Road Vacations
What is a Road Vacation?
A road vacation is an action taken by the Polk County Board of Commissioners by Resolution and Order when the public interest in a road right-of-way is eliminated.
Polk County manages easements on Right-Of-Way for public travel on private roads outside of incorporated areas of the County. The County may end this interest if the easement does not serve the best interest of the Public or it is deemed beneficial to return the unused area to the private land owner.
How Do I Initiate a Road Vacation?
The owner(s) of property abutting a road may initiate a vacation by contacting the Polk County Surveyor by letter. The request letter needs to include the reason for the requested road vacation and a drawing showing what section of road is to be vacated. When the letter is received by the surveyor, he will write a legal description, produce maps of the area and send out petitions to all affected property owner(s). The petition must meet the requirements of ORS 368.341. The County may also initiate a vacation on its own accord.
The amount of time to process a road vacation depends largely on the number of issues needing to be resolved. A road vacation may take up to six months. This time is required for the county to adequately review the public’s interest in the property before it is vacated to private parties and to comply with all requirements of ORS 368.326 to 368.426.
Once the petition or petitions from all abutting property owners are received by the County Surveyor the petition(s) will then be referred to the Board of Commissioners for review at a regular board meeting. The Board of Commissioners will request a road official’s report. A map and the legal description are distributed to the Assessor and the Planning Director for their comments. At the same time notice is given to the appropriate utilities in the vicinity of the proposed vacation. If deemed necessary, the County may require the property owner to provide an easement for the protection of existing or future utilities within the right of way. Should any property owner not return the petition a public hearing in front of the Board of Commissioners during a Wednesday meeting would be required, and would add about 2 months to the process. The cost of the vacation is $1500 if a public hearing is not required and $2300 if a public hearing is required. Payment is required after the letter of request but before the work can begin for the Surveyor.
Public Hearing and Notice
After further investigation, the County Surveyor will make a recommendation to the county commissioners on the proposed road vacation. This recommendation will be made at a public hearing at a regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners. At this hearing, the Board will review the County Surveyor’s recommendation and take testimony. Petitioners and interested parties should attend this hearing. The Board may approve or deny the road vacation at this meeting.
Notification of this public hearing will be done per ORS 368.4.
Ownership of Vacated Right of Way
A road vacation simply terminates the public’s easement over an otherwise private property; it does not distribute property. Vacated property will return to its historical owner. Usually, a road vacation converts the public’s right of way to the private use and ownership of abutting landowners (one on each side of the street, for example). The vacated Right-of-Way vests in its rightful owner automatically, no matter who petitions for a vacation or who pays the vacation costs.
