§ 30-8. Abandonment.

The abandonment of public roadway right-of-way, public roadway easements, public utility easements, or portions thereof, created by recorded subdivision plats, shall require the submittal of a petition of abandonment to the board of supervisors via the development services department. All other abandonments shall be submitted to the public works department for processing. The county may not process abandonments of private roads or easements. The processing of requests for abandonment of public roadway right-of-way, or public roadway easements, or any other public easement, shall require:

(1)

Submittal requirements. The following items shall be submitted with any abandonment request:

a.

A petition (the form of which may be obtained from the development services department) signed by ten or more resident taxpayers of the county, requesting the abandonment of a county highway, or other public roadway, public easement, or portion thereof, any private roadway or easement, as outlined above, including a description of the beginning, end, general course and direction, nature, and approximate condition of the roadway or easement to be abandoned. The petition should also cite the record reference of any known instruments which established the road or easement to be abandoned.

b.

An eight and one-half-inch by 11-inch copy of the current county tax assessor's map(s), county GIS map, a map in .pdf format, or other map acceptable to the county, of the township, range, and section, or detailed portion of the section(s) thereof, showing the location and the extent of the portion of road or easement to be abandoned. The county engineer may require a survey conducted by a registered land surveyor licensed in the state, as needed.

c.

Processing fees as detailed in the adopted fee schedule.

d.

Notification letters. As a part of the abandonment process, the applicant is required to provide notification to the public and to affected individuals or entities as follows:

1.

Notification letters (the form may be obtained from the development services department) will be prepared by the applicant(s) and given to the development services department upon submittal of the abandonment petition and map. Each notification letter will include a copy of the petition, reason for the abandonment, and a map or diagram showing the full alignment, course, and direction of the road, right-of-way, or easement and the portion to be abandoned clearly marked. Each notification letter shall be accompanied by a first class postage stamped envelope, and shall be addressed to all property owners who own property along the entire alignment of the roadway or easement to be abandoned, to any other property owner whose permanent legal or physical access would be eliminated by the abandonment, and to affected utility companies, if any. It is the responsibility of the applicant to demonstrate to the county that the number of notification letters provided is sufficient for the intended action.

2.

Pursuant to A.R.S. § 28-7215, a roadway shall not be vacated if any land adjoining the roadway is left without an established public road connecting the land with another established public roadway unless there is expressly reserved in the conveying instrument the roadway rights of ingress and egress for public or emergency vehicles, all property owners, property owner guests and invitees, and persons lawfully conducting business on the land.

3.

Roadways or easements to be abandoned which were not established by the recordation of a board of supervisors-approved subdivision final plat, or by a county-approved parcel plat, or by an independent survey, such as a written property description included on a deed, and approved by the county surveyor, shall require the applicant to provide a survey of the portion of roadway or easement being abandoned, which shall be performed by a state-registered land surveyor prior to approval of the abandonment.

e.

Title to vacated roadway or portions thereof shall vest as provided in A.R.S. §§ 28-7205 and 28-7206, as amended.

(2)

Processing. The processing of petitions of abandonment shall be as follows:

a.

Upon receipt by the development services director of a petition of abandonment, the board of supervisors, if it chooses to consider the petition, shall schedule the request for public hearing, and approve or deny the request.

b.

The abandonment request shall be posted and advertised in accordance with state law.

c.

The board of supervisors may not approve an abandonment if it finds that:

1.

The abandonment of roadway rights-of-way or roadway easements will deny the sole permanent legal access to any property.

2.

The abandonment is likely to be injurious to the public safety and welfare.

(3)

Action. If, in the opinion of the board, the abandonment appears reasonable and the roadway right-of-way, roadway or other easement, or portion thereof is no longer needed for public use, and if the abandonment would not deny the sole access to any lot or parcel, and if the request complies with the requirements of these regulations and state law, the board may approve the abandonment by resolution.

( Ord. No. 2001-01 , § 1.8, 2-20-2001; Ord. No. 2004-04 , § 1.8, 12-6-2004; Ord. No. 2010-06 , § 1.8, 4-5-2010; Ord. No. 2011-11 , § 1.8, 9-12-2011)

State law reference

Disposition of roadways, A.R.S. § 28-7201 et seq.