St. Helens council approves conditional vacation of North First Street right of way

St. Helens — The City Council voted 4-1 Wednesday to approve staff-recommended conditions for a proposed right-of-way vacation along North First Street, a decision councilors said would return land to private ownership while preserving a utility corridor and requiring engineering design to address sightline concerns.

City staff framed the action as a narrow legal test: whether removing part of the public right of way would "conflict with the public interest," not whether it would deliver private benefit. "Does that mean we're going on a vacation? No," a staff presenter said, explaining that a vacation means the right of way returns to private ownership but that the public-interest standard remains central to the council’s decision.

The request sought to vacate about 30 feet of right-of-way along most of North First Street near the Columbia Boulevard transition. The applicant’s consultant, Andrew Nemeth of Lower Columbia Engineering, told the council the plan balances public and private interests: moving a substandard water main into the remaining public right of way, creating public-utility easements, reducing city maintenance burden and returning property to the tax rolls. "The public is getting a benefit in the improvements to that main," Nemeth said.

Neighbors and some council members pushed back, citing public-safety and notice concerns. Several nearby property owners said they had not received specific mailed notice of the Planning Commission or City Council hearings and warned that the new alignment could create limited visibility for left turns from Columbia Boulevard. "It makes no sense that the affected property owners got no specific notice of the hearings," said Jennifer Shoemaker, an affected owner, who urged the council to consider the safety implications.

Council members debated two paths: adopt the Planning Commission recommendation to grant the vacation with standard conditions, or adopt the staff recommendation, which more explicitly ties the approved vacation to street design that addresses sightlines and reserves additional ROW near a pump station (staff asked that 20 feet be reserved there rather than the 16 feet the applicant had referenced). Staff also proposed reserving public-utility easements and requiring water-line relocation to remain in public ROW.

After deliberation, Council President Shelton moved to adopt the staff recommendation; the motion passed 4-1 (Mayor Massie, Councilors Gunderson and Hubbard and Council President Shelton voting yes; Councilor Sundeen voting no). Councilor Sundeen said she opposed the motion primarily because of lingering safety concerns and because the presenters were consultants rather than the actual project applicant.

Under the approved approach the council will allow up to three years from the decision date for the design and implementation of required improvements — including moving the water main and establishing a vehicle turnaround — before bringing a vacating ordinance back to council for final action. Staff said the three-year period is intended to give time for detailed engineering and construction rather than leave those requirements to an uncertain future.

City staff and the applicant both told the council that if the site is developed later the engineering review will require demonstration of vision-clearance triangles and other safety standards; staff also said the council could have delayed the hearing to require a traffic or sightline study now but preferred to tie the work to post-decision street design.

The Planning Commission had recommended approval with conditions; staff urged modestly stronger measures on the pump-station offset and explicit design protections for sightlines. Staff noted the city has processed more than 50 similar vacations since 2007 and that prior attempts at this location were challenged in 2012 and 2022.

Next steps: staff will work with the applicant and with public-works/engineering to produce the required street design, public-utility easements and water main relocation plan; the vacating ordinance will return to council after the required design work and construction timeline (no later than three years absent further council action).