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Commission discusses ADU impact-fee treatment for detached units
Summary
Willard planning staff and commissioners on May 1 reviewed how the city applies water and sewer impact and connection fees to accessory dwelling units (ADUs), focusing on detached ADUs that require new utility hookups.
Willard planning staff and commissioners on May 1 reviewed how the city applies water and sewer impact and connection fees to accessory dwelling units (ADUs), with particular attention to detached ADUs that require new utility hookups.
Maddie, planning staff, explained the ordinance currently requires a detached ADU to pay 66% of a single-family home's water and sewer impact fee when the ADU connects to the host house's utilities. The commission considered whether a detached ADU that needs a separate connection should be charged the full impact fee or remain at 66% while paying a separate connection charge.
Spencer, the property owner whose ADU proposal drove the discussion, said he could not physically connect to the main services on his house and therefore would require a new water and sewer run. Commissioners agreed it was reasonable to keep the 66% impact-fee approach for ADUs that do not add system capacity but to collect standard connection fees when a new meter or main tap is required.
City staff described how the charges differ. Jeremy, a city staff member, told the commission the connection fee is a separate, defensible charge for physically tapping the system and the meter/inspection work; the impact fee measures the share of system capacity consumed. During the meeting staff cited illustrative numbers for context: a water impact fee of $6,361, a sewer impact fee of $7,200, a water connection fee (city-provided meter/installation) and inspection fee of roughly $200, and a sewer connection fee of $500. Staff said those figures would be verified and updated as part of regular fee study work.
Commissioners asked staff to clarify and specify in the ordinance language whether an ADU that requires a new connection must pay the connection fee while retaining the 66% impact-fee treatment. The commission indicated they favor not raising impact fees for ADUs that do not increase system demand beyond a partial-home equivalent but accepted that a new physical connection justifies a connection fee.
