07&08 Price Street Closing - Laserfiche WebLink

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In addition, actual abandonment of the street may be premature at this time. Two additional considerations also justify the delay. First of all the City Engineer has indicated that if the actual street right-of-way is abandoned, the County will have to convey other utility rights-of-way to the City to accommodate relocation of certain utility lines (see attached memo). It would seem prudent to identify the exact route of these new utility lines before the actual right-of-way is abandoned. In addition, the Legal Department has researched the Local Government Code with regard to abandonment of such rights-of-way. You will recall the County has already given conditional approval on abandonment of the Hearne Street right-of-way. At the time of that abandonment, and in conformance with state law, the City had performed an appraisal of the value of the property and was prepared to pay the County for that right-of-way. However, because of the nature of the Price Street right-of-way, and subject to receipt of additional information from the County, abandonment of the Price Street right-of-way may not have to conform with the general requirements of state law that the City receive fair market value for the right-of-way before it is abandoned. Section 272.001 (b) of the Local Government Code exempts certain kinds of rights-of-way from the general requirements of notice and bidding before those property interests are conveyed to another owner. Specifically, a portion of subsection (b) provides as follows: The land and those interests described by this subsection may not be conveyed, soid, or exchanged for less than the fair market value of the land or interest un/ess the conveyance, sa/e, or exchange is with one or more abutting property owners who own the under/ying fee simp/e. This subsection applies to: 2. Streets or alleys owned in fee or used by easement; 3. Land or a real property interest originally acquired for streets, rights-of- way, or easements that the political subdivision chooses to exchange for other land to be used for streets, rights-of-way, easements, or other public purposes, including transactions partly for cash;" In other words, state law provides that if the Price Street right-of-way is not owned by the City in fee simple because the City did not buy the right-of-way, but rather it was dedicated to the City, and if the County constitutes the abutting property owner on both sides of the property (that is, if the County now owns all of the property on either side of the right-of-way to be abandoned), then it does not appear to be mandated by state law that the City must receive full fair market value of the right-of-way before it is conveyed to the abutting property owner.