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Plan Commission continues Forest Avenue vacation after neighbor objects, requests parking and equity details
Summary
Commissioners continued VA26001 — a proposed 30‑foot vacation of Forest Avenue near East Lancaster — after property owner Hugh Moore objected and asked for additional documents and verification of parking encroachment; the continuance passed with one dissent and a new hearing date was set for March 12, 2026.
The City Plan Commission on Feb. 12 voted to continue action on VA26001, a request to vacate 30 feet of Forest Avenue near East Lancaster (Council District 5), after extended public comment and commissioner questions about access, parking encroachments, and utility maintenance.
Staff said the vacation would leave a 50‑foot minimum public right of way (the city’s standard for a local street) while enabling the applicant, a funeral‑home business identified in the docket, to replat a portion of adjacent property for additional parking and a retail/monument‑sales use. Staff also noted sanitary sewer infrastructure in the right of way and advised retaining easements for maintenance.
Hugh Moore, who said he owns a tract on the east side of the affected area, opposed the vacation. Moore told the commission he had been told previously he would receive half of the vacated right of way; he said that representation changed and that he learned new alignment documents had been filed only the afternoon before the hearing. Moore urged the commission to table the request until documents could be shared and the equity of the division between adjoining owners could be verified. In his remarks he characterized the proposal as "a grab for free land." (Public comment recorded on the docket.)
Commissioners debated several technical points: how much parking encroached into the right of way and whether 15 feet could be adequate instead of 30 feet; whether the city would lose maintenance access to a sanitary sewer line if the full right of way were vacated; whether penalties or code‑compliance actions applied to the existing unpermitted parking; and whether the applicant should be required to attend the hearing. Counsel clarified that unlike plat filing deadlines, street vacations are not on a statutory shot clock and can be continued without the applicant’s request.
Commissioner Johnson moved to continue VA26001 to March 12, 2026 to allow staff and the applicant to provide survey information on the extent of parking encroachment, confirm whether a 15‑foot split would be feasible, and ensure the applicant attends; Commissioner Henderson seconded. On the recorded roll call the motion carried with one 'no' (Commissioner Reid); the continuance was approved.
Staff told the commission it would work to supply parking dimensions, confirm easement retention for sanitary sewer maintenance, and present clarifying documentation at the next hearing.
