DCPZP-1997-01805 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

ri 41 or `tip Q yae .�, OFFICE OF T H t Corporation Counsel Cal W. Komstedt 'Wq', CORPORATIOIsJ COUNSEL °!CONS_-- . I January 2, 1996 Topf Wells, Executive Assistant to the County Executive Office of the County Executive 421 City-County Building 210 Martin Luther King,Jr., Blvd. Madison, WI 53709 Dear Mr. Wells: You ask this office to "suggest a reasonable, defensible operational definition of substantial income as that term is used in dec. 10123(2)(b)of the Dane County Zoning Ordinance." Sec. 10.123(2)(b)provides that a residence for a farm owner or operator is a permitted use in the A-1 Exclusive Agricultural District, provided that "[sJubstantial income must be derived from the farm operation." Substantial is not defined in the ordinance. You indicated that at one point the ZNR Committee declared that substantial income was equal to 30% of the landowner's income. That test has been abandoned for primary residences, and properly so since the ordinance does not refer to a substantial percentage of the landowner's income, only to substantial income standing alone. -. The rules for construetiori"of statutes and municipal ordinances are the same. Ashland Water Co. v. Ashland County. 87 Wis. 209, 211, 58 N.W.235 (1894); County of Columbia v. Bvlewski, 94 Wis. 2d 153, 169 n. 7,288 N W. 2d 129 (1980). Without a definition in the ordinance,the zoning administrator is to i erpret the ordinance in a manner consistent with the ordinary meaning of the term substantial i come. ('Each word in a statute insofar as practical must be given its ordinary meaning * * * .' 69 OAG 41,43 (1980),citing 2A C. Sands, Statutes and Statutory Construction, secs. 46.06 an 51.01 (4th Ed. 1973).) The ordinary meaning of substantial as set forth in Webster's Third ew International Dictionary (Merriam-Webster, Inc.. 1993), at page 2280, is "considerable, in ount,value or worth." While this definition is helpful. it leaves the zoning administrator with little guidance to determine an actual dollar value, to draw a(dividing line between substantial and insubstantial. Unfortunately, case law is equally unhelpft 1. The Social Security Administration does. however.