Middleton Council lowers water and sewer connection fees for proposed Starbucks, defers transportation fees to workshop

The Middleton City Council on Oct. 15 approved a one-time adjustment to connection fees for a proposed Starbucks at the Riverpointe development, reducing the water and sewer charges that developers had said made the project financially unworkable.

Council moved to bill the project at 1-inch connection rates rather than the 2-inch rates the city had applied to the developer’s permit. Under the motion the water connection will be billed at a 1-inch price point of $8,505.30 and the sewer connection at $28,500. The council specified that transportation impact fees would be handled separately at a later workshop.

The reduction follows a presentation from city staff comparing Middleton’s fees to neighboring communities and a series of comments from the developer and local brokers. Jeff Lennox, representing the applicant, said the application showed Middleton’s estimated 2-inch fees as about $22,169.47 for water and $78,000 for sewer, with a transportation fee estimate of roughly $66,474.19. Developer Travis Stroud of Northwest Development said, “this one-size-fits-all solution… it's kinda hard to swallow that 78,000,” arguing a 2-inch meter basis does not reflect actual commercial consumption for many businesses.

Multiple council members and staff noted why Middleton’s fees are high: the city needs to fund required capital work, including wastewater treatment improvements tied to EPA requirements. A council member said the fee schedule had been raised predominantly to avoid passing those costs to existing residents. City staff said some peer cities use flat fees or a per-EDU approach and that ACHD/MidStar schedules influence transportation charges.

Several council members supported a time-limited, project-specific adjustment to make the Starbucks site more competitive. Natalie Jones, a commercial broker, told council that having Starbucks as an anchor would help lease other storefronts in the development: “If Starbucks is anchoring that corner, I can get everybody.” Council members agreed to a follow-up workshop to comprehensively review impact and transportation fees across the city.

The roll call on the fee-adjustment motion recorded affirmative votes from Council President Krasick, Councilman O’Meara, Councilman Christianson and Councilman Murray, and the motion passed.

The council directed staff to schedule a workshop to analyze transportation impact fees and to bring back materials for a broader fee review so council can consider a long-term policy change rather than repeated ad hoc waivers. The decision reduces the immediate permit cost for the single Starbucks permit but leaves broader fee policy and future commercial incentives to the workshop and subsequent council action.