Village board discusses partial waiver of sewer and impact fees for proposed 3 Leaf senior housing project

Developers of a proposed 124‑unit senior living community on Campus Drive asked the Village of Hartland Board of Trustees to consider waiving part of the project’s sewer connection and impact fees so the project could move forward.

Why it matters: The proposal would reduce up‑front costs for the developer by roughly the amount the team said represents library and park impact fees plus the village/regional sewer component above the development’s estimated utility use. Developers and the planning commission say the project would add tax revenue and less utility demand per unit than single‑family homes; some trustees questioned whether a fee waiver would set a precedent.

Developer representative Robert Ford summarized project changes and the fee request. He said the team reduced construction costs through value engineering and design changes, added six units to boost revenue, and still faces a financing gap of about $800,000. Ford presented a breakdown showing total impact and connection fees of about $1.265 million; he proposed the developer pay roughly $882,000 and asked the village to forgo about $382,000 in fees tied to parks, library and the village/regional portion above the project’s estimated usage.

The developer and his engineer said the development’s water and sanitary use is about 37% of the utility usage of an equivalent number of single‑family homes, based on industry‑standard occupancy figures and local meter reads. Ford said that, on a per‑acre basis, the proposed development would produce substantially more tax revenue than single‑family housing on the same land and that senior residents would be unlikely to use parks and library services at the same rate as families.

Trustees and members of the public pressed for more local data. Board members asked for (1) documentation supporting the 37% utility‑use figure, (2) local comparables for ambulance and emergency call volumes at similar senior facilities, and (3) fuller tax‑impact numbers showing how the project would affect village revenues and taxpayers. Trustee questions also flagged the Delhart sewer connection fee (the transcript references Delhart’s portion of the total connection charge) and asked how Delhart and regional charges compare to neighboring municipalities.

Multiple trustees said they were open to further discussion but not ready to approve a waiver. Some trustees said they were sympathetic to the project’s benefits — including indexed tax revenues and meeting senior housing demand — while others said the village should not reduce upfront connection fees that are typically paid by developers.

Next steps: The board indicated it would send the fee question back to the Planning Commission for further study and asked staff to provide the requested supporting data, including a utility usage memo from the developer’s engineer, local call‑volume data from nearby senior facilities, and a clearer tax‑revenue estimate. No formal vote on waiving fees occurred at the meeting.

Ending: Trustees asked staff to gather the additional documentation and return the item to Planning Commission and then to the Village Board so members could decide with more precise numbers.