(A) Petition to Vacate; filing fee
(1) Any person who owns real estate abutting on any street or alley within the City and who desires to have vacated that street or alley, or part thereof, shall file with the City Clerk a petition on oath setting forth at least the following information:
(a) The petitioner’s name and residence address;
(b) The street address and legal description of the petitioner’s real estate abutting on the street or alley, or part thereof, which is the subject matter of the petition;
(c) The metes and bounds legal description of the street or alley, or part thereof, sought to be vacated;
(d) The names and residence addresses of all persons and entities entitled to notice of the public hearing under subsection (B) below;
(e) The identity of the owners of record of all parcels of real estate, or the owner or owners of record of a particular parcel or parcels of real estate, abutting on the street or alley, or part thereof, sought to be vacated, who shall pay to the City the compensation required under this Section, and the proportions, if any, in which such compensation shall be paid by more than one owner;
(f) A copy of Sidwell’s (or similar) map of the street or alley, or part thereof, sought to be vacated is located.
(2) No such petition shall be accepted for filing unless it is accompanied by a non-refundable filing fee of $100 payable to the City.
(B) Hearing notice; procedure.
(1) The Petition to Vacate shall be set for a public hearing before the Public Works Committee of the City Council at a date not less than 30 and not more than 60 days after the petition is filed. Not less than ten days before the date of the public hearing, the Public Works Department of the City shall notify in writing each owner of record real estate abutting on the street or alley, or part thereof, sought to be vacated and each owner of record real estate abutting on any part of the same street or alley which is situated in the same city block but which does not abut the street or alley, or part thereof, enclosing with the notice a true copy of the Petition to Vacate. Failure of any person to receive such notice and failure of the Public Works Department to notify any person or entity, the identity of which was not disclosed in the petition, or the identity or address of which was inaccurately disclosed in the petition, shall not affect the validity of any action taken by the City Council on the petition. The Public Works Department shall provide to the Public Works Committee a certificate of service of such notice showing the names and addresses of all persons and entities to whom notice was sent, and the date on which such notice was deposited in the U.S. Mail, certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid.
(2) Not less than ten days before the date of the public hearing, the Public Works Department of the City shall post a sign on the petitioner’s property abutting the street or alley, or part thereof, sought to be vacated stating that the same is subject of a petition to vacate.
(3) At the public hearing all interested persons shall be heard concerning the proposal for Vacation. It shall not be grounds for objection to the proposed Vacation that its approval may cause the objector some inconvenience, so long as the objector has a reasonably direct means of access to his or her property from a public street or highway. By motion, the Committee shall recommend approval or disapproval of the petition to the City Council.
(C) Valuation.
(1) Prior to the public hearing, the Public Works Department shall ascertain the value of the street or alley, or part thereof, sought to be vacated according to the following formula:
The aggregate square footage of the street or alley, or part thereof, sought to be vacated shall be multiplied by the sum of $0.40, and the product shall be reported to the petitioner and the City Council and shall be the amount of compensation paid to the City in consideration of the proposed vacation.
(2) A written report of the value so ascertained shall be made to the Public Works Committee and to the petitioner prior to the public hearing. For purposes of this Section, the term “ASSESSED VALUATION” shall mean the most recent real estate tax assessed valuation of the property in question (for land only, excluding improvements) as shown by the Vermilion County Supervisor of Assessment’s records, without reduction for any exemptions granted by law for real estate tax assessment purposes. In the event that any parcel abutting on any street or alley or part thereof shall be exempt from real estate taxation, then that parcel shall be excluded for purposes of calculations under the above formula. The value so ascertained and reported shall be the compensation payable to the City in consideration of such proposed Vacation.
(D) Verification of public service facilities. Prior to the public hearing, the Public Works Department shall verify the presence of any utilities in the street or alley, or part thereof, sought to be vacated, and shall report the same to the Public Works Committee and to the petitioner prior to such hearing. If there are any public service facilities located therein, the ordinance shall reserve to the City or to the public utility, as the case may be, such property, rights-of-way and easements as may be necessary or desirable for continuing public services by means of such facilities and for maintenance, renewal and reconstruction thereof.
(E) Action by City Council. At its next regularly scheduled meeting following the public hearing, the City Council shall consider the Petition to Vacate. If the City Council determines that the public interest will be subserved by vacating such street or alley, or part thereof, it may do so by ordinance passed by the affirmative vote of a majority of the City Council. No ordinance so passed shall be effective until it is recorded in the Recorder’s Office of Vermilion County, Illinois.
(F) Compensation; payment. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (E) above, the City Council shall not consider for action any Petition for Vacation hereunder until the first regular meeting of the City Council which occurs after the public hearing and after the compensation required under this Section has been deposited with the City Clerk. In the event the City Council denies the petition, such deposit shall be returned to the petitioner within seven days of the denial. In the event the City Council approves the petition, the City Clerk shall transfer to the general fund of the City the amount of compensation so deposited, and the City Clerk shall cause the ordinance to be recorded.
(G) Effect of Vacation. Except in cases where the deed or other instrument dedicating a street or alley, or part thereof, has expressly provided for a specific devolution of the title thereto upon the abandonment or Vacation thereof, whenever any street or alley, or part thereof, is vacated under this Section:
(1) If the ordinance of Vacation provides that only the owner or owners of one particular parcel of abutting real estate shall pay the compensation required under this Section, then the owner or owners of the particular parcel shall acquire title to the entire street or alley, or part thereof, so vacated; or,
(2) If the ordinance of Vacation does not so provide, then the title to the land included within the street or alley, or part thereof, so vacated, vests in the then owners of the land abutting thereon, in the same proportions and to the same extent as though the street or alley had been dedicated by a common law plat (as distinguished from a statutory plat) and as though the fee of the street or alley had been acquired by the owners as a part of the land abutting on the street or alley.
(Ord. 8006, passed 1-19-99; Am. Ord. 8577, passed 3-18-08; Am. Ord. 8684, passed 1-5-10)