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Canyon County wins council approval to vacate short segment of 13th Avenue for shared parking with $50,000 service offset
Summary
Caldwell City Council unanimously approved Canyon County’s request to vacate a segment of 13th Avenue so the county can expand parking for its new sheriff’s office, conditioned on a reciprocal $50,000 value in services to the city rather than cash.
Caldwell City Council unanimously approved a request from Canyon County on Oct. 6 to vacate a short segment of 13th Avenue between Albany Street and the railroad so the county can incorporate the right-of-way into a new public parking lot adjacent to its sheriff’s office.
The move was approved after a staff presentation and county testimony that described the change as necessary to accommodate parking lost when the county built a new sheriff’s building. Joe Dodson, principal planner for the City of Caldwell, told council the county owns parcels on both sides of the segment and that the city had recorded a public utility easement to protect stormwater infrastructure. Canyon County public works director Rick Britton said the lot would be available to the public and could be used by the city for events after hours.
Councilors discussed valuation of the vacated right-of-way and whether the city should require compensation. Councilor Williams proposed authorizing the mayor to execute the vacation if the county provides a reciprocal service valued at $50,000 rather than a cash payment, as a way to address taxpayer concerns about giving away city right-of-way. Councilor Dittenburg and others supported the idea; Councilor Dittenburg noted adjacent parcel valuations that made the $50,000 figure reasonable as a starting point.
The council voted to approve the vacation with the $50,000 reciprocal-service stipulation and later sponsored Bill 40 / Ordinance 3692 to codify the action. The vote on the motion to approve the vacation was unanimous.
City staff said utility providers and traffic review were notified during the public-notice process and that a public utility easement had been recorded to preserve stormwater infrastructure. No members of the public testified in opposition to the vacation at the Oct. 6 council meeting.
The conditional approval directs the city and county to formalize the reciprocal-service arrangement that council specified; details of the service and implementation timeline were not specified during the meeting.
The city moved the ordinance to passage by title and approved it for publication.
