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City of Madison DPCED Planning Development

Development

In consultation with Public Health of Madison and Dane County, the Madison Municipal Building will be reopened to the public on July 6, 2021. Many Planning Division employees will continue to work remotely part-time, continuing to provide customer service in virtual meetings, and will be available for in-person meetings by appointment only. For general Planning assistance, or to find out the best contact for making an appointment, please call (608) 266-4635.

Please view all impacts to City services on the City’s COVID-19 website.

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June 14, 2021 Update:

As a reminder, application should continue to be filed digitally:

Staff are currently only accepting digital (PDF) submittals - not paper - for all Land Use, Subdivision, and Urban Design Commission (UDC) applications. While the required submittal format has changed, the list of required submittal materials for the relevant application(s) has not. The same submittal deadlines apply, as noted on the current Development Review Schedule. Note: the 2021 version is now available online. Deadlines remain on designated Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m., unless otherwise noted.

Land Use Applications: See Page 5 of the Land Use Application. All submittal materials shall be emailed to PCapplications@cityofmadison.com. Final “Sign-Off” plans (i.e. plans submitted after project has received approval from all required review bodies, as required by M.G.O.), shall be emailed to Zoning@cityofmadion.com. Note: there are now additional submittal requirements for PDFs. Please review Pages 3 & 4 of the Land Use Application before submitting.

Urban Design Commission (UDC) Applications: See Page 2 of the UDC Application. All submittal materials shall be sent to UDCapplications@cityofmadison.com. Final “Sign-Off” plans (i.e. for projects which have received final approval from the UDC), shall also be emailed to UDCapplications@cityofmadion.com. 

Landmarks Commission Applications: See Page 2 of the Landmarks Commission Application. All submittal materials, shall be sent to LandmarksCommission@cityofmadison.com. 

Subdivision/Land Division Applications: See Page 2 of the Subdivision Application. All submittal materials shall be emailed to PCapplications@cityofmadison.com. Note: PDFs of the letter of intent and Plat/CSM must be created from source data (Word, CAD, etc.). Scans of anything - except the signed application form - will not be accepted. Please contact Planning@cityofmadison.com with questions.

File Size: Please note that an individual email cannot exceed 20 MB. It is the responsibility of the applicant to present files in a manner that can be accepted. If dividing the submittal materials into multiple, smaller components (in order to meet the email size limit), please clearly indicate the total number of email components in the subject line (e.g.: “Land Use Application for 123 Elm Street - email 1 of 4”, “…2 of 4”, etc.) and label the email attachments accordingly (e.g.: “Site Plan 1 of 3”, “…2 of 3”, etc.). Please email zoning@cityofmadison.com regarding questions on this submittal or alternative filing options.

Review Fee Payments. Fees may be submitted as a check, made out to "City Treasurer", and mailed to City Building Inspection (see address below). Arrangements can also be made with Zoning staff to process credit card payments. If mailing a check for the application fee, please do the following:
  1. Include a cover page with the check which includes the project address, brief description of the project, and contact information.
  2. Mail it to the following address:
City of Madison Building Inspection
P.O. Box 2984
Madison, WI 53701-2984
 

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Madison helps implement our plans through the review of development proposals. There are different development processes, based on the type of request. The City's Zoning Ordinance establishes the permitted land uses, as well as design and development standards such as height and density. Wisconsin state law requires that zoning must be consistent with adopted plans. Many development proposals are permitted under the Zoning Ordinance. These permitted uses do not require any type of public review. In such instances, the property owner, developer or builder submits plans to the City. If the proposal complies with all applicable codes and ordinances, it may be approved administratively and construction may begin following the issuance of building permits.

Other new developments in the City of Madison require approvals by City boards (i.e. Plan Commission, Urban Design Commission, Landmarks Commission) and/or the Common Council. Such proposals may include subdivisions, rezonings, conditional uses, and/or demolitions. Development proposals of this nature are reviewed for their consistency with adopted plans and are reviewed by City agencies for conformance with applicable requirements and guidelines. To determine what level of permitting and reviews a project needs, visit the City of Madison's Development Services Center. Of note, the following is the list of project types (with links to follow for more information) that the Planning Division coordinates the review of:

 

To view projects currently under review and in control of the Plan Commission, visit the Current Development Proposals page.

 

To view the previously reviewed projects dating back to 2013, please visit the appropriate link below:

 

Last Updated: 06/28/2021

Development

Development Resources

  • Development Services Center - Site with information related to the City's Development Review process including: Conditional Uses, Demolition Permits, Rezonings, Subdivisions, Annexation of Land, Zoning Variances, Landmarks & Construction in Historic Districts, and Urban Design Approvals.

 

APPLICATIONS

 

SUBMITTAL AND MEETING SCHEDULES

 

MADISON GENERAL ORDINANCE SECTIONS

  • Chapter 16 - General Planning - Ordinance outlining the Plan Commission's composition, powers and duties; Land Subdivision Regulations (including Extraterritorial reviews); Plats & Certified Surveys (CSMs); and Condominium Instrument reviews.
  • Chapter 28 - The Zoning Code - Specifies how and for what purpose each parcel of private real estate may be used. Includes the definitions of and associated regulations of the City's various land use districts; proceedures and approval standards associated with several types of land use development requests (Conditional Uses, Demolitions, Rezonings, etc.), etc.
  • Chapter 31 - The Sign Ordinance - Ordinance outlining the City's regulation of the various signs displayed within the city limits.
  • Section 33.19 - The Landmarks Commission - Ordinance outlining the Commission's composition, powers and duties.
  • Section 33.24 - The Urban Design Commission - Ordinance outlining the Commission's composition, powers and duties.

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Contact Us

Kevin Firchow - Principal Planner, Development Review, 608-267-1150

Tim Parks - Planner, Development Review, 608-261-9632

Chris Wells - Planner, Development Review, 608-261-9135

Colin Punt - Planner, Development Review, 608-243-0455

Heather Bailey - Landmarks Commission Secretary, 608-266-6552

Questions regarding the Urban Design Commission should be directed to Principal Planner Kevin Firchow (see contact information above)

 

Planning

Heather Stouder, Director
Madison Municipal Building, Suite 017 (Lower Level)
215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Madison, WI 53703
Hours: Monday - Friday, 8am - 4:30pm

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