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Middleton council approves vacating interior utility easements to allow dentist office lot consolidation
Summary
The Middleton City Council on Oct. 1 adopted Resolution 528-25 to vacate two 5-foot interior utility/drainage easements between Lots 2 and 3, Block 4 of the Greenlink/Greenleaf subdivision (1523 and 1531 Augusta St.) to permit consolidation for Middleton Smiles Family Dentistry; city staff said the engineer recommends removing the interior-easement requirement from code.
The Middleton City Council unanimously adopted Resolution 528-25 on Oct. 1 to vacate two five-foot interior utility and drainage easements that run along the interior lot line between Lots 2 and 3, Block 4 of the Greenlink (also referenced in materials as Greenleaf) Subdivision at 1523 and 1531 Augusta Street. The change will allow the applicant, Middleton Smiles Family Dentistry, to consolidate the two lots and build a single dental office.
Planning staff presented the application as an administrative lot-consolidation request that nonetheless required council action because the final plat created the interior easements. Miss Stewart, planning staff, told the council that “even though we get rid of the lot line, we can't get rid of the easement, and you really can't or shouldn't build a building over an easement.” She said the city engineer has reviewed the situation and recommended amending the municipal code to remove the requirement for the interior five-foot easement on final plats because it “causes way more problems than it does good.”
Council members asked whether existing sidewalk or public access easements would be affected; staff clarified the public access easement and sidewalk are separate and will remain intact and that the proposed building would be set back so it would not be constructed over the easements. No members of the public signed up to speak during the public hearing.
A councilor moved to adopt Resolution 528-25; another councilor seconded the motion, the council voted in favor and the motion carried. Planning staff said there is no direct city cost to abandon the interior easements beyond processing the resolution and obtaining signatures.
The council's approval allows the lot consolidation to proceed administratively for the Middleton Smiles project; staff also signaled intent to return with a proposed code amendment to remove the interior-easement requirement from future final plats.
The council took the action at the meeting; next steps are administrative final-plat processing for the applicant and a code-change process if council pursues the engineering recommendation.
