Council moves to review partial vacation of Sixteenth Avenue South through Federal Way High School parking lot

City staff asked the committee to authorize a review of a proposed partial vacation of South Sixteenth Avenue, a segment that traverses Federal Way High School's parking lot. Leonard Spadoni, the city's presenter on the item, described the area as largely a parking lot and an alleyway stub adjacent to the school's tennis courts.

The policy question presented was whether the council should authorize staff to start the vacation review and to direct staff to work with the petitioner to host a public briefing and open house. Spadoni said the city owns the right-of-way and that the school currently maintains and uses it. He explained the typical process, including the need to obtain concurrence from utility franchise holders where utilities exist; he estimated the process typically takes 18 to 24 months because utilities must approve vacations or require new easements.

Council members asked clarifying questions about liabilities, timetables and who pays the city's costs. Spadoni said the petitioner participates in most of the legwork (surveys, title reports, appraisal) and pays fees; staff time tends to exceed fees collected. "They submit an application and we review it. There are fees associated with it. That being said, it takes more staff time than the fees cover," he said.

Action taken: Committee Member Walsh moved to forward option 1 (authorize staff to proceed and direct staff to coordinate a public briefing/open house) to the May 20, 2025 consent agenda; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Ending: Staff will begin utility outreach and the public-notification steps that start the right-of-way vacation process; the committee set the matter to return to the full council on May 20 for consent-agenda action.