A homeowner in Midway City calls a pool contractor, picks a shape, and schedules a permit review. The plan comes back with a flag: part of the proposed pool sits inside a recorded easement. The homeowner has never heard of the agency that holds it. They assumed their sewer bill came from Westminster, or maybe the county. It came from neither. It came from the Midway City Sanitary District, a special district that has run the sewers and the trash cans here since 1939, and that owns a real, mapped strip of ground running through a lot of backyards in this neighborhood.
That confusion is not a fluke. Midway City is unincorporated. There is no city hall to call, no single planning counter where every question gets answered. If you are getting ready to sell, build a pool, or add an ADU here, you are dealing with at least two separate agencies that are not each other, and neither one is the city government you'd expect in Westminster or Fountain Valley next door.
The District Nobody Names Until the Permit Stalls
The Midway City Sanitary District, known as MCSD, was formed in January 1939 under the state's Sanitary District Act, with its first board meeting held at the fire hall in Midway City. It still runs both the sewer system and the trash service for the community, which makes it unusual: MCSD is the only in-house trash collection agency left in Orange County. Every other city or district in the county has contracted that work out. Here, the district's own crews and containers handle it.
MCSD's service territory covers about 10.4 square miles across Westminster and unincorporated Midway City, with a combined service population the district's own planning documents put at roughly 103,000. The system underneath that territory is not small either: about 174 miles of gravity sewer main, ranging from 8 to 18 inches in diameter, moved along in part by four lift stations that push wastewater from low-lying stretches up to where it can flow by gravity again.
None of that shows up on a listing sheet. It shows up the first time someone tries to build something.
What the District Physically Owns on Your Lot
Where a public sewer line crosses private property, MCSD holds an easement, typically a 10-foot-wide strip recorded at the Orange County Recorder's office. The homeowner still owns the land. What they've given up is the right to build over or obstruct that strip, because the district needs access to maintain the line running through it.
This is the detail that catches people mid-project. A pool, a room addition, an ADU, even a fence line, can run straight into a recorded easement that was never front of mind at purchase because it doesn't come up until a contractor pulls the plot plan. It's the kind of thing a title report will show if you know to look, but it rarely gets flagged in casual conversation about a listing.
Two Agencies, Two Very Different Jobs
Because Midway City has no city planning department, the structural side of any project runs through the county instead. Here's the split as it actually works for a resident trying to get something built:
| Question | Who Actually Handles It |
|---|---|
| Is my proposed addition, pool, or ADU on an easement? | Midway City Sanitary District |
| Do I need a building or grading permit for the structure itself? | OC Development Services / OC Public Works |
| Who bills me for sewer and trash service? | Midway City Sanitary District |
| Who approves work in the public right-of-way in front of my house? | OC Public Works |
OC Development Services handles planning and building permits for private projects across the county's unincorporated areas, which is exactly what Midway City is. So a homeowner here is routinely working two separate counters at once: one for what's under the ground, one for what gets built on top of it. Neither one is a number you'd find by searching for "Westminster building department."
The Paper Trail a Seller Shouldn't Skip
A few pieces of the district's own recent activity are worth knowing before you list.
MCSD just finished a full system inspection. In 2024 the district contracted for closed-circuit television inspection of its entire gravity sewer network, covering 851,187 feet of main and 3,216 manholes, evaluated against NASSCO industry standards. That work wrapped up in January 2025. For a buyer asking how old infrastructure gets checked in an unincorporated pocket like this one, the answer is current: the whole system has been camera-inspected within roughly the last two years.
The district also adopted new wastewater capacity fees this year, under Resolution No. 2026-04, effective June 6, 2026. Capacity fees are what a district charges when a property adds fixtures or a new unit that increases demand on the sewer system, the kind of charge that shows up when someone permits an ADU or a significant addition. If you're pricing out a project that started before this summer, the cost assumptions from even a year ago may not match what a permit costs today.
One more thing worth checking before closing: the sewer and trash charge appears as its own separate line on the Orange County Assessor's property tax statement, distinct from the general property tax line. Buyers comparing a Midway City tax bill against a neighboring Westminster or Fountain Valley bill sometimes assume a discrepancy is an error. It usually isn't. It's a different agency billing for a different service, itemized the way special districts in California are required to itemize.
The Container Question Nobody Asks Until Moving Day
Here's a smaller detail that still causes real friction at move-out. MCSD's trash and recycling containers are assigned to the address, not the resident, and each one carries a serial number tied to that assignment. When a resident moves, even to another home within Midway City or Westminster, the containers stay behind for the next occupant. Sellers who pack up their bins along with everything else are technically taking district property that belongs with the house.
It's a minor point, but it's exactly the kind of thing that generates an awkward call two weeks after closing.
Before You List or Build: A Short Checklist
- Pull a plot plan or recent survey and check it against MCSD's easement records before finalizing pool, addition, or ADU plans
- If your project adds living space or fixtures, ask MCSD directly whether the June 2026 capacity fee schedule applies to your permit
- Confirm your trash and recycling containers, along with their serial numbers, are staying with the property at sale
- Review your property tax statement's sewer and solid waste line item so it doesn't get miscategorized as a special assessment during buyer due diligence
- For any structural permit, plan on two separate points of contact: MCSD for the utility side, OC Development Services for the building side
A Few Direct Questions
Does the sewer easement show up in a standard title report? It should, since it's recorded at the Orange County Recorder's office, but it's worth asking your title company to specifically confirm the easement location relative to any planned structure, rather than assuming a general title search will flag the conflict clearly enough for a contractor to act on.
Can I call Westminster City Hall about my sewer service if I live in Midway City proper? No. Westminster and unincorporated Midway City share the same sanitary district, but the district, not either city government, is who handles service, billing, and easement questions for both.
Do MCSD's rates change often? The district reviews and republishes its residential sewer and solid waste rate schedule each year, with the most recent version taking effect July 1, 2026. If you're budgeting off an old rate sheet, it's worth checking the current one before you finalize numbers for a listing or a remodel.
Midway City rewards buyers and sellers who do their homework on the parts of the property that never show up in photos. If you're weighing a sale, an ADU, or a major addition here and want someone who already knows which counter to call first, the Lily Campbell Team can walk you through it before the permit stalls, not after.
