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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 07/06/2004 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 106. 2004, AMENDINGAGENDA ITEM SUMMARY FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL ITEM NUMBER: 19 DATE: July 6, 2004 STAFF: Cam McNair SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 106, 2004, Amending the City Code by the Addition of a New Section 23-115 Pertaining to Vacating Public Right-of-Way. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. FINANCIAL IMPACT Minimal. An application fee will be developed that will allow the City to recoup some of the City staff’s costs that are incurred in the processing of requests to vacate public rights-of-way (ROW). EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Requests for the City to vacate portions of its public right-of-way (ROW) are received with regular frequency. These requests are normally from private property owners or developers who want to convert portions of the public ROW to private use. An informal process has been in place to deal with such requests, but the increasing frequency (now averaging 1-2 per month) has prompted staff to create policy and procedure language to insure consistent responses to these requests. At present, the City Code is silent on this issue, and ROW vacations are handled in accordance with state law. Adding language to the City Code will clarify local policy and procedures, as well as reinforce state law (CRS 43-2-302). The proposed additions to the City Code will provide for an application process through the City Engineer’s office. ROW vacation requests will then be routed for comment to utilities, other City staff, emergency service providers, and affected property owners. Based upon the comments received, a recommendation from the City Engineer will be forwarded through the Director of Transportation Operations to the Executive Director of Transportation Services. Recommendations for approval of a ROW vacation will then be forwarded to City Council for approval. Decisions of denial will be returned to the applicant. An appeals process will be available in accordance with the existing provisions of the City Code (Chapter 2, Article VI). BACKGROUND Recent staff discussions regarding requests from developers and citizens to vacate existing public rights-of-way (ROW) have centered on the process currently in use and whether the vacation of July 6, 2004 -2- Item No. 19 public ROW is appropriate. It is important that a clear policy on ROW vacations is established in order to insure consistent and fair decisions when such requests are submitted. While the informal policy has been to generally discourage the vacation of public ROW for private use, there may be some instances when the vacations of ROW are appropriate and even desirable. However, policies and guidelines need to be established to help in the decision-making process when considering ROW vacation requests. Following are policy recommendations that will be helpful in making a determination to dispose of public ROW property. Policy for Vacation of Public Rights-of-Way (ROW) • It shall be the policy of the City to generally discourage the vacation of public rights-of-way when the vacated area is proposed solely for private use, and when the area is still beneficial to the public, or when there is no clear public benefit to be gained from the ROW vacation. • Property that is dedicated to the City as ROW has been so dedicated for public purposes. If the ROW is determined to no longer be needed for the public, it may be vacated. For example, if a street is realigned and excess ROW remains and is no longer needed for any public purpose, it may be vacated. Another example may be where ROW was dedicated by plat as part of a land use planning and development process, but the improvements were not constructed and the property subsequently needs to be reconfigured. Then the ROW no longer needed for public improvements may be vacated. • Vacation of public rights-of-way shall not interfere with the present and/or future needs of the City for maintaining and protecting the use and enjoyment of public areas by the general public and by service providers. • Property that has been dedicated to the public as ROW cannot be sold. It can only be vacated in accordance with State law. However, property that has been purchased fee simple for use as public ROW may be sold if the public no longer needs the property. • It is important to carefully consider whether property reserved for public use as ROW may be vacated. It is important to be as certain as possible that the vacated land will never be needed for public purposes. ROW Vacation Procedure • Only the City Council has the authority to vacate ROW. • All public ROW vacation requests must be submitted to the City Engineer, who will then route the requests to utility providers, other City staff, emergency services providers, and other property owners that may be affected by such vacation. Input from service providers and affected property owners will be considered when deciding whether to approve vacation requests. • Upon receipt of the input from service providers and affected property owners, the City Engineer will develop a recommendation for the Director of Transportation Operations and the Executive Director of Transportation Services. The Executive Director of Transportation July 6, 2004 -3- Item No. 19 Services will then either make a recommendation to the City Council for approval of the vacation, or will deny the vacation. The decision will be based upon the public’s present and future needs for the land in question, as well as upon the needs of affected property owners in the vicinity of the ROW requested for vacation. • If the Executive Director of Transportation Services recommends approval of the ROW vacation request, the application will be forwarded to City Council for vacation of the ROW by ordinance. • If the Executive Director of Transportation Services denies the ROW vacation request, then the applicant may appeal to the City Manager, who will be the final authority for reconsideration of the denial, in accordance with Chapter 2, Section VI of the Municipal Code. • For approved ROW vacations, the title to the vacated ROW shall vest in accordance with State law. Usually, the vacated property is split between abutting property owners, each receiving one-half of the vacated land, depending on the law and how the original ROW was dedicated. Determining who should get the vacated property is not the role of City staff. It is up to the abutting private party (or parties) to resolve ownership. Pros and Cons of Right-Of-Way Vacations Pros: • Vacation of public ROW allows citizens and developers to have additional land to make desired improvements or to enlarge their lot size. In established areas of the City’s core, this could help to promote infill development and re-development of aging facilities. • Vacation of ROW that is not needed could reduce the City’s costs of maintaining these properties, as well as reduce the City’s liability for injuries or damages sustained on those properties. • Vacation of public ROW puts these lands onto future tax roles. However, relatively small incremental land amounts will have little or no affect on assessed property values since the County typically assesses land based upon a size range. Overall impact to the tax rolls is considered to be small. Cons: • Vacation of public rights-of-way may prohibit or seriously deter the City from making future improvements should the need arise. When future improvements may become necessary, the City is most often obligated to purchase any lands needed to provide such improvements. Given the laws covering acquisition and condemnation, the costs of acquiring land will likely increase significantly over historic costs. • Vacation of public ROW, while maintaining such land as an easement, is often suggested as a compromise solution. However, this may make it more difficult (from a practical or political standpoint) for utility providers to access their facilities when they need to service those July 6, 2004 -4- Item No. 19 facilities. Property owners frequently build fences, sheds and other facilities on easements, sometimes making access more difficult for the maintenance of facilities within easement areas. • Vacation of public rights-of-way without assessing a cost for the value of the vacated land becomes essentially a gift, which directly benefits the abutting property owners. These owners are often many times removed from the original owners who dedicated the ROW. ORDINANCE NO. 106, 2004 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AMENDING THE CODE OF THE CITY BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 23-115 PERTAINING TO VACATING PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY WHEREAS, the City frequently receives requests to vacate portions of City public right-of- way, which requests typically are generated by private property owners or developers who want to convert portions of the public right-of-way to private use; and WHEREAS, heretofore, the City has only had an informal process for the handling of such requests; and WHEREAS, the Council has determined that the City Code should be amended to provide a process and criteria for handling requests for vacations of public right-of-way in order to ensure due process and consistent response to such requests; and WHEREAS, the Council has further determined that the addition of such Code provisions will clarify local policy and procedures, as well as reinforce the state statutory procedures contained in Section 43-2-302 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS that the Code of the City of Fort Collins be amended by the addition of a new Section 23- 115 to be entitled “Vacating Public Right-of-Way” to read as follows: Sec. 23-115. Vacating public right-of-way. (a) The City Council is authorized to vacate public right-of-way, provided that the City Council first finds, by ordinance, that the right-of-way being considered for vacation is no longer needed for any public purpose, and that it is in the public’s interest to vacate the same. (b) Any person desiring the vacation of public right-of-way shall make written application therefor to the City Engineer on the form prepared and provided by the City Engineer’s office. Supporting documentation such as land survey(s), legal descriptions, maps and other materials as determined necessary by the City Engineer to properly describe the property to be vacated, or to explain or provide justification for the request, shall be provided with the application. (c) The applicant for a right-of-way vacation shall remit to the city a nonrefundable application fee in such amount as may be established by the City Manager pursuant to Chapter 7.5, Article I of this Code. (d) The City Engineer shall route the vacation request to, and solicit comments from, potentially affected utility agencies, city staff, emergency service providers and affected property owners in the vicinity of the right-of-way being proposed for vacation. Upon receipt of such information from potentially affected interests, the City Engineer shall develop a recommendation for approval or denial, and shall submit such recommendation to the Director of Transportation Services. (e) Recommendations of the Director of Transportation Services for approval of a right-of-way vacation shall be forwarded to City Council for its consideration of action by ordinance to vacate the right-of-way. Decisions of the Director of Transportation Services for denial of a right-of-way vacation request shall be delivered in writing to the applicant and may be appealed to the City Manager pursuant to the provisions contained in Chapter 2, Article VI of the Code. (f) For approved right-of-way vacations, the title to the vacated right-of-way shall vest in accordance with Section 43-2-302, C.R.S. Introduced and considered favorably on first reading and ordered published this 6th day of July, A.D. 2004, and to be presented for final passage on the 20th day of July, A.D. 2004. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading this 20th day of July, A.D. 2004. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk