Residents asked to place them in their backyards
By John Faucher
The Hortonville Village Board unanimously approved an ordinance prohibiting the use of shipping containers as outbuildings on June 6.
Village Administrator David DeTroye said the existing zoning code did not adequately define accessory storage buildings.
“The circumstance that we’re running into now is people are asking permission to put shipping containers in backyards as accessory buildings,” DeTroye said.
“They’re very marketable and they’re very economical, so you’ve had requests from people to use those as outbuildings in their backyards, and these aren’t just anywhere. These are in some of the newer subdivisions,” he said.
The ordinance added language defining what an accessory building is: “A building originally constructed for use as an accessory building for the storage of materials and equipment accessory to a primary use located on the property.”
The ordinance also defines cargo containers as reusable vessels that were originally designed for or used in packing, shipping, movement or transportation of freight, articles, goods or commodities.
DeTroye said the new language clarifies the definition of structures and further disallows the use of storage containers in backyards, specifically in residential areas.
The ordinance also prohibits using vehicles such as rail cars, truck vans and buses as storage structures.
The ordinance allows the temporary placement of transport containers and portable site storage containers, also known as PODS, on residential properties for up to 30 days for the purpose of loading and unloading household contents.
DeTroye told board members there was one shipping container currently being used in the village.
“There’s nothing we can do about it. It’s a commercial building that has it and it’s a pre-existing thing. It’s been there a long, long time from what I understand,” DeTroye said.