HOW TO REQUEST THE VACATION
OF STREETS, ALLEYS AND SUBDIVISIONS
What is the "vacation"
of a street, alley or subdivision? A "vacation"
is the legal process whereby the City relinquishes the public's
interest in a street, alley or subdivision. When a street is created,
the owner of the land gives the public the right to drive on that
street and when the street is vacated it becomes private property
again. The vacation process is the only method available to eliminate
a street, alley or subdivision. The purpose of this pamphlet is
to assist you by outlining the general procedure for a vacation
and answering some general questions. The following steps
will guide you through the vacation process. Staff is available
at any point during the vacation process to assist you or your representative
with any questions or concerns you might have.
FIRST
STEP: INITIAL CONTACT
You may contact the Zoning and Subdivision
Services Division of the Planning and Development Department, First
Floor, Busch Municipal Building, 840 Boonville, or call (417) 864-1611
for general information. The staff can inform you of the deadlines
and processing time involved; application requirements; processing
fees required; any requirements that may be made, and can give you
an initial impression regarding the feasibility of your request.
A list of the application
deadlines and processing times is available from Zoning
and Subdivision Services.
You are encouraged to contact the
Public Works Department and City Utilities at this stage to find
out any requirements they may have.
SECOND
STEP: THE APPLICATION
The application
form for a vacation is called the "Petition and Consent
to Vacate" form. This form is available from Zoning and Subdivision
Services. To complete the first page of the Petition and
Consent to Vacate form, please circle whether this is a vacation
of a street, alley or subdivision; insert the legal description
of the street, alley or subdivision to be vacated or attach it on
a separate sheet; list the reasons why the vacation should be approved,
and list all the owners whose property touches the street or alley
to be vacated. If this is a vacation of a subdivision, you must
attach a list of all the property owners within the subdivision
certified by an attorney or a title company. You may use the back
of the form or attach additional pages if necessary. List a name,
address and phone number of one person to be contacted with all
the information concerning the case and to receive the bill for
the advertising. The second page of the Petition and Consent
to Vacate form must be signed by the owners of at least two-thirds
of the footage bordering the street or alley to be vacated (all
the property owners within a subdivision to be vacated must sign
this page if this request is to vacate a subdivision). The owners
should sign their names exactly as they appear on their property
deed, print their names and addresses under their signatures, and
list the legal description of the property they own. You may use
the back of the form or attach additional pages, if necessary. A
notary public must witness each signature and must notarize the
form.
Bring the completed, signed Petition and Consent to
Vacate form to the Zoning and Subdivision Services office along
with a $591.00 non-refundable processing fee.
THIRD
STEP: STAFF REVIEW
During the processing of your application,
Public Works, City Utilities, the Police Department and the Fire
Department will be contacted to determine if there are any public
utilities located within the area to be vacated, if there are any
other problems involved in the vacation, or if there is a reason
why the street or alley should not be vacated. The contact person
listed on the Petition and Consent to Vacate form will be contacted
if the property owners must give the City any easements (for utilities,
telephone lines, sanitary sewers, storm sewers, access, etc.) or
if there are any problems with the vacation. If any easements
are required, the applicant(s) should get the easements completed
and returned to Zoning and Subdivision Services before the Commission
meeting. Otherwise, there will be a delay in the hearing and approval.
Zoning and Subdivision Services will notify all the property owners
who have property adjacent to the property requested to be vacated
(or all of the property owners within the subdivision requested
to be vacated) of the public hearing before the Planning and Zoning
Commission. The occupants of all property within 300 feet of the
area to be vacated will also be notified. Vacations must
be advertised in the Springfield News-Leader for three consecutive
weeks before the public hearing at the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Zoning and Subdivision Services will prepare the advertising and
take it to the paper. The newspaper will bill the applicant for
the actual cost of the advertising. The cost of the advertising
depends on the size of the legal description. Zoning and
Subdivision Services staff will prepare a staff report to the Planning
and Zoning Commission that will contain the staff recommendation
to the Commission. The contact person listed on the Petition and
Consent to Vacate form will be notified of the meeting and will
receive a copy of the staff report the week prior to the Planning
and Zoning Commission meeting.
FOURTH
STEP: THE PUBLIC HEARING
The Commission will hold a public
hearing on the vacation and will hear all persons wishing to speak,
either in favor of or in opposition to the vacation. You or your
representative should attend the Planning
and Zoning Commission meeting. The Commission might not
vote on your request to vacate if they have questions and you are
not there to answer them.
Before a vacation can be approved,
the Commission is required to find that each of the following requirements
are met: 
All property owners adjacent to the area to be vacated or within
the subdivision to be vacated have access to another street;
The owners of two-thirds of the property adjacent to the street
or alley, or all the property owners within the subdivision to be
vacated, have given their consent to the vacation;
That the retention of the street, alley, or subdivision serves no
useful purpose; and
That the vacation will not affect the ability to use utilities,
public or private.
In most cases the Commission will vote
on the vacation on the same night as the public hearing. However,
very complicated or controversial cases may be tabled for further
study. Also, if any easements are required and the applicant has
not submitted the completed easements by the meeting date, the vacation
will be tabled by the Commission. The Planning and Zoning Commission
can table items for 30 days. The applicant may request that the
vacation be tabled for up to 180 days. At the end of that time,
if the required easements have not been granted to the City , the
vacation will be automatically denied. If the Planning and
Zoning Commission approves the vacation and if all required easements
have been recorded, the street, alley or subdivision can be considered
vacated. Zoning and Subdivision Services will prepare and record
a resolution which states that the street, alley or subdivision
is now vacated. If the Planning and Zoning Commission denies
the vacation, the applicant(s) may appeal the decision to the City
Council by giving Zoning and Subdivision Services a letter within
15 days of the Commission's decision, requesting such action. The
contact person listed on the Petition and Consent to Vacate form
will be notified by mail of the date and time of the City Council
meeting. If the City Council approves the vacation, the City Clerk's
office will record a copy of the ordinance vacating the street,
alley or subdivision. If you have any questions or need additional
information, please contact the Zoning and Subdivision Services
office at 864-1611 or in person at the first floor of the Busch
Municipal Building, 840 Boonville Avenue, between 8:00 A.M. and
5:00 P.M., Monday through Friday.
Last Updated 1/2008 Back
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