HomeMy WebLinkAboutReceipt of petition from MDT to discontinue Streets
Commission Memorandum
REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission
FROM: Chuck Winn, Assistant City Manager Greg Sullivan, City Attorney
SUBJECT: Acknowledge and Approve receipt of a petition from the Montana
Department of Transportation to discontinue Montana Avenue, Juniper Street, Hemlock Street
and the alleys in Blocks 14, 15 & 28 Imes Addition. MEETING DATE: October 14, 2013
AGENDA ITEM TYPE: Consent
RECOMMENDATION: That the City Commission acknowledge and approve receipt of a petition from Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) to discontinue Montana Avenue,
Juniper Street, Hemlock Street and the alleys in Blocks 14, 15 & 28 Imes Addition and direct
staff to review the request and take all steps necessary to proceed with the discontinuance.
RECOMMENDED MOTION: If pulled from consent agenda: I move to acknowledge and approve receipt of a petition from MDT to discontinue Montana Avenue, Juniper Street,
Hemlock Street and alleys in Blocks 14, 15 & 28 of the Imes Addition and direct staff to take all
steps necessary to proceed with the discontinuance.
BACKGROUND: MDT submitted the attached application for street/alley discontinuance on September 24, 2013 requesting discontinuance of Montana Avenue between Tamarack and Birch
Street (Oak Street), Hemlock and Juniper streets between Rouse Avenue and Montana Avenue
and the alleys within blocks 14, 15, and 28 of the Imes Addition (see the attached petition). We
support the petition. These streets and alleys were platted in 1895 as part of the Imes Addition. On August 12th, the City Commission directed staff to move forward with a land exchange
between the City and MDT to exchange this subject property for approximately 12 acres of city-
owned property on the Water Reclamation Site near Nelson Road. This petition is a component
of that proposed land exchange. The purpose of the discontinuance is primarily to establish clear title to all the real property where the MDT shops complex is located. At this time there is no evidence that the City has ever discontinued the streets and alleys on this property; as such,
discontinuing the streets and alleys and instructing that fee title to the real property be vested in
MDT eliminates title issues regarding the current rights-of-way. This is a critical step prior to
finalizing the exchange.
In addition to addressing the title issues, we have worked with MDT to take two additional steps.
First, MDT will aggregate the existing tracts of record into one parcel. Second, MDT has
indicated it needs to reserve additional right-of-way for the expansion of Rouse Avenue. As
such, all three steps (discontinuance of the streets and alleys, aggregation of the parcels into one,
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and reservation of right-of-way) will be depicted on a new amended plat/certificate of survey.
Should the land exchange be finalized, the City would take ownership of the MDT property
pursuant to this new plat/survey. As such, it is a benefit to both the City and MDT to aggregate
MDT’s holdings on their site prior to any exchange.
Because MDT owns all the property within blocks 14, 15 and 28 of the Imes Addition and
Gallatin County quitclaimed any interest it may ever have had in the right-of-way of Montana
Avenue, no other property owners will be affected by this discontinuance. There are no public
utilities within the street easements and none of the streets have ever been constructed. Any private utility easements will be preserved.
PROCEDURE: Pursuant to Section III B. of the City’s Rules of Procedure for Change of a
Street Name or Discontinuance, Abandonment or Vacation of Street or Alleys (Resolution 3628),
for a person to initiate a request to discontinue a street or alley, the person must submit a petition to the City Clerk who, upon receipt of the petition, will place the item on the Consent Agenda.
The Commission may then acknowledge receipt and direct the petition be forwarded to staff for
review. If the Commission forwards the petition to City staff for review, the Engineering
Division will review the petition and, if favorable, the Commission’s next step would be to
consider a resolution of intent at a duly noticed public meeting to discontinue the streets and alleys. The plat/survey described above will need to be approved by the Commission as part of
the final resolution to discontinue the streets and alleys. The plat/survey must then be recorded.
Pursuant to Sect. 76-3-305, MCA, upon discontinuance of the streets and alleys, the City
Commission “shall determine to which properties the title to the streets and alleys of the vacated portions must revert.” We will recommend the Commission determine that the fee title for the
land revert to MDT.
UNRESOLVED ISSUES: All procedures of Resolution 3628 must be complied with. A new
plat/survey must be prepared and recorded. No other unresolved issues related to this process have been identified.
ALTERNATIVES: As suggested by the City Commission.
FISCAL EFFECTS: None identified at this time. Resolution 3628 requires the petitioner to submit a fee. The fee has not been submitted. We are preparing a memorandum of understanding
with MDT to describe the duties and responsibilities of the City and MDT as we move forward
to finalize the exchange. The payment of fees for the discontinuance will be negotiated as part of
the MOU.
Report compiled on: October 4, 2013
Attachments: Application from MDT
Commitment for Title Insurance document Email Correspondence Resolution No. 3628/Rules of Procedure
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