Street and Alley Closings

Property owners, adjacent to city streets or alleys, may request to "close" such areas and acquire them as additional land for their property. "Closing" a street or alley usually requires the requester to purchase the area to be closed. Developed/paved streets and alleys and undeveloped/paper streets and alleys can be closed. Often times it is the "paper" streets and alleys that property owners request to close. "Paper" streets and alleys exist on record but may not be developed or maintained by the City and appear as an extension of adjacent property. Closing a street or alley requires all interested parties to purchase the area to be closed at a price set by the City, unless otherwise specified by city code.

Street/Alley Closing Application

[101KB] Street/Alley Closing Application 

How to Initiate a Street or Alley Closing

All applications must be submitted to the City Clerk at the Municipal Building located at 345 South Main Street. Complete applications shall include:

• A surveyed plat and metes and bounds description of the area requested to be closed, signed and sealed by a licensed surveyor for recordation.
• A list of all adjacent property owners. This includes property located across a road, alley, highway, or railroad right-of-way.
• A written statement from the applicant giving the reason for the desired street closure, along with a summary concerning the scope of the request.
• A location sketch of the street/alley to be closed. The sketch shall include all adjoining alleys and streets, in addition to showing what adjoining properties will receive the closed street or alley areas.
• The value of the cost per square foot to purchase the street/alley. This information may be obtained from the Commissioner of the Revenue.

After a complete application is submitted to the City Clerk, the request shall be placed on the next City Council agenda for consideration. During this meeting City Council shall consider referring the request to Planning Commission for review. If the request is successfully referred to Planning Commission, the City Planner shall send the application to city departments for review. City staff will erect a sign on the site to advertise that there has been a request to close the street or alley. A report accompanied by a recommendation will be presented at the next Planning Commission hearing where the Planning Commission will offer a voting recommendation to City Council. At this point, the request will be advertised in a newspaper with general circulation in the City. The following month after the Planning Commission meeting, City Council will hold a public hearing and make a decision on the application. After the first hearing at City Council, all involved parties shall pay the costs associated with closing the street or alley before a second hearing is held. After the street/alley is paid in full, the City Attorney shall prepare a deed to transfer the property.