Nevada § 278.480 - Vacation or abandonment of street or easement: Procedures, prerequisites and effect; appeal; reservation of certain easements; sale of vacated portion

§ 278.480. Vacation or abandonment of street or easement: Procedures, prerequisites and effect; appeal; reservation of certain easements; sale of vacated portion

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsections 11 and 12, any abutting owner or local

government desiring the vacation or abandonment of any street or easement owned by

a city or a county, or any portion thereof, shall file a petition in writing with

the planning commission or the governing body having jurisdiction. 2. The governing body may establish by ordinance a procedure by which, after compliance

with the requirements for notification of public hearing set forth in this section,

a vacation or abandonment of a street or an easement may be approved in conjunction

with the approval of a tentative map pursuant to NRS 278.349 . 3. A government patent easement which is no longer required for a public purpose may

be vacated by: (a) The governing body; or (b) The planning commission, hearing examiner or other designee, if authorized to

take final action by the governing body, without conducting a hearing on the vacation if the applicant for the vacation obtains

the written consent of each owner of property abutting the proposed vacation and any

utility that is affected by the proposed vacation. 4. Except as otherwise provided in subsections 3 and 11, if any right-of-way or easement

required for a public purpose that is owned by a city or a county is proposed to be

vacated, the governing body, or the planning commission, hearing examiner or other

designee, if authorized to take final action by the governing body, shall, not less

than 10 business days before the public hearing described in subsection 5: (a) Notify each owner of property abutting the proposed abandonment. Such notice must be provided by mail pursuant to a method that provides confirmation

of delivery and does not require the signature of the recipient. (b) Cause a notice to be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation

in the city or county, setting forth the extent of the proposed abandonment and setting

a date for public hearing. 5. Except as otherwise provided in subsections 6 and 11, if, upon public hearing,

the governing body, or the planning commission, hearing examiner or other designee,

if authorized to take final action by the governing body, is satisfied that the public

will not be materially injured by the proposed vacation, it shall order the street

or easement vacated. The governing body, or the planning commission, hearing examiner or other designee,

if authorized to take final action by the governing body, may make the order conditional,

and the order becomes effective only upon the fulfillment of the conditions prescribed. An applicant or other person aggrieved by the decision of the planning commission,

hearing examiner or other designee may appeal the decision in accordance with the

ordinance adopted pursuant to NRS 278.3195 . 6. In addition to any other applicable requirements set forth in this section, before

vacating or abandoning a street, the governing body of the local government having

jurisdiction over the street, or the planning commission, hearing examiner or other

designee, if authorized to take final action by the governing body, shall provide

each public utility and video service provider serving the affected area with written

notice that a petition has been filed requesting the vacation or abandonment of the

street. After receiving the written notice, the public utility or video service provider,

as applicable, shall respond in writing, indicating either that the public utility

or video service provider, as applicable, does not require an easement or that the

public utility or video service provider, as applicable, wishes to request the reservation

of an easement. If a public utility or video service provider indicates in writing that it wishes

to request the reservation of an easement, the governing body of the local government

having jurisdiction over the street that is proposed to be vacated or abandoned, or

the planning commission, hearing examiner or other designee, if authorized to take

final action by the governing body, shall reserve and convey an easement in favor

of the public utility or video service provider, as applicable, and shall ensure that

such easement is recorded in the office of the county recorder before or as a part

of the order vacating or abandoning the street. 7. The order must be recorded in the office of the county recorder, if all the conditions

of the order have been fulfilled, and upon the recordation, title to the street or

easement reverts to the abutting property owners in the approximate proportion that

the property was dedicated by the abutting property owners or their predecessors in

interest. In the event of a partial vacation of a street where the vacated portion is separated

from the property from which it was acquired by the unvacated portion of it, the governing

body may sell the vacated portion upon such terms and conditions as it deems desirable

and in the best interests of the city or county. If the governing body sells the vacated portion, it shall afford the right of first

refusal to each abutting property owner as to that part of the vacated portion which

abuts his or her property, but no action may be taken by the governing body to force

the owner to purchase that portion and that portion may not be sold to any person

other than the owner if the sale would result in a complete loss of access to a street

from the abutting property. 8. If the street was acquired by dedication from the abutting property owners or their

predecessors in interest, no payment is required for title to the proportionate part

of the street reverted to each abutting property owner. If the street was not acquired by dedication, the governing body may make its order

conditional upon payment by the abutting property owners for their proportionate part

of the street of such consideration as the governing body determines to be reasonable. If the governing body determines that the vacation has a public benefit, it may

apply the benefit as an offset against a determination of reasonable consideration

which did not take into account the public benefit. 9. If an easement for light and air owned by a city or a county is adjacent to a street

vacated pursuant to the provisions of this section, the easement is vacated upon the

vacation of the street. 10. In any vacation or abandonment of any street owned by a city or a county, or any

portion thereof, the governing body, or the planning commission, hearing examiner

or other designee, if authorized to take final action by the governing body, may reserve

and except therefrom all easements, rights or interests therein which the governing

body, or the planning commission, hearing examiner or other designee, if authorized

to take final action by the governing body, deems desirable for the use of the city

or county. 11. The governing body may establish by local ordinance a simplified procedure for

the vacation or abandonment of an easement owned or controlled by the governing body

without conducting a hearing on the vacation or abandonment. Unless the vacation or abandonment of an easement is for a public utility owned

or controlled by the governing body, the simplified procedure must: (a) Require that a petition be filed with the governing body that requests the vacation

or abandonment of the easement and contains the notarized signature of each owner

of property abutting or underlying the easement; (b) Prohibit the vacation or abandonment of the easement unless the staff of the city

or county determines that: (1) The easement has been superseded by relocation or is no longer needed by the city

or county; and (2) The vacation or abandonment will not substantially, unduly or unreasonably impair

the access of any owner of property; (c) Authorize any applicant or other person aggrieved by a decision on whether to

approve the vacation or abandonment of the easement to appeal the decision to the

governing body; and (d) Provide that if the vacation or abandonment of the easement is approved, the vacation

or abandonment is not effective until the order of approval is recorded in the office

of the county recorder. A simplified procedure established pursuant to this subsection must not apply to the

vacation or abandonment of any street, drainage easement, sidewalk or other pedestrian

right of way. 12. The governing body may establish by local ordinance a simplified procedure for

the vacation or abandonment of a street for the purpose of conforming the legal description

of real property to a recorded map or survey of the area in which the real property

is located. Any such simplified procedure must include, without limitation, the requirements

set forth in subsection 6. 13. As used in this section: (a) “ Government patent easement ” means an easement for a public purpose owned by the governing body over land which

was conveyed by a patent. (b) “ Public utility ” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 360.815 . (c) “ Video service provider ” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 711.151 .