The Vigo County Board of Commissioners approved vacating a 15‑foot alley that separates property owned by Richard King from the Burton Cemetery Association during a recent county commission meeting.

The vote clears the narrow alley so the property owner can add the alley area to his lot, a change proponents said will help meet setback and cemetery‑buffer requirements under Indiana rules.

Scott Barber, who presented a map of the property and said he was representing Richard King, described the parcel and the alley shown in blue on the map. "The only adjoining property owner was the Burton Cemetery Association," Barber said. He told commissioners the alley “isn't used at all” and that the petitioner plans to split the alley with the cemetery and add the footage to the property to address setback constraints.

Barber said the extra footage would help address a tight setback and allow room to build houses. "I think that he's looking for enough property to build 2 houses in there, and he needs — that's that tight. You'd have to ask planning, but I pretty think he's pretty tight on a setback," Barber said.

Jared, a county staff member, noted state rules that require a buffer from the known edge of a cemetery. "There are rules in place from the state of Indiana where you have to remain a 100 feet from the edge of the known edge of a cemetery," Jared said. He added that vacating the alley would provide an "additional buffer where he won't be infringing on any sort of state laws."

Commissioners moved and seconded the alley vacation and the motion carried by voice vote. No roll‑call tally was given during the meeting record.

The action affects a 15‑foot alley between the King property (to the east) and the Burton Cemetery (to the west). The petition had been preliminarily approved earlier, a presenter noted; the commissioners completed the formal vacation at this meeting.

The approval is a local property action; commissioners and staff discussed setbacks and state cemetery buffer rules but did not identify subsequent permitting steps or a building permit timeline for proposed construction on the parcel.