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Plan Commission forwards Edgewood right-of-way vacation to council with utility-easement condition
Summary
The Lebanon Plan Commission voted to recommend that the Common Council approve Docket 25-30, vacating an 80-foot public right-of-way between the Edgewood and Cedar Ridge neighborhoods, conditioned on recording an 8-foot utility easement to preserve access to existing electric lines.
The Lebanon Plan Commission voted to forward Docket 25-30, a request to vacate an 80-foot public right-of-way between the Edgewood and Cedar Ridge neighborhoods, to the Common Council with a favorable recommendation subject to recording an 8-foot utility easement across the eastern edge of the vacated strip.
Planning staffer Ben Bontrager told commissioners the request is "to vacate right away" and described the procedural next step: the commission makes a recommendation and the vacation would be completed by ordinance at the Common Council. Bontrager said the 80-foot right-of-way would be split evenly, with 40 feet to the property owner north of the strip and 40 feet to the owner to the south. He said Liberty Utilities will "cap that off back at the valve in Edgewood Drive" for a stubbed water line and therefore the water stub is not an obstacle, but that the existing electric line requires an easement.
The right-of-way was created in the 1950s as part of Edgewood Section 1, when developers anticipated extending the neighborhood east. That road was never constructed. When the Cedar Ridge development purchased parcels to the east five years ago, its developer created new access from Fordyce and the stubbed street connection from Edgewood could no longer be built, Bontrager said. Adjacent property owners who have effectively used the strip as private land asked that the city vacate it so title can transfer to the neighbors.
Staff recommended, and the commission agreed, that the favorable recommendation to the Common Council be conditioned on the applicants recording an 8-foot utility easement immediately after the council ordinance is recorded so Liberty Utilities retains access to the existing overhead or underground electric facilities. Commissioners asked no substantive questions during the presentation, and no members of the public spoke during the public hearing. A motion to forward the request with the condition carried on a voice vote.
The commission's recommendation will be formalized as an ordinance at the Common Council. If the council approves the ordinance and the applicants record the utility easement as required, ownership of the vacated portions of Lot 31 and Lot 32 would transfer to the adjacent property owners as shown in the applicants' legal description.
