.