(A) (1) Special damages shall mean only those losses or damages or injuries which a property owner suffers that are peculiar or special or unique to his or her property, and which result from the Governing Body vacating the street, avenue, alley, lane, or similar public ways.
(2) Special damages shall not mean those losses or damages or injuries that a property owner suffers that are in common with the rest of the city or public at large, even though those losses or damages or injuries suffered by the property owner are greater in degree that the rest of the city or public at large.
(B) The Mayor shall appoint three or five or seven disinterested residents of the municipality to a special commission to ascertain the amount of special damages that the abutting property owners are entitled to receive and which resulted from the Governing Body vacating the street, avenue, alley, lane or similar public way. The appointees of the special commission shall be approved by the Council. Only special damages, as herein defined, shall be awarded to the abutting property owners.
(C) In determining the amount of compensation to award the abutting property owners as special damages, the aforementioned commission shall use the following rule:
The abutting property owner is entitled to recover as compensation the difference between the value of such property immediately before and immediately after the vacating of the street, avenue, alley, lane, or similar public way. However, if no difference in value exists, the abutting property owner is entitled to no compensation.
(1990 Code, § 8-319)
Statutory reference:
Related state law provisions, see Neb. RS 17-558, 17-559