EXPLANATION OF VACATION PROCEEDINGS

The processing of a request to vacate a public easement such as street, alley, walk or other public easements within the City of Los Angeles are governed by the provisions of the State Streets and Highways Code and the Los Angeles City Administrative Code. It is a legislative act of the City Council terminating any stipulated public rights within the area proposed to be vacated.

Vacation means the complete or partial abandonment or termination of the public right to use a street, highway, or public service easement. The area vacated would then revert to the owner of the underlying fee interest for their own use. Included under vacation proceedings are the following types of public rights-of-way:

A. Public street, alley or walk

B. Future street, alley or easement

C. Other public easements [Note: Water Line and Public Utility Easements are quitclaimed by the Department of Water and Power and are not included in the vacation process]

Usually the City of Los Angeles is only an easement holder of the rights-of-way of public streets, alleys or walks and the adjoining property owners have the underlying fee interest. However, it is advisable for the petitioner to contact a title company to perform a title search of the underlying fee interest of the proposed vacation area prior to submission of the application to confirm their fee interest. In addition, in some instances, the City of Los Angeles owns the underlying fee interest. In these situations, a request may be processed of the City owned property through the appropriate City Agency.

In accordance with the Los Angeles City Administrative Code (LAAC), Sections 7.42 and 7.44, the cost of the vacation is the actual cost (time charges) of the work performed, the payment of a $14,980 fee deposit with the application will be required to process a vacation request regardless of the type of vacation. Additional deposits may be required, and unused deposits will be returned when the work is completed. Also, if an Environmental Determination or a Coastal Development Permit are required, additional fees must be deposited.

Government agencies are not exempt from fees for vacations per City Ordinance No. 181,001, effective January 12, 2010. It is recommended that government agencies pay a fee deposit for the entire cost of the vacation process in the full estimated amount upon submitting the application to avoid any delays in processing due to repeated funding requests.

This deposit is only an estimate and any deficit will be billed at a later date, prior to the recordation of the Resolution to Vacate.

The total required deposit will be assessed by Land Development staff and the petitioner will be sent an electronic invoice via email and/or text message. The invoice may be completed via means including:

Some city agencies may require additional fees to be deposited to cover costs during the referral and investigation process, for example, LADOT review fees.

Conditions of the vacation approval may require that the applicant dedicate additional easements adjoining his/her ownership for public street or alley purposes and/or construct necessary improvements such as concrete curbs and gutters, sidewalks, sewer and/or storm drain facilities, street lights, street trees, etc. All costs incurred for the processing of any required dedications, the construction of required public works facilities, and the relocation or protection of any affected public utilities or any other such facilities located within the vacation area, are to be borne by the applicant.

REFUNDS: Upon completion of the vacation request, the remaining balance of the deposits would be refunded to the petitioner. In the event the petition for vacation is withdrawn by petitioner or is denied by the City Council, petitioner shall be entitled to a refund of any unused deposits paid. Used deposits are non-refundable.

The Bureau of Engineering will review the vacation application and transmit it to other City departments, public agencies, and affected public utilities for their comments and recommendations. The average time to prepare a report to the City Council to either recommend conditional approval or denial of the vacation request varies with the complexity of the request. In average, the processing time to complete a vacation request is between 2 ½ to 3 years. Additionally, if an Environmental Determination or a Coastal Development Permit are required, the time to prepare a report can increase and additional time is required to complete the processing of the vacation request. The actual time varies with the scope and complexity of the vacation request and requires the applicant to comply as expeditiously as possible with the conditions of the vacation.

If the City Council fails to act on the vacation initiation within 2 years, the vacation request will expire per Council policy, Council file No. 05-0553.

Vacation proceedings in which the conditions of approval have not been completed by the applicant within 2 years of the date the City Council adopted conditional approval of the vacation request shall be deemed expired per Section 7.48 of the LAAC, and will be closed.

INVESTIGATIONS, REFERRALS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORT: As the public street system belongs to the general public, there are many agencies (City of Los Angeles and other public utilities) who may be utilizing or have an interest in the public right-of-way proposed to be vacated. City agencies such as the Bureau of Engineering, Planning Department, Department of Transportation, Fire Department, Department of Water and Power and others, along with affected public utility companies such as the Gas Company and AT&T, will be sent referrals for their comments and recommendations on the proposed vacation. Upon receipt of their responses, a report will be prepared by the Bureau of Engineering and submitted to the City Council through the Public Works Committee for their consideration. In order to provide maximum efficiency, BOE will process the vacation application before the City Council approval of the vacation initiation, unless an applicant requests not to do so.

ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The processing of vacation applications is subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the City's Environmental Quality Act Guidelines. The applicant will be required to complete an Environmental Assessment Form as part of the vacation process. If the vacation is not deemed as being categorically exempt from the CEQA Guidelines, it will be forwarded to the Bureau of Engineering Environmental Management Group for review. An appropriate level of CEQA documentation will be determined by the Environmental Management Group. This will extend the required processing time for the vacation beyond that which is discussed in this handout and/or shown on the flow chart. If the vacation is part of a project for which CEQA compliance has already been provided by an existing document adopted by another agency, the applicant is advised to contact the Land Development/Right-of-Way Section to determine if the same documentation can be used for the vacation.

COASTAL DEVELOPMENT PERMIT: If a vacation is located within a Coastal Development Zone, it will be forwarded to the Bureau of Engineering Environmental Management Group for review. This will extend the required processing time for the vacation proceedings significantly beyond that which is discussed in this handout and/or shown on the flow chart. The Bureau of Engineering's decision regarding the Coastal Development Permit is subject to Board of Public Works approval, and subject to California Coastal Commission approval, prior to the vacation being considered by the City Council. If the vacation is part of a project for which a Coastal Development Permit has already been processed by another agency, the applicant is advised to contact the Permit Case Management Division to determine if the same permit may be used for the vacation.

PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE AND CITY COUNCIL ACTION: A public hearing will be scheduled for the Public Works Committee to hear the BOE recommendations for the request. Based on the recommendation of the Public Works Committee, the City Council makes its findings for conditional approval or for denial of the vacation request for final determination on the vacation request.

RESOLUTION TO VACATE: After all the required conditions have been complied with by the applicant and any deficit processing costs have been paid, a Resolution to Vacate will be submitted to the City Council for consideration along with the City Engineer's report. Upon adoption of the Recommendation, the Resolution to Vacate will be delivered and recorded in the Office of the Los Angeles County Recorder. The vacation proceedings will then be completed, and the applicant and adjoining owners will be mailed a copy of the recorded Resolution.

PUBLIC WORKS IMPROVEMENTS: The conditional approval of vacation applications requires conformance to the City's General Plan and to the street improvement policies for private developments, in conformance to City standards of the General Plan. The applicant will be responsible for the costs of constructing any required street, sewer and storm drain improvements including the planting of street trees and the installation of streetlights and fire hydrants.

PUBLIC UTILITIES: All costs in connection with the relocation or protection of any affected public utilities or any other such facilities located within the vacation area are to be borne by the applicant.

RIGHTS OF OTHER PROPERTY OWNERS: The City of Los Angeles requires the consents and waivers of damages of all property owners adjoining the public right-of-way proposed to be vacated. In addition, the consents and waivers of other property owners may be required as determined by the City Engineer or City Council.

REVERSIONARY RIGHTS: It is the applicant's responsibility to determine the ownership of the underlying fee interest of the public right-of-way proposed to be vacated. The public right-of-way is a City easement for public street, alley, walk, or other purposes and the vacation proceedings removes this easement. A current preliminary title report from a Title Company is required to be provided to identify the underlying fee interest owner.

A. Fill out the attached application completely. If possible, the signatures and/or consents of all property owners abutting the public right-of-way proposed to be vacated and of those who make use thereof for ingress and egress to their property should be included. Applicants may obtain information necessary to complete items 2a, 2b, and 2c on the attached application by submitting an inquiry to Land Development/Right of Way Section, via the Customer Service Request system at https://dscsr.lacity.org/

B. Fill out the attached Environmental Assessment Form.

C. Include, in the completed application, an annotated print of a cadastral map (8 1/2" x 14" is adequate) showing the following: (See sample attached)

NOTE: Applicants may obtain digital prints of the cadastral map from NavigateLA at: https://navigatela.lacity.org/

D. Initial fee deposit payment of $14,980. If applicable, additional fee deposit of $32,100 is required for Environmental Review. And if Coastal Development Permit review is also required, then another additional fee deposit of $32,100 is required. Please contact the Land Development/Right of Way Section to confirm the final deposit amount.

  Upon receipt of the street vacation application, an invoice will be sent to the email address provided. This invoice will allow for electronic payment. The payment may be made with credit card or ACH/e-check.

  Note: Credit card transactions are assessed a 2.75% service fee. This will appear as a second charge on your credit card statement.

E. Supporting documentation of the proposed project if the vacation is in conjunction with a development project, including but not limited to: plot plan, site plan, determination letter, etc.

F. Return the fully completed application and map at https://dscsr.lacity.org/ Alternatively, the fully completed application and map may be submitted in-person during a scheduled BuildLA appointment at: