1305.07 VACATING A PLAT.
   (a)   Where no Lot has been sold, the Final Record Plat, or part thereof, may be vacated according to either of the following methods:
      (1)   By Instrument. Through the written consent of the City Planning Commission and all the owners, proprietors, and trustees, if any, of the property subject to the Final Record Plat. Such written consent must be duly executed, acknowledged, or proved, and recorded in the Office of the Clerk of Berkeley County; or
      (2)   By Ordinance. By ordinance, provided that no facility for which bonding is required pursuant to Article 1309 of this Ordinance has been constructed on the property and no facilities have been constructed on any related section of the property located in the Subdivision and/or Land Development within five (5) years of the date on which the Final Record Plat was first recorded.
      (3)   The City’s execution and Berkeley County’s recordation of such written instrument or ordinance of vacation shall operate to destroy the force and effect of the recording of the Final Record Plat so vacated and to divest all public rights in and to the property, and to reinvest the owners, proprietors, and trustees, if any, with the title to the Streets, Alleys, Easements for public passage, and other public areas laid out or described in the Final Record Plat.
   (b)   Where any Lot has been sold, the Final Record Plat, or part thereof, may be vacated according to either of the following methods:
      (1)   By Instrument. In writing agreeing to the vacation signed by all the Owners of Lots shown on the Final Record Plat and approved and signed on behalf of City of Martinsburg. In cases involving Drainage Easements or Street Rights-of-Way where the vacation does not impede or alter Drainage access for any Lot Owners other than those Lot Owners immediately adjoining or contiguous to the vacated area, the only signatures required are those of the Owners of the Lots within the Subdivision and/or Land Development and the Owners of the Lots immediately adjoining or contiguous to the vacated area. “Owners,” for the purposes of this Subsection (b), shall not include lien creditors except those whose debts are secured by a recorded deed of trust or mortgage and shall not include any consort of an owner. The instrument of vacation shall be acknowledged in the manner of a deed and filed for record in the Office of the Clerk of Berkeley County; or
      (2)   By Ordinance. The execution and recordation of such written instrument or ordinance shall operate to destroy the force and effect of the recording of the Final Record Plat or part thereof so vacated, and to vest fee simple title to the centerline of any Streets, Alleys, or Easements for public passage so vacated in the owners of abutting Lots free and clear of any rights of the public or other owners of Lots shown on the Final Record Plat, but subject to the rights of the owners of any public utility installations which have been previously erected therein. If any Street, Alley, or Easement for public passage is located on the periphery of the Final Record Plat, the title for the entire width thereof shall vest in the owners of abutting Lots within the Subdivision and/or Land Development. The fee simple title to any portion of the land subject to the Final Record Plat so vacated as was set apart for other public use shall be revested in the owners, proprietors, and trustees free and clear of any rights of public use in the same.
         (Ord. 2022-13. Passed 11-10-22.)