Ord 91-107
ORDINANCE NO.
91-107
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF FEDERAL WAY, WASHINGTON, ESTABLISHING
STREET VACATION PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FEDERAL WAY, WASHINGTON,
DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
section 1.
A new Chapter 13 is added to the City of
Federal way Municipal Code as follows:
section:
13.1
13.2
13.3
13.4
13.5
13.6
13.7
13.8
13.9
13.10
13.11
Chapter 13
STREET VACATION PROCEDURE
Definition
Owners of private property--Sufficient
signature determination.
Petition--Right to make.
Petition--Contents--Signature.
Petition--Filing fee.
Petition--Hearing--Time fixed.
Petition--withdrawal.
Hearing--Posting/Mailing notice.
Staff Report/Recommendation.
Hearing--Decision.
Granting--Conditions.
13.1
Definition.
The term "owner of an interest in real
estate" means the owners of fee title, mortgagors and
contract vendees.
13.2
Owners of private property--Sufficient siqnature
determination.
For
the
of
determining
the
purpose
sufficiency of signatures of owners of private property
on the petition or consent to vacate, the following rules
shall govern:
A.
In the case of mortgaged property, the signature
of the mortgagor shall be sufficient.
COpy
B.
In the case of property subject to a contract of
purchase,
the signatures of the contract vendor and
vendee shall be required.
c.
In the case of ownership by corporation, the
signature of any officer authorized by the bylaws or
resolution of the board of directors shall be sufficient
when evidenced by a copy of the bylaws of the resolution,
certified by the secretary of the corporation, granting
such authority.
D.
In the case of property owned by the estate of
a decedent or incompetent,
the signature of the duly
qualified administrator or executor or guardian shall be
equi valent to the signature of the owner of the property.
13.3
Petition--Riqht to Make.
The owners of an interest
in any real estate abutting upon any street or alley may
petition the city council to vacate the street or alley
or any portion thereof, or the City Council may itself
initiate such vacation procedures by resolution.
13.4
Petition--contents--Siqnature.
The petition shall
describe the street or alley or a portion thereof desired
to be vacated and shall be signed by owners of more than
two-thirds of the private property abutting upon the part
of the street or alley sought to be vacated.
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13.5 Petition--Filinq Fee.
The petition properly signed
shall be filed with the City Clerk upon payment of a
filing fee, which shall be paid into the general fund of
the City to aid in defraying of expenses incurred by the
city in checking the sufficiency of such petition and
investigating or reporting the facts.
The amount of the
fee shall be determined as per Fee Resolution, on file
with the City Clerk.
In the event that the filing and other applicable fees,
computed
on
petitioner's
estimate,
proves
to
be
insufficient, the balance of the fee shall be paid by the
petitioner prior to the issuance of any required public
notices.
13.6
Petition--Hearinq--Time Fixed.
A.
Petition Method.
If signed by the owners of
more than two-thirds of the property abutting the portion
of the street or alley to be vacated,
at a regular
Council meeting following the filing of such petition,
the Council, by resolution,
shall fix a time when the
petition will be heard and determined, which time shall
not be more than 60 days nor less than 20 days after the
date of passage of such resolution.
B.
Resolution Method.
In cases where vacation is
initiated by City Council resolution,
the resolution
shall include the date for a hearing on the vacation.
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13.7
Petition--Withdrawal.
If a petition is withdrawn
at anytime, the fee shall be calculated upon the costs of
the actual work done to date on the street vacation
processing, as reflected on street Vacation Filing Fee
Chart on file with the City Clerk.
13.8
Hearinq--Postinq/Mailinq Notice.
A.
Petition Method.
1.
At least twenty (20)
days prior to the
hearing, the City Clerk shall issue a written
notice which shall be posted as follows:
a.
In three of the most public places
in the city and,
b.
On a conspicuous place on a portion
of
the
street
or
alley
to
be
vacated.
The notice shall contain a statement that a petition
requesting vacation has been filed or a resolution passed
to vacate the portion described in the notice, along with
a statement of the time and place set for the hearing on
the matter.
2.
Notice of the Public Hearing will
also be
mailed to all property owners within 300 feet of
the
area
to
be
vacated.
Ownership
shall
be
determined as shown on the rolls of the County
Assessor and mailed to the address shown thereon.
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B.
Resolution Method--Additional Notice.
In all
cases where the proceeding is initiated by city Council
resolution, in addition to the above required notice, a
similar notice shall be sent by mail at least fifteen
days before the hearing to each owner of any property
abutting upon any part of the portion of the street or
alley
sought
to
be
vacated.
Ownership
shall
be
determined as shown on the rolls of the County Treasurer,
and directed to the address shown thereon.
C.
Resolution Method--Divestiture of Jurisdiction
to Proceed.
If 50 percent or more of the abutting
property owners file written objections to the proposed
vacation with the Clerk, prior to the time of hearing,
the City shall not proceed with the resolution.
13 .9
staff Report/Recommendation.
Prior to the public
hearing date,
the city
of
Federal Way Public Works
Department
shall
prepare
a
staff
Report
and
Recommendation on the Petition to Vacate street.
The
staff Report shall include comments from all affected
city departments and other agencies including:
fire
department,
water
and
sewer,
police,
and
utility
agencies.
The
Recommendation
shall
also
include
conditions or limitations that Staff feels is necessary
and proper to preserve any allowable use or benefit, to
be
imposed as a condition
of granting the vacation
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application.
The staff Report shall be made available to
all those persons entitled to notice pursuant to 13.8 of
this Chapter, at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing
date.
13 .10
Hearinq--Decision.
A Public Hearing on proposed
vacation shall be held before the city Council. At the
time of the hearing on the vacation, or at such time as
the same may be continued by the city council, the matter
shall be considered and those desiring to speak on the
vacation shall be heard.
Following the hearing,
the
council
shall
decide
whether
to
grant
or
deny
the
petition for vacation.
Such determination shall include,
but not be limited to:
1)
Compliance with the following criteria:
A.
The vacation provides a public benefit or is for
a public benefit.
The benefit may include economic or
business support the community as a whole derives from
the abutting property owner.
B.
The street,
alley or portion thereof is no
longer required for public use.
C.
The vacation does not abut a body of water, such
as a river,
lake, or salt water, except for a public
purpose such as a park or port facility and which reverts
to a public authority;
and
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2)
consideration of the following criteria:
The vacation meets the intent of the City's
A.
Comprehensive Plan's general purposes and objectives.
B.
The vacation provides for an exchange of public
property in the public interest.
c.
Whether conditions may so change in the future
exists.
as to provide a greater use or need than presently
made
D.
Whether objections to the proposed vacation are
by
private
of
of
(exclusive
petitioners) abutting the same.
property
development
owners
E.
The vacation would not interfere with future
or
to
existing
or
future
other
access
developments.
13 .11
determine
Grantinq--Conditions.
If the City Council shall
to grant the
street vacation
or any part
thereof, the Council shall direct the city Attorney to
prepare an ordinance vacating the street or portion
thereof,
Council
which such conditions or limitations as the
deems
and
to
necessary
proper
preserve
any
desired public use or benefit, as follows:
A.
Easements.
If the city Council deems that to
grant the vacation shall be to the public's interest and
advantage, the Council may, by ordinance, vacate such
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street, alley or part thereof, reserving to the City or
public utility, an easement or the right to exercise and
grant easements in respect to the vacated land for the
construction, repair and maintenance of public utilities
and services and may impose such other conditions or
limitations as it deems necessary and proper to preserve
any desired public use or benefit.
B.
Rededication.
If the Council finds that future
development of undeveloped land abutting such street or
alley may alter or increase need or public use in such
strip, such vacation may be granted only upon execution
of
a
covenant
running
with
such
abutting
land
to
rededicate such a portion upon declaration of public use
and necessity by the Council.
C.
Waterfront.
The city shall not be authorized or
have authority to vacate such street, or alley, or any
parts thereof if any portion thereof abuts on any body of
water unless such vacation be sought to enable the city
to acquire the property for port purposes, boat moorage
or launching sites, park, viewpoint, recreational,
or
educational purposes, or other public uses.
This proviso
shall not apply to industrial zoned property.
D.
Compensation.
Following Council determination
to grant the street vacation, any ordinance granting a
street vacation or portion thereof shall not be presented
to Council for passage until the petitioners have paid to
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the city an amount that does not exceed one-half the
appraisal value of the area vacated, except when:
1.
The street was purchased using public funds, in
which case the full appraised value is payable to
the city; or
2.
A property beneficial to the public, of equal
for greater value is exchanged for the area to be
vacated.
E.
Value Determination.
The value of the area to
be
vacated
shall
be
determined
by
submittal
of
an
appraisal of the subject property acceptable to the City.
The city additionally reserves the right to obtain an
independent appraisal or evaluation, which fees shall
also be paid by the applicant.
F.
Recordinq.
Upon its effective date, a certified
copy of the ordinance granting vacation shall be recorded
by the City Clerk in the office of the King County
Department of Records and Elections.
section 3.
Severabilitv.
If any section,
sentence,
clause or phrase of this ordinance should be held to be invalid or
unconstitutional
by
a
court
of
competent
jurisdiction,
such
invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or
constitutionality of any other section, sentence, clause or phrase
of this ordinance.
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section 4.
Effective Date.
This ordinance shall be
effective five (5) days after the date of publishing of an approved
summary consisting of the title hereto.
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Federal Way
this
3rd
day of
September
, 1991.
CITY OF FEDERAL WAY
(jJ ¡J ,it" {;: ~tf
MAYOR, DEBRA ERTE
;vr~T :
/ \ J
/ "
CMC
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
\m~~A$k;;: DRI'COU
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: August 14, 1991
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: September 3, 1991
PUBLI SHED: September 6, 1991
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 11, 1991
ORDINANCE NO. 91-107
LA\EF\ORD\91-0030.CAL
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