MIDDLETON (WKOW) — Health officials have fined a Middleton coffee shop for violating Dane County’s mask order as the latest step in a polarizing standoff.

Public Health Madison Dane County issued a citation to Helbachs Coffee Roasters + Kitchen for allegedly violating the current public health order that includes a mandate masks be worn inside all private and public buildings.

The order, Emergency Order #8, is designed to curtail the spread of the coronavirus inside the county.

A spokesperson for the health agency confirmed the citation in an email to 27 News Tuesday.

The $263.50 fine is the standard amount for violating the order outside of Madison.

The spokesperson said that over the previous week, Public Health Madison and Dane County received 390 compliance complaints, 180 of those against Helbachs.

The controversy around the coffee shop began July 13, the day Dane County’s mask mandate went into effect. A viral social media post circulated purporting to show a sign posted at Helbachs saying “This is a Mask Free Zone. Please remove mask before entering.”

Over the following days protesters demonstrated outside the business in groups of ones and twos. On July 15, Madison Assistant Attorney Marci Paulsen said the coffee shop’s owners called police on herself and a public health inspector after the pair tried to “educate” the people inside about the order.

Middleton police arrived and allowed the officials to carry on. Police said they would return to the business to find out if it was still failing to comply with the public health order.

Public Health Madison and Dane County is the agency in charge of enforcing its own mask mandate.