Council approves vacating Pauline Avenue and portion of Hickory Street; public hearings held

The Onalaska Common Council unanimously approved two resolutions to vacate and discontinue public rights-of-way: one to vacate Pauline Avenue and another to vacate a portion of Hickory Street.

Public hearings and reasons: City planning staff opened public hearings on both items earlier in the meeting. For Pauline Avenue, resident Tyler Morse (1391 County Road SS) spoke in favor of discontinuing the platted avenue, saying it historically functioned as a shared driveway and had never operated as a public avenue; he told council the discontinuance would allow the properties to be placed fully back on the tax roll and preserve an existing shared-driveway agreement. The Pauline Avenue resolution was later presented as Resolution 2-2025.

For Hickory Street, Planning Director Katie Aspinson said the portion proposed for vacation sits between existing city-owned cemetery land and a parcel reserved for cemetery expansion; staff said the vacation is necessary to accommodate future cemetery expansion. That proposal appeared as Resolution 3-2025.

Council action: The council moved and seconded approval for each resolution and voted by roll call. Both resolutions passed unanimously.

Why it matters: The Pauline Avenue vacation transfers ownership responsibilities and will remove a never-constructed avenue from the public right-of-way, according to the petitioner’s testimony. The Hickory Street vacation was presented as a step required to consolidate land and allow future expansion of the city cemetery.

Next steps: City staff will complete the administrative steps needed to record the vacated rights-of-way and to ensure any required easements or shared-driveway agreements remain in place where appropriate.