From
Ron McCuller
Title
Ordinance amending the Unified Development Code, Article 22, "Fee Schedule," Section 22.2.3.8 "Vacating fees," to add a fee of $25 for abandonment of unused alleyways to adjacent property owners in residential areas that are no longer being used by utility companies or private individuals for existing rear entry access to their property
Presenter
Ron McCuller, Public Works Director
Recommended Action
Approve
Analysis
There are a number of unused alleys in the City that are overgrown with large trees and underbrush and subject to deposition of trash,cut brush, animal waste, lawn cuttings and other debris. By ordinance, it is the adjacent property owner's responsibility to maintain these areas. However, many of these have been neglected so many years that trees (mostly hackberries) are very large and fall on fences with some regularity.
A couple of legislative sessions ago, we proposed and successfully passed a state statute that allows the City to abandon such properties to the adjacent owner without payment of the appraised value. I believed that if the expense can be lowered to these owners, these areas can be more easily acquired and incorporated as a part of the yard, which would facilitate maintenance. However, there still remain a couple of obstacles to the owners doing this. 1) the City's vacating fee is $500 for a right-of-way and $100 for an easement abandonment. I propose adding a fee of $25 for easement and right-of-way abandonment for adjacent property owners to acquire unused alleyways. 2) The cost to survey the property which depending upon the size will cost several hundred dollars. While we cannot control this cost, perhaps the surveyors will offer a discount if more than one property on the same block is surveyed at the same time. Public Works will maintain a list of at least three surveyors willing to do small jobs such as this. The price will be between the owner and the surveyor.
Financial Considerati...
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