Board approves vacation of unbuilt Tanktown streets after engineer report and resident question

The Delaware County commissioners on Aug. 18 granted a petition from the Berlin Township trustees to vacate several unimproved streets and alleys within the plat of Tanktown in Berlin Township. County staff said Tanktown was platted in 1858 and that a prior partial vacation occurred in 1967; the current petition covers remaining unapproved rights-of-way.

Chief Deputy Engineer Rob Riley summarized the engineer’s report, saying the rights-of-way proposed for vacation are unimproved and that no property would be left landlocked by the change. Riley noted an existing driveway that serves multiple properties sits on land owned by the Berlin Township Board of Trustees and that that strip of township-owned land was not part of the petition and is not proposed to be vacated.

One resident, Robert Vermaaten of 2753 Berlin Station Grove, asked whether the lane running parallel to the railroad (used as a driveway by several properties) would be vacated. Riley and staff displayed a map and confirmed the lane and the township-owned strip would remain; the petition affects only the platted streets indicated in the record.

After the public hearing closed, the commissioners moved to grant the petition and voted unanimously to adopt the vacation resolution.

What happens next: staff will record the vacation as required by state law and update county records; the affected platted street rights-of-way will revert in part to abutting property owners as described in the engineer’s report.