Council advances two street-vacation resolutions, schedules public hearings for October

The council voted to advance two separate street-vacation actions to public hearing, including a highlighted parcel (with a neighboring property to the north) and a set of parcels around the school site that staff said would be combined into a single parcel for the new school project.

Gibb, speaking during the agenda item, described the standard vacation options and recommended the council proceed by resolution. He explained that under the city's vacation rules, if a street is vacated 50% of the vacated property interest can transfer to an adjacent owner and that the council can elect to initiate a vacation by resolution rather than waiting for a petition from adjacent owners. “Vacation can happen one of two ways. One is a petition by majority of adjacent property owners or council can elect to move forward by resolution,” Gibb said, recommending council schedule a public hearing. He also said staff would retain a small western access strip at the school site to preserve potential future access.

On the school-site vacation, staff noted the effort would tidy up six parcels so the school sits on a single consolidated parcel; staff also described a rock outcrop (parcel 1330) that might be considered for parking in future discussions but said those details remain undecided. Council approved resolutions to schedule public hearings for the second meeting in October for both vacation items; the votes were taken by voice and passed with no opposition recorded.

Next steps: council will hold public hearings in October where residents and property owners can comment; staff said utility easements and a specific PTC portion above the track would be retained and not included in any sale or vacation.