The Middleton City Council on Oct. 15 voted to reduce water and sewer connection charges for a proposed Starbucks at River Pointe, approving a one-time adjustment to bill the project at 1-inch meter rates rather than 2-inch rates and referring transportation impact fees to a workshop.

Council members approved a motion to bill the developer, Northwest Development Companies, for a 1-inch water connection at $8,505.30 and a 1-inch sewer connection at $28,500. The council left the transportation impact fee unchanged and directed staff to schedule a separate workshop to review impact fees and potential individual assessments.

The decision followed a presentation from Monica Hobbs, city staff, who showed a fee comparison among Middleton, Star, Caldwell, Kuna, Emmett and Meridian. Developer representatives said Middleton’s total up-front fees for the Starbucks — combining water, sewer and transportation impact fees — were substantially higher than in nearby jurisdictions. Jeff Lennox, who presented numbers for the applicant, listed the permit charges that arrived with the application and said, “the 2 inch water connection fee was $22,169.47 … sewer connection, 2 inch fee is 78,000, and the transportation impact fee is $66,474.19.”

Developer Travis Stroud of Northwest Development argued the city’s approach feels like “one size fits all” and does not reflect the actual water consumption or traffic impact of many retail uses. He said large meter-based fees can discourage commercial development and make Middleton less competitive compared with Star, Kuna and Meridian.

During the meeting, commercial broker Natalie Jones urged the council to consider the broader market effect: “If Starbucks is anchoring that corner, I can get everybody else,” she said, arguing that an anchor tenant would help fill the remainder of the shopping center. City officials and council members debated competing priorities: the need to fund sewer and wastewater upgrades, the desire to avoid shifting past obligations onto homeowners, and the goal of attracting commercial development that increases the tax base.

The motion approved by council applies only to the Starbucks permit before the council tonight; council members emphasized that the city has latitude to handle future requests differently and that the change should not be taken as a permanent fee schedule rewrite. Council members also agreed that a workshop should take place as soon as possible to review the city’s fee methodology and consider whether Middleton should adopt more individualized assessments or a revised impact-fee schedule.

The roll call for the fee adjustment was recorded as: Council President Krasick — yes; Councilman O’Meara — yes; Councilman Christianson — yes; Councilman Murray — yes. The motion passed.

Next steps: staff will schedule the transportation impact-fee workshop and prepare the fee breakdowns and possible individual-assessment options for council review. The developer said the council’s change will be taken back to the tenant (Starbucks) and the builder; the tenant has previously indicated cost is a deciding factor in whether the project proceeds.