167.07 VACATION OF CITY STREETS, ALLEYS OR OTHER PUBLIC PROPERTY - PRIVATE PETITIONER.

   (a)    All requests for the vacation of any City street, alley or other public property shall be commenced by:

      (1)    Submitting a petition to Council which shall request such vacation, generally describe the property sought to be vacated, and briefly state the reason and purpose for requesting the vacation; and

      (2)    Paying to the City, through the Department of Finance, a nonrefundable fee of three hundred dollars ($300.00).

   (b)   Upon receipt of the petition and payment of the three-hundred dollar ($300.00) fee, the City Clerk shall cause the petition to be placed upon the Council agenda. If Council wishes to consider the petition, it shall receive the petition and refer it to the City Planning Commission for review and public hearing upon the petitioner's request for vacation.

   (c)    Upon the Planning Commission's receipt of the vacation petition, the Planning Department shall:

      (1)    Investigate and determine whether the property is needed for a public purpose;

      (2)    Determine whether an easement or other interest should be retained by the City, or obtained or created by the City;

      (3)    Submit a written report to the Planning Commission setting forth its findings; and

      (4)    Schedule a public hearing before the Planning Commission and at least ten (10) days prior to such hearing notify in writing all property owners within 200 feet of the affected property of the date, time and place of the public hearing to be held before the Planning Commission. Such notice shall generally set forth the vacation being sought and inform the recipient that failure to appear at the public hearing to voice any objection to the vacation, or to otherwise object in writing to the Planning Commission, shall be considered agreement with the proposed vacation.

   (d)    At the public hearing before the Planning Commission, the Commission shall consider the following:

      (1)    Whether the property sought to be vacated continues to have a public use or purpose, such as, but not limited to, alternate property access, refuse collection or police and fire protection, which would be impaired by granting the request for vacation;

      (2)    Whether other types of action such as, but not limited to, granting an encroachment or narrowing the public property currently being used, will accommodate the purpose of the vacation as contained in the petition without the need for a vacation and, if so, consider such action in lieu of a vacation;

      (3)    Whether the City, any franchisee or any other utility company, with or without the benefit of an easement, has any facilities located on, under, above, across or through the property proposed to be vacated which would be impaired or access to which would be unreasonably diminished by the vacation; and

      (4)    Whether access to abutting private property desired to be preserved by the owner(s) would be lost by the vacation.

   (e)    At the conclusion of the public hearing before the Planning Commission, the Commission shall vote upon a recommendation for or against the vacation either as it was proposed or in such other form as the Commission deems appropriate, and it shall further recommend whether easements for municipal purposes shall be retained over the property proposed to be vacated.

   (f)    The recommendation of the Planning Commission shall then be submitted to Council by the City Manager and may include additional comments or recommendations of the City Administration.

   (g)    If upon the recommendation of the Planning Commission and the City Manager, Council wishes to proceed with all or any portion of the proposed vacation, Council shall adopt a resolution declaring the intention to vacate the property.

   (h)    The appraised value of the property to be vacated shall be based upon the square footage of the property, comparable sale of real estate in the neighborhood or such other method of valuation as is generally accepted as reliable in the field of real estate appraisal. Appraisals shall be conducted at the petitioner's expense. Appraisers shall be selected by the City from list and shall comply with all of the following conditions and qualifications:

      (1)    Possess the skill, experience and education in appraisal of real estate;

      (2)    Possess an accreditation or certification of appraisal skill from a recognized real estate organization;

      (3)    Charge a reasonable fee for the appraisal of the real estate proposed to be vacated which charge shall be disclosed to the City in advance;

      (4)    Have a history of satisfactory performance on previous appraisal assignments, if any; such performance to be measured by the appraiser's willingness to participate in the Board of Revision of Assessments' meeting and to reconsider or recalculate the appraisal, at no additional cost, if it is disapproved by the Board.

   (i)    The Planning Department shall solicit requests for bids/proposals from all appraisers who have indicated a desire to be on the City's Appraiser List and who possess the necessary conditions and qualifications as set forth above. This solicitation shall be through email and/or through mail to the whole of the interested appraisers. In the event the Planning Department receives no bids or proposals, the Planning Department shall select an appraiser from among the individuals who have indicated a desire to be on the City's Appraiser List and who possesses the necessary conditions and qualifications as set forth above.

   (j)    The Planning Department shall then notify the petitioner of the need for an appraisal, its costs and the petitioner's obligation to pay for the appraisal.

   (k)    Upon the payment by the petitioner of the fee for the appraisal, the appraisal of the property proposed to be vacated shall be conducted and submitted in writing to the Director of Finance as the secretary to the Board of Revision of Assessments.

   (l)    Upon the adoption of the resolution declaring the intention to vacate any property:

      (1)    A meeting of the Board of Revision of Assessments will occur if the petitioner files an appeal for the value determined by the appraisal (as set forth in Section "m"); this meeting shall be held to hear any objections to the proposed vacation and notice of the passage of the resolution shall be served upon all persons whose property abuts upon the portion of the property proposed to be vacated;

      (2)    There shall be one (1) public notice at least 10 days prior to the Board of Revisions of Assessments hearing on Council's resolution declaring its intent to vacate the property, with such notice posted to the City of Hamilton website in a visible, publicly accessible location. Such posting shall contain the title, summary paragraph or statement describing the purpose of the notice, and contact information for the city;

      (3)    There shall be one (1) individual public notice at least 10 days prior to the Board of Revisions of Assessments hearing, mailed to each abutting property owners who have not consented to the vacation;

      (4)    The City is not required to provide any public notice of a hearing on a vacation application if all owner(s) of property abutting the portion of the street/alley proposed to be vacated provide the City with written consent to the vacation; and

      (5)    Prior to the meeting of the Board of Revision of Assessments an appraisal of the property proposed to be vacated shall be made as set forth herein.

   (m)    At the meeting of the Board of Revision of Assessments, the Board shall hear all objections to the proposed vacation, including the appraisal, and recommend whether or not to approve the proposed vacation. The Board shall have no authority to increase or decrease the area of the property proposed to be vacated, nor to increase or decrease the appraised value, except that upon hearing objections, the Board shall have authority to determine that the property proposed to be vacated is of minimal value for specifically stated reasons and so report the same to Council.

   (n)    The recommendation of the Board of Revision of Assessments, shall be reported to Council by the Director of Finance who serves as secretary to the Board. Upon receipt of the Board's recommendation, Council may, but shall not be obligated to, order the preparation of an ordinance to vacate the property in conformity with the recommendations of the Board or upon terms determined by a majority of Council.

   (o)   After Council has ordered the preparation of the ordinance vacating the subject property and upon the petitioner paying to the Director of Finance a sum equal to two-thirds of the appraised value of the property to be vacated, the necessary legislation shall be prepared and presented to Council for its consideration or approval. Upon receipt of the sum equal to two-thirds of the appraised value, the Director of Finance shall immediately notify the City Clerk in writing of such receipt.

(Ord. 93-11-124. Passed 11-24-93; Ord. 2019-7-67. Passed 7-10-19; Ord. 2021-9-75. Passed 9-8-21.)