MEMORANDUM

TO: Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Members

FROM: Ron Drathman, Assembly President

DATE: July 1, 1999

SUBJECT: Appeals of denied vacation petitions

Under the existing code, petitions to vacate rights-of-way and easements are first considered by the plat committee if submitted as part of a plat approval. If denied, they may be appealed to the planning commission, and then, if denied again, they may be appealed to the assembly or city council. Petitions to vacate that are not part of a plat approval are first considered by the planning commission and, if denied, may be appealed to the assembly or city council. Further appeals in both cases would be to court.

This appeal process is time consuming and costly, involving significant resources of the petitioners, the administration, the boards, councils, and the assembly. The accompanying ordinance would eliminate the requirement that the assembly or city council hear such appeals, and provides that such appeals go directly to court. Alaska Statutes do not require assemblies and city councils to hear such appeals. Some other boroughs provide for such appeals to proceed directly from the planning commission to court.

Also, Alaska Statutes require the "governing body" to consent to any vacation before the vacation is valid. This means that the assembly could have to consider the same petition twice if denied vacations may be appealed to the board of adjustment (BOA): once as the BOA and again as the governing body if the BOA grants the vacation petition. Allowing these appeals to go directly from the planning commission to court avoids this duplication, and could save both the taxpayer and the borough money.