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Council hears request to vacate 5‑foot right‑of‑way strip at 1101 West 400 South; Planning Commission split its recommendation
Summary
A property owner asked the council to vacate a roughly five‑foot strip of public right‑of‑way adjacent to a 1906 house to accommodate rebuilding; Planning Commission recommended vacating the 1100 West side but denying vacation along 400 South because of arterial width consistency and future trail planning.
A property owner seeking to demolish and rebuild a century‑old home asked the council Sept. 2 to vacate a roughly five‑foot strip of public right‑of‑way adjacent to the lot at the southwest corner of 1100 West and 400 South to allow a new build to conform to modern setbacks.
Planner Andy (staff) presented the request and explained the site is a narrow corner lot in the Poplar Grove neighborhood. The owner requested the vacation to avoid losing about three feet of building width on a rebuild, and said the existing house sits on a stone foundation, has unreinforced masonry and lies in a FEMA AE flood zone, which together make a full remodel impracticable.
The Planning Commission, at its May hearing, recommended approving the vacation along 1100 West (the local, dead‑end street), while denying the vacation along 400 South (a 106‑foot‑wide arterial). The engineering division had opposed narrowing the right‑of‑way on 400 South because it preferred a consistent arterial width along that corridor and because the city wants to preserve right‑of‑way for potential trail improvements connected to the Fourth South Viaduct Trail.
Property owner Eric Sansom, who said he and co‑owner Jason Seaton would like to rebuild and keep the house footprint, asked the council to approve both sides of the vacation or accept an agreement that would return the five‑foot strip to the city if future trail construction required it. Sansom said the city could still build the proposed viaduct trail improvements without the five feet being vacated and offered to revert the property if necessary.
Council members asked how the city would effect the transfer if the council approved a vacation and whether it would be sold at fair market value; planning staff said the city’s real estate services would evaluate fair market value and handle the sale. The council did not take final action at the work session; staff said the standard process would determine valuation and next steps if the council approves the vacatio
n.
