Public Works to place two unused roadway easements on June 2 consent agenda

Apache Junction Public Works told the City Council it will recommend extinguishing two unused roadway easements and placing both items on the June 2 consent agenda. Raquel Shatz, a Public Works staff member, said the resolutions cover a Roosevelt Street alignment from Wikiup to Chaparral Road and a Solana Road alignment between 14th and 13th avenues.

"This is a roadway easement extinguishment of Roosevelt Street alignment," Raquel Shatz said, describing the alignments as point-to-point lines created in the 1950s and not maintained or paved by the city. She said the Roosevelt application was filed Jan. 28 and the Solana application Feb. 19, and that applicants provided required Proposition 207 forms, support petitions from properties within 300 feet, and a non-refundable fee of $300.50.

Shatz said Public Works contacted emergency responders and other city departments and "received no opposition of this extinguishment." For the Solana Road request she added the applicant has worked with Development Services on building permits and plans to demolish a house on one parcel and use a second dwelling temporarily during construction.

A council member asked how a structure was allowed to be built within an existing easement. Rudy, a Development Services staff member called to the dais, replied that many of the older homes in the area were built before city incorporation and often have "inaccurate site plans" or were created by historic lot splits. He said staff will need to review county records to determine when the substandard lots and structures were created.

Public Works recommended approval and placement of both resolutions on the June 2 consent agenda. No formal vote was taken at the May 18 meeting.

The council is expected to consider both extinguishment resolutions on the consent calendar at its June 2 meeting.