Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 236.01 (2026)
Purpose of chapter
✓ current as of July 2026
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236.01236.01 Purpose of chapter. The purpose of this chapter is to regulate the subdivision of land to promote public health, safety, and general welfare; to further the orderly layout and use of land; to ensure that land is developed in a manner that supports healthy, livable communities; to foster the development of a range of housing types; to advance complete streets that prioritize safety, comfort, and accessibility for pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and motorists alike; to provide for adequate light and air; to facilitate adequate provision for water, sewerage, and other public requirements; to encourage development patterns that provide safe and convenient transportation choices for a variety of users; to provide for proper ingress and egress; and to promote proper monumenting of land subdivided and conveyancing by accurate legal description. The approvals to be obtained by the subdivider as required in this chapter shall be based on requirements designed to accomplish the aforesaid purposes.
236.01 AnnotationThis chapter authorizes a municipality to reject a preliminary plat under its extraterritorial jurisdictional authority based upon a subdivision ordinance that considers the plat’s proposed use. Wood v. City of Madison, 2003 WI 24, 260 Wis. 2d 71, 659 N.W.2d 31, 01-1206.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11
cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1960–2026 · leading case: Wood v. City of Madison, 2003 WI 24 (Wis. 2003).
Wood v. City of Madison, 2003 WI 24 (Wis. 2003). “01 : The purpose of this chapter is to regulate the subdivision of land to promote public health, safety and general welfare; to further the orderly layout and use of land; to prevent the overcrowding of land; to lessen congestion in the streets and highways; to provide for…”
Johnson v. City of Edgerton, 558 N.W.2d 653 (Wis. Ct. App. 1996). “, to impose as requirements its own interpretations of the chapter's broad promotion-of-health-and-welfare statement of purpose outlined in § 236.01. We held that the broad "preamble to the chapter" conferred no authority on local units of government to reject plats.”
State Ex Rel. Columbia Corp. v. Town Bd. of Town of Pac., 286 N.W.2d 130 (Wis. 1979). “Sections 236.01 and 236.13 were enacted verbatim as drafted by the committee.”
Town of Delton v. Liston, 2007 WI App 120 (Wis. Ct. App. 2007). “236 grants power to more than one governing body to regulate the same parcel of land.”
Nichols v. Nichols, 168 N.W.2d 876 (Wis. 1969). “4 See sec. 236.01, Stats. 5 Bassler v. Rewodlinski, supra; Estate of Gabler (1953), 265 Wis.”
Zastrow v. Vill. of Brown Deer, 100 N.W.2d 359 (Wis. 1960). “Sec. 236.01, Stats. 1955, provides: “Purpose of chapter.”
Wisconsin Builders Ass'n v. Wisconsin Dep't of Transp., 2005 WI App 160 (Wis. Ct. App. 2005). “" Wis. Stat. § 236.01 (7) (1949). Thus, the requirement that all "plats" be submitted to and approved by certain government entities applied to all land divisions.”
Rogers Dev., Inc. v. Rock Cnty. Plan. & Dev. Comm., 2003 WI App 113 (Wis. Ct. App. 2003). “Wis. Stat. § 236.01 . Because the sections of ch.”
Kickapoo Dev., LLC v. Town of Viroqua (Wis. Ct. App. 2026). “§ 236.01 (1977-78), when deciding whether to approve or reject plats.”
Bruce Fuchs v. Wisconsin Dep't of Nat. Resources (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “01 (1929) allowed owners to divide tracts of land into “lots, … streets and alleys, commons or public grounds as [the owner] may choose,” and set forth requirements for surveying and subdividing “the exterior boundaries of the tract of land so surveyed and divided and of all the…”
Lake City Corp. v. City of Mequon, 544 N.W.2d 600 (Wis. Ct. App. 1996). “Mequon emphasizes that these notes describe how the "master plan" standard set out in § 236.13(l)(c), Stats., was intended to put "legal teeth" in these planning devices.”
— Wis. Stat. § 236.01(1) — 1 case
Bruce Fuchs v. Wisconsin Dep't of Nat. Resources (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “01 (1929) allowed owners to divide tracts of land into “lots, … streets and alleys, commons or public grounds as [the owner] may choose,” and set forth requirements for surveying and subdividing “the exterior boundaries of the tract of land so surveyed and divided and of all the…”
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