Any person desiring abandonment of all or any portion of a street, right-of-way or easement adjacent to or affecting property owned by such person shall make application to the city on forms supplied by the city for such abandonment. At the time such application is made, the applicant shall pay to the city a processing fee as provided in appendix A to defray the city's costs in processing the application and the abandonment contemplated thereby. This fee shall not be refundable, regardless of whether the abandonment is approved or denied. The application and abandonment request shall be accompanied by such documents and shall be processed in such manner as shall be established by section 70-87.
[Code 1984, ch. 3, § 16]
(a) 
There are exceptions, but as a general rule when a street is abandoned, the land contained within the abandoned street reverts to the use and ownership of adjacent property owners.
(b) 
The land within an abandoned easement reverts to the owner of the subservient property across which the easement traverses.
(c) 
An application requesting an abandonment is filed with the city with an attached drawing, on a map of the area supplied by the city, depicting as accurately as possible the area to be abandoned. The application shall state the reason for the requested abandonment and the proposed use of the property following abandonment. The city shall review the abandonment application for compliance with city codes and endorse thereon approval or disapproval of the application.
(d) 
If a proposed abandonment affects a public street, the application shall be reviewed by the city engineer (if applicable) who shall determine that the application is technically correct and that the proposed abandonment does not adversely affect the public safety. If the application is approved by the city engineer, the engineer shall endorse such approval thereon, or if disapproved, the engineer shall clearly state the reasons for such disapproval on the face of the application.
(e) 
The application for abandonment shall be reviewed by the fire chief for determination of the effect of the abandonment on access and fire safety. The fire chief shall endorse such determination on the face of the application.
(f) 
An abandonment request involving a public street shall be reviewed by the police chief for determination of the effect on traffic and public safety and the police chief shall endorse such determination on the face of the application.
(g) 
An application for abandonment shall be reviewed by the public works officer for the location of utilities affected by the proposed abandonment and determination of the effect thereon. The public works officer shall endorse such determination on the face of the application.
(h) 
In conducting the reviews required in this section, the city officials involved shall endeavor to meet and review the application jointly, in order to expedite the review process.
(i) 
Upon completion of this process, the application shall be forwarded to the planning and zoning commission for review and recommendation to the city council of action thereon.
(j) 
Upon completion of review of the abandonment application by city officials, and after the planning and zoning commission has issued its recommendations, the application shall be placed on the council agenda for preliminary consideration of a proposed ordinance granting the requested abandonment.
(k) 
Upon completion of review by city staff, and in the event the request receives preliminary approval by the city council, the applicant shall be notified of the staff recommendations and preliminary action by the planning and zoning commission and the city council on such application. If the applicant still desires to pursue the abandonment request, the applicant shall submit a plat prepared by a registered professional surveyor describing by metes and bounds legal description of the street or easement to be abandoned. The plat shall depict the adjacent land and streets affected by the requested abandonment. Upon such submission, such application and plat shall again be reviewed by the city. If the city review of the plat indicates that significant changes might exist, then the city shall initiate a review of such plat by the city engineer (if applicable), fire chief, police chief and public works director under the criteria listed above, and if any of such officials' determinations are changed by such re-review, such change shall be noted on the face of such application. The application, plat and accompanying material shall again be submitted to the planning and zoning commission for review and recommendation and, after such consideration, shall be placed on a city council agenda for final consideration.
(l) 
The city council may elect to waive the requirements and procedures of this division and abandon any easement or portion thereof to a property owner upon the request of said property owner by resolution, provided such resolution is passed by at least a four-fifths vote. Said resolution shall expressly state that the requirements and procedures contained in the of this section have been waived, and shall contain or have appended to it a plat and/or a legal description of the easement or portion thereof to be abandoned.
(m) 
If the requested abandonment is granted by the city council, an executed copy of the ordinance or resolution granting such abandonment, together with the plat and/or a legal description of the street, right-of-way or easement, or portions thereof, thereby abandoned shall be filed among the deed records of the county.
[Ord. No. 780-96, § I, 1-9-1996; Ord. No. 928-02, §§ 1, 2, 3-26-2002]