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Council reviews proposal to vacate a paper alley in Liberty Heights plat
Summary
Salt Lake City planning staff presented an alley vacation request affecting a narrow, largely blocked alley in the Liberty Heights area; staff recommended vacation under the city’s lack-of-use standard and said abutting owners would split the land if council approves.
Salt Lake City Council members on Sept. 9 reviewed a request to vacate an approximately 12-foot by 535-foot alley segment in the Liberty Heights plat, between about 1430 East and 1500 East and between 1300 South and Sherman Avenue.
Planning staff said the alley is blocked by garages, fences and vegetation and may never have functioned as a public right-of-way beyond its paper record. Seth Rios, principal planner, told the council the alley was platted in 1910 and that historic Sanborn maps from 1950 show garages already encroaching into the alley area. Rios said the applicant secured signatures from 84% of the abutting property owners (the city code requires 75% for the application) and that the planning commission forwarded a positive recommendation in July.
If the council approves the vacation as proposed, staff said the city would divide the alley property in half and transfer each half to the adjacent abutting owners. Planning staff explained the city would not mediate private boundary negotiations that might follow; any parcel-line adjustments or agreements between neighbors would be handled privately.
Council members raised equity and citywide implications. Council member Pree asked whether the city could flag similar “paper alleys” elsewhere and urged consideration of an equitable, citywide policy to address where public land has been informally occupied. Planning staff replied that the engineering division is conducting a citywide alley assessment to catalog access and blockage, and said the planning commission has initiated a text amendment to review the alley and street vacation process and the “lack of use” standard.
Council member Dugan asked technical questions about nearby functioning alleys; staff clarified that a north–south alley near 1420 East remains usable and that about 15 of the 25 lots affected by the proposed vacation already have some structure built on the alley property.
The council did not take a final vote in the work session; staff said the item appears on the formal agenda for potential action later that evening.
