Road Closure Requests

It is the position of the current Town Council to NOT close roads or right-of-way which may be of future use for walking trails or utilities.

 

The Process

  1. The Town must receive a written request from a property owner adjacent to the street, and a map, survey, or drawing detailed enough to describe the street. Applicants may also include additional information that may be of help to the Council in considering the request. 
  2.  At a regularly scheduled meeting, the Town Council may adopt a resolution of intent to close the street, and call for a public hearing.
  3. The resolution must be published for four (4) successive weeks in the newspaper, and mailed to adjoining property owners.
  4. The Council will conduct the public hearing at a regularly scheduled meeting, as stated in the original resolution and notices. Anyone may speak and advocate a position at the public hearing.
  5. At that same meeting the Council may then vote to adopt an order closing the street. If passed, the order is then recorded with the Register of Deeds, and the street is closed.

 Applicant Cost

 The Town requires payment from the petitioning property owner for all public notification costs associated with the request, included the newspaper advertisement. The last requested street closure was in 2016, at a cost of approximately $400 to the petitioning property owner. If presented with a written request for closure, we will draft a resolution and request a quote to advertise from the newspaper so we can provide you with a more up-to-date cost estimate. Payment is required no matter the outcome.

 Please note that if the property includes two different unopened streets, each would need to be addressed separately. There is nothing to prevent the Town from considering two requests concurrently (i.e. consider the resolutions of intent and the public hearings at the same two meetings), but they require separate advertising and notice.

 Town Council Meeting Schedule

The Laurel Park Town Council meets on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. in the Laurel Park Town Hall. Requests, including all background material, must be received by 12:00 p.m. (noon) on the 2nd Tuesday for inclusion in the agenda packet.

Reference

NCGS §160A-299. Procedure for permanently closing streets and alleys