Street & Alley Vacations

Many cities and towns have unopened streets and alleys within their city limits which are platted and dedicated to the city as streets. If the city or town does not have a need for the property as a street and does not foresee that it ever will, then the street vacation statutes provide a means for vacating the easement for travel so that the property may be used for another purpose. 

The statutes which provide for street vacations are contained in Revised Code of Washington 35.79 and apply to all classes of cities and towns.

  1. Who may start the street vacation process?
  2. Must a public hearing be held before a street may be vacated?
  3. Who owns the vacated property?
  4. What if the city owned the underlying fee to the street area?
  5. May the city charge the abutting property owners a fee for the street vacation?
  6. May the city retain an easement for underground utilities that may be in the vacated area?
  7. Does the vacation need to be granted by ordinance?
  8. May a portion of the street be vacated?
  9. May a street that abuts a body of water be vacated?
  10. Is there a statute that provides for an automatic vacation of streets if they are not opened for public travel within a certain time period?
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