Right of Way Abandonment

Upon request, the City may consider abandonment of public Right of Way (ROW).

North Carolina General Statute (NCGS) 160A-299 gives the Charlotte City Council the authority to abandon street ROW following a public hearing and a determination that the abandonment:

• Is not contrary to the public interest.

• Does not deprive any individual(s) that own property nearby of reasonable means of ingress and egress to their property.

• Is not contrary to the adopted policy to preserve existing ROW for connectivity.

Typically, ROW requested for abandonment is:

• Unimproved, unopened ROW that has no pavement, curb/gutter or sidewalk.

• ROW that exceeds the minimum width requirements, based on street classification.

• Residual (leftover) ROW resulting from a street or intersection realignment project.

• ROW that is not necessary to support the City's street connectivity policy.

Process

The City's review process takes approximately 6-8 months. Some of the items that are included in the review process are:

• Notification and request for comments to all public and private facilities.

• Notification to adjacent/abutting property owners.

• Vote by City Council.

For the complete Abandonment Process, see Abandoment Petition Form(PDF, 141KB) for more info.

To start an Abandonment Petition, visit our Cityworks Public Portal

Cost

A nonrefundable $340 administrative fee will be due prior to any official guidance or comments from CDOT. This fee is designed to identify any fatal flaws or issues in a possible abandonment petition via an optional preliminary review, prior to the submittal of the nonrefundable application fee. The filing fee for this process is $4,590 for the first street ROW and $2,000 for each additional street ROW submitted with the same petition. The petitioner is responsible for all other associated costs, including the boundary survey and metes-and-bounds description.

A cover letter to include contact information (name, address, phone number) for the petitioner.

• One completed and signed original copy of the Right of Way Abandonment Petition.

• Scaled drawings of a survey showing the ROW to be abandoned, including a vicinity map. The survey shall be labeled Exhibit A and shall be signed and sealed by a licensed professional land surveyor. All drawings must be 8-1/2" by 11" in size.

• A Metes and Bounds description of the ROW to be abandoned. The description shall be labeled Exhibit B and shall be signed and sealed by a duly licensed professional land surveyor.

• Memorandum of Understanding signed by all the abutting property owners, including the address and parcel number.

• Check payable to the City of Charlotte in the amount of $4,590 for the first ROW plus $2,000 for each additional ROW.