The town plan commission is a group of five citizens appointed by the town board to assess how town decisions can be consistent with the goals of the town comprehensive plan. When a property owner seeks to put in a driveway, construct a residence, or to start a home-based business, the commission conducts a site visit with the owner to encourage development consistent with the plan. Then the commission makes recommendations to the town board regarding the owner’s permits. Under state law, the plan has some authority. For example, county zoning decisions are required to consider the recommended policies of a town’s plan.

The commission normally meets on the first Tuesday of the month when specific business is required.

Town of Washburn Planning Commission and terms

Latest Comprehensive Plan:

Introduction to the Comprehensive Plan (Executive Summary)

Town of Washburn Comprehensive Plan - April 2025

Older Documents:

Town of Washburn Comprehensive Plan - July 2007

Town of Washburn Land Use Plan - 2001

History of the Town of Washburn Plan Commission

The first Town of Washburn Comprehensive Plan was written and completed in July 2007. This plan was the culmination of years of work that went into getting the town to that point. In 2025 the Town Comprehensive Plan was updated as there have been many changes in our world since then.

Why is a Comprehensive Plan important? To understand this, we go back to the first Wisconsin local comprehensive planning law back in 1999. Unfortunately state funding was not sufficient to meet the demands for all of the communities that had applied for grant funds for comprehensive planning. So many communities did not have a comprehensive plan for quite some time. A Comprehensive Plan typically takes several years to carefully develop and incurs a cost which must be planned and funded. 

29 years ago on April 9, 1996 during a Town of Washburn annual meeting, the town took the first steps towards the goal of having a Planning Commission and a Comprehensive Plan. This was done when the town adopted village powers.

On February 3, 1998 the town formed a Land Use Committee. This was a group of 12 individuals who worked on Land Use and long range planning. The goal of this committee was to come up with a Town Land Use Plan. A first step to a Comprehensive Plan.

In May of 1999, the first Town of Washburn driveway ordinance was passed. This was later revised on April 9, 2008 which is the driveway ordinance currently being used. The driveway ordinance is a key ordinance which gets the Plan Commission involved in a town project at an early stage.

After several years of work, during the annual meeting of April 10, 2001 the First Town of Washburn Land Use Plan was presented, which was then adopted on May 10, 2001 during a special town meeting.

During this time, the State of Wisconsin was working on Act 372, which was an update to the state's comprehensive planning law. This law required that communities have a comprehensive plan in effect by 2010. Because of this, on April 13, 2004 the town decided not to wait until the last minute, and to form an ongoing planning commission. And so the Town of Washburn Plan Commission was formed.

The Plan Commission members were chosen and by the next annual meeting on April 14, 2005, a motion was passed for the Plan Commission to develop the first Town Comprehensive Plan. The Plan Commission formed a committee of citizen volunteers and utilized resources to take on this project. Over two years later after many hours of work, on September 11, 2007, the town board officially adopted by ordinance the First Comprehensive Plan.

As a community develops and moves forward, the Comprehensive Plan is a guide that State Law requires communities to follow. The driveway permit is one of the first permits that a new project requires, and the Plan Commission uses the Comprehensive Plan when there are questions that come up in reviewing the driveway permit application. The Town Board also uses the Comprehensive Plan guidance in making their decisions. Act 372 requires that town "programs and actions" be consistent with the local comprehensive plan. This includes town ordinances enacted after January 1, 2010.

Another recent change is now bringing County Zoning and Town Land Use together. With a recent change, the County Zoning Map will now need to reflect the Town Land Use Plan, which is one part of the Town Comprehensive Plan. This makes the Comprehensive Plan even more important as the County issues building permits and enforces the Zoning Ordinance. 

While there have been many changes since the first Land Use Plan in 1998, the town’s goals remain largely the same. Many of the problems that the town faced in 1998 are the same ones we are facing today.

These two excerpts from the Town of Washburn Lane Use Plan, June 12, 2001 highlight these common goals:

 The Town of Washburn's land use history is similar to other Bayfield County towns in the Chequamegon Bay area. Through the years they have been changing from agricultural communities to rural residential communities. The Town of Washburn has retained much of its rural character, which was a high priority with the residents recently surveyed. The number of households has been steadily increasing as more people are choosing to live in rural areas. Town officials and residents have recognized these changes and have expressed concerns about how their community will grow and develop in the future. ...

• • Goal 1: Preserve the rural character of the Town of Washburn.
  • Goal 2: Provide for the protection of existing agricultural land.
  • Goal 3: Preserve and protect the diverse natural resources and wildlife habitats, including the quality of air, waterways and groundwater.
  • Goal 4: Encourage sustainable forest management practices on private and public lands.
  • Goal 5: Provide diverse recreational opportunities.
  • Goal 6: Support businesses that are compatible with the rural character of the Town.

In the appendix of the Town of Washburn Land Use Plan 2001:

 "Protecting unfragmented landscapes in Wisconsin" by Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Wisconsin-Extension. 1998.

... "Despite the many parks in the area, [such places as the Baraboo Hills and northern Wisconsin's forests] still need greater protection to keep the forests intact. Each new house or road creates a new permanent clearing which fragments the forest and introduces more edge habitat into the landscape. ... Private landowners can be excellent stewards of the land, but habitat protection needs to extend beyond the lifetime of the current owners."

The latest Comprehensive Plan brings the plan up to date while carrying forward the goals of the Town which were put together by the community years ago.