right-of-way, pedestrian or bicycle easement or accessway, or utility easement for public use <br />that is controlled by the city, county, or state." <br />This request for vacation is being considered in accordance with Sections 9.8700 - 9.8725 of the <br />Eugene Code (EC) and Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 271.080 - 271.230 and processed <br />pursuant to EC 9.7445 - 9.7455. EC 9.8710(3) requires that any vacation of a public way <br />acquired with public funds or an undeveloped subdivision and partition plat be considered and <br />decided upon by the City Council in accordance with the procedures in EC 9.7455 through <br />9.7455. The public hearing is being conducted consistent with quasi-judicial procedures in State <br />law and as set forth in EC 9.7065 - 9.7095. <br />When rights-of-way are vacated, ORS 271.140 generally requires ownership of the land <br />underlying the vacated right-of-way to revert back to owners of the adjacent lands from which <br />it was originally dedicated. In this instance, if the vacations are approved, the rights-of-ways will <br />revert to the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency as the owner of the adjacent lands. EC 9.8710(5) <br />requires the applicant to pay a special assessment to the City equal to the assessed value of the <br />real property and any costs incurred by the City in the construction of public improvements as <br />determined by the City Manager. The City Manager has determined that the cost of <br />construction of the new streets dedicated by the URA is equal to or exceeds the assessed value <br />of the real property being vacated and any costs incurred by the City in the construction of <br />public improvements within the vacation area. As noted above, the URA is paying to construct <br />and install the new streets and utilities, at a cost of approximately $16.5 million. The value of <br />the newly created rights-of-way and transportation/utility improvements far exceeds the real <br />market value of all the vacations combined. <br />The applicant has provided statements of concurrence from affected utility providers for the <br />vacations of public utility easements. <br />Compliance with Approval Criterion <br />Per EC 9.8725, the sole approval criterion for these vacations requires City Council to find that <br />approvals of the requested vacations are in the public interest. The full text of the approval <br />criterion is provided below, with findings demonstrating compliance: <br />EC 9.8725: Approval Criteria for the Vacation of Improved Public Right-of-Way, Public <br />Ways Acquired with Public Funds, and Undeveloped Subdivision and Partition Plats. The <br />city council shall approve, or approve with conditions and reservations of easements, the <br />vacation of improved public right-of-way, public ways acquired with public funds, or <br />undeveloped subdivision and partition plats, or portions thereof, including public right-of- <br />way and improved public easements located therein, only if the council finds that <br />approval of the vacation is in the public interest. <br />The following findings demonstrate that vacation of a portion of Mill Alley and vacations of <br />associated public utilities easements are in the public interest. This determination is based on <br />the conclusion that vacation of these public ways will provide an opportunity for the efficient <br />Findings <br />VPU 21-1 / VPU 21-2 / VRP 21-1 / VRP 21-2 <br />Produced using RLID (www.rlid.org) on 10/06/2022 at 4:40 PM <br />