A. When a request is made by a property owner, their agent, or assigned representative to have the City of Alamo consider, in essence, conveying a portion of its public right-of-way (ROW) to a private party, the following process shall be activated:
1. Any request for partial ROW conveyance shall be done in a completed and signed application form; said application form being provided by the City of Alamo. A property owner may attach an additional, but brief, narrative citing the reason(s) why they desire the surplus ROW, or other relevant data thereto. Due to several department directors needing to perform extensive file and field research of such requests, it is reasonable to levy a nominal application fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) to activate the examination process. This fee is non-refundable. It is further stated that the City shall not be responsible to reimburse any applicant for any incidental cost(s) incurred during any tenure of this process should he/she suspend, terminate, or cancel the process.
2. The written request shall then be fully examined by City Staff, including the Planning Director, the Public Works Director, the City Engineer, and the City Manager or his/her designee. The examination may include visiting with the inquiring party at the site, and may also include discussing the matter with other utility franchise holders that may have a subsurface interest in the subject ROW.
3. It is hereby declared that the City Manager or his/her designee shall be integral to the ROW Conveyance Process and Policy; and as such, is hereby delegated the authority to act justly on behalf of the Board of Commissioners to pursue the needed and negotiating tasks incidental to this policy's approved requests. It is further ordained that on all conveyance applications, the City Manager's office or his/her designee shall submit an annual report to the Board of Commissioners with Staff's specified justifications to either approve or deny the request. The report, reflecting full transparency and accountability, shall be provided within the first quarter of each calendar year at a regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners. If there are no requests for partial ROW conveyance in the previous reporting year, then Management shall so indicate this in his/her annual report.
4. Criteria that shall be considered by the City in the vetting process shall include, but not be limited to, the following: confirming that the subject property is indeed recorded and publicly dedicated right-of-way; location of any existing utility infrastructure; the likelihood of still needing the ROW for city services; the location of existing utility lines of legitimate franchise holders; or other similar or potential uses. Staff shall always be cognizant of what is in the city's best interests in such deliberations. In this regard, it is firmly noted that in no case shall any ROW be considered for conveyance if doing so will land-lock any adjoining properties; or severely constrain public access onto said adjoiners. Also, if the full ROW of a 'paper street' (a recorded street ROW but not paved/developed as such) is requested by only one of the adjoining property owners, the City shall first confer with the other adjoiner to ascertain their interest (or not) on possible conveyance. If there is an interest by the other adjoining party to purchase, then this may also be considered by the City of Alamo in its examination.
5. After City Staff has concluded their internal assessment and a consensus on the merits of the requested conveyance, the applicant shall be informed, in writing, of the City's verdict.
a. Not Favored; Right To Appeal: If the verdict is to 'not convey', then the applicant can accept the decision; or he/she may desire to appeal the matter to the Board of Commissioners. Any and all appeals shall be in writing with the applicant's justification as to why he/she feels that such a denial is un-just and would not jeopardize the city's best interests. The fee to file an appeal shall be a non-refundable fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00). Once a written and complete appeal is received, the matter will be presented to the Board of Commissioners for their review, assessment, and final action. If the Board of Commissioners sustains the appeal, the Board shall specify the conditions of conveyance. If the Board denies the appeal, the matter is closed. No denied appeal shall be reconsidered by the Board of Commissioners until twenty-four (24) consecutive months shall have first elapsed.
b. Favored: If the verdict by staff is 'to convey', then the following measures shall be conditions of all approved conveyances:
(1) The applicant shall be informed that the City's ROW is a (taxpayer) real estate asset to be purchased on a square footage basis. The selling price shall be thirty percent (30%) of the HCAD-appraised price/square foot of the applicants' adjoining property (improvements not factored-in). The property's real estate appraised value per square foot that will be used shall be identical as shown on the most prevailing Hidalgo County Appraisal District's (HCAD's) records. This thirty percent (30%) of the appraised value shall be the selling price, regardless if a utility easement, or other encumbrance, is conditionally imposed on the surplus ROW.
(2) The applicant shall be informed that if there are delinquent ad valorem city taxes (in arrears) applicable to his/her subject property wherein the surplus ROW tract would abut, then all due property taxes shall first be paid prior to any deed of conveyance is recorded. This required condition shall be expressed in the Application form; thus, attesting full disclosure and agreement by the applicant to abide thereby.
(3) The applicant shall privately engage a Registered Public Land Surveyor (RPLS) to provide a hard-copy survey map with accompanying signed/sealed metes and bounds description. The RPLS and the applicant shall meet with a duly authorized City Staff representative in the field to properly coordinate and confirm the extent of agreed conveyance.
(4) There will be legal fees incurred for correlating legal services during the transaction process. As such, these costs will be borne by the applicant. In this regard, the City Manager or his/her designee shall provide the applicant with an estimated cost for the City Attorney's service fees. This may be considered as an (initial) invoice. The applicant is to pre-pay for the city's legal services in their quest for requested conveyance; thus, the applicant shall pay the entire amount of the invoice prior to the city activating the next step, being sub-section 5 below. If this service fee is not pre-paid, the process shall be held in abeyance until full payment is received by certified check or money order. If no payment is received within one-hundred and twenty (120) calendar days from having received the estimated legal costs, then the matter will be officially 'closed'. Any desire to resurrect the same lapsed request shall require the applicant to start anew.
(5) Once the RPLS documents are provided to the City Manager's office in three (3) hard copies and one (1) electronic file format, they will be reviewed as to authenticity and accuracy, and in consultation with various department directors. If in order, then the City will prepare the final conveyance deed instrument. In promoting a streamlined process, the City Manager's Office is highly encouraged to prepare and use any administrative form(s) necessary to complete this conveyance process; and to structure same in the most economical way possible for all parties involved.
(6) In the conveyance deed instrument, it is hereby declared that the City of Alamo shall always have the inherent right to reserve most, if not all, of the property being conveyed as a public utility easement. Furthermore, other reasonable measures may also be imposed to retain and maximize the city's best interests; such measures may include, but not be limited to, a specified fence setback; a specified front setback (e.g., as to an open carport, etc.); not having a permanent structure thereon (as to residential occupancy); imposing indemnification unto the City for (non-living) structures; requiring hold harmless protection unto the City and its franchise holders to continue using the reserved easement but who may incidentally damage private improvements by needful maintenance and/or replacement of buried infrastructure, etc. In benefit to the applicant, the City of Alamo hereby exempts conveyed surplus ROW tracts from the subdivision process should said surplus tract only have minor non-occupancy structures, such as an open carport. However, should there ever be a circumstance where there will be a structure on the conveyed tract where part or all of it will include a living area, then the subdivision ordinance will be fully complied with prior to building permit issuance.
(7) Should surplus ROW be conveyed to an applicant who does not (yet) hold a clear title of his/her adjoining property, i.e., the property has a primary lien from a financial institution, the conveyed surplus ROW property shall revert immediately back to the City of Alamo, Texas once the foreclosure is completed. It is declared that any private structure(s) that may be existing on the City's re-gained right-of-way tract shall be the property of the City of Alamo as incidental collateral. The City of Alamo, through the City Manager's Office, may undertake reasonable and fair measures to convey said structures to others, inclusive of the new 'owner' of the foreclosed abutting property.
(8) In general, no surplus ROW tract shall be conveyed without an explicit legal provision of having a driveway access easement perpetually encumbered thereon.
(9) Once the deed instrument is administratively finalized, it will be provided to the applicant who shall be given ample opportunity to review it and/or forward it to his/her legal counsel. Once the applicant has satisfactorily vetted the deed instrument, it may be executed by the appropriate parties.
(10) Once the deed document is executed by the notarized signature(s), the City will hold the signed document until all pending city fees, and/or delinquent city taxes, if any, have been fully paid. This shall include recording fees, postage fees, any lingering reimbursement service fees, etc. Once the City is satisfied that all fees have been paid, the deed instrument shall be sent to the County of Hidalgo for recordation.
(Ord. 18-04-21, - -2021; amd. Ord. 77-1-24, 1-16-2024)