Planning commission recommends vacating streets to consolidate wastewater treatment site

The Imperial City Planning Commission voted 3-0 on May 28, 2025, to recommend the City Council approve the vacation of specified street right-of-ways around the city wastewater treatment plant, a step staff said is needed to consolidate multiple assessor parcels.

City staff, who identified themselves as a professional licensed engineer and land surveyor, told commissioners the treatment plant was built on what the assessor’s maps still show as streets. “It appears that...the wastewater treatment plant was built on streets,” the staff member said, and that the intent of the request is to “clean this up and make that parcel 1 parcel.” The commission’s recommendation was for Resolution PC 2025-09.

The project scope as described to the commission included vacation of 0 Street between Thirteenth and Fifteenth Streets; Thirteenth Street between N and P Streets; Fourteenth Street between N and P Streets; and Fifteenth Street between N and P Streets. Staff said the area currently contains nine assessor parcels that would be consolidated down to four parcels, with the blue boundary shown on maps designating the proposed wastewater treatment plant parcel and red areas indicating portions to become part of the plant property after abandonment.

Staff noted parts of the street system had already been abandoned previously, including a portion of O Street north of Twelfth Street that was abandoned in February 2024 and other abandonments dating to 1951. The staff member said a record of survey would be prepared and monuments placed in the field to clarify future boundaries.

No written public comments were submitted in advance; one property resident who attended said she supported the abandonment. A representative of the developer for a project immediately south of the plant was present but did not register opposition; staff said the timing aligned with the south project and that the developer is expected to work out any property transactions later.

The commission distinguished discussion items from formal action: commissioners asked questions about existing property lines and the relationship of the abandonments to the adjacent southern project, and staff provided survey and timing clarifications. The formal action was a motion to recommend approval of Resolution PC 2025-09; the motion was seconded and the vote carried 3-0.

The recommendation now goes to the City Council for final action. Staff emphasized that the vacation simply clears the assessor’s map and enables a lot merger and potential future sales; any sale or transfer to a private developer would be negotiated separately and was not decided by the commission.