Commission approves discontinuance of ~120‑foot right‑of‑way on W. St. Francis; land to revert to adjacent owners

Planning staff presented a proposal to discontinue a general right‑of‑way on West South St. Francis Avenue (commencing at 31st Street and continuing east for approximately 120 feet). Under the discontinuance, the right‑of‑way would revert to the adjacent property owners; staff said the split would allocate roughly 30 feet to the parcel north of the right‑of‑way and 30 feet to the parcel to the south.

Staff reported that both property owners have submitted written consent and plan to complete certified survey maps (CSMs) to combine the newly acquired strips with their existing parcels. The owners will be responsible for CSM costs, and staff estimated the overall discontinuance process commonly takes about three months to complete.

Commissioners asked about the cost of CSMs; one comment named an amount of about $700, another speaker said it was “over a thousand,” so the transcript records differing estimates. Staff confirmed both owners were aware of and accepted the cost responsibility before agreeing to the discontinuance.

The commission moved to approve the discontinuance as presented and the motion carried unanimously in the transcript (no roll‑call tally provided). Staff said the next step is for the owners to submit the CSMs to finalize parcel boundaries.

Why it matters: If finalized, the discontinuance clears a long‑reserved right‑of‑way that was never developed, returning land to property owners and resolving issues such as encroaching structures (staff noted one property’s garage extended over the reserved right‑of‑way).

Next step: Owners to submit CSMs and staff to process those surveys; typical completion timeline cited by staff was about three months.