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

Beyond the base B-2 Central Business District zoning rules in Section 22.34, Chapter 27 layers on design-specific controls for downtown. Within the Downtown Shopping Area, defined in Section 27.02(13) as the area bounded by the Fox River, Wisconsin Avenue, Broadway, and Barstow Street, Cabinet Signs are prohibited outright, and internally-illuminated Projecting Signs or channel letters are banned except for the theater-marquee Reader Boards allowed under Section 27.03(14)(b). Every sign in the area shall be scaled appropriately to the building and to the area where it will be placed, and no sign may cover architectural features or ornamentation. Illumination is limited to wall-mounted decorative fixtures, such as gooseneck or wall sconce lights, or halo backlighting on individually-mounted channel letters and logos.

The adjoining Downtown Perimeter District, covering the properties fronting Wisconsin Avenue, Barstow Street, North Street, and St. Paul Avenue, adds its own rules: Cabinet Signs are prohibited, signs can't cover architectural ornamentation, Monument Signs are capped at 6 feet in height and must sit back at least 2 feet from property lines and rights-of-way, and illuminated or Monument Signs may only be placed in street yards abutting those four named streets. New developments anywhere downtown must submit a full sign plan as part of the Site Plan and Architectural Review the Plan Commission conducts under Section 22.15 before a building permit issues.