§ 18.204. Relocation or closing of public roads.

This section refers only to the closing or relocation of existing County public roads.

(a)

Roads Closed or Relocated Only with Approval of County Council. No County road may be closed or relocated unless the County Council has approved the closing or relocation either by resolution or by approval of a capital project in the budget ordinance or an amendment thereto.

(b)

Definitions. Words and phrases used in this section shall have their usual meanings except words and phrases defined below:

(1)

Closing or closure means permanently prohibiting motorized vehicles from using or from having access to or from a County public road.

Closing does not include prohibiting use of a portion of a roadway if motorized vehicles can continue to use or have access to or from the remainder of the roadway.

(2)

Relocation is any permanent improvement or permanent alteration to a County public road where a part or all of the new County public road does not overlap or is not contiguous with the previously existing County public road.

(c)

Initiating a Road Closing or Relocation:

(1)

By petition. An individual, group of individuals, corporation, partnership, association, or governmental agency other than the County Executive or County Council may initiate the closing or relocation of a road by petitioning the County Council to introduce a resolution approving the closing or relocation. The petitioner shall supply the information required in subsection (d) below with the petition.

(2)

County Executive. The County Executive may initiate the closing or relocation of a road by submitting for County Council approval an annual budget and appropriate ordinance or any amendment thereto which includes the road closing or relocation as a capital project or part of a capital project. The County Executive shall supply the information required in subsection (d) below at the time the annual budget and appropriation ordinance or an amendment to the capital budget is introduced.

(3)

County Council. The County Council or any of its members may initiate the closing or relocation of a road by introduction of a resolution approving the closing or relocation. The sponsor(s) of the resolution shall supply the information required in subsection (d) below in order to prepare the resolution.

(d)

Information to Be Provided. The following information shall be supplied in order to prepare a resolution to close or relocate a road or to accompany a budget and appropriation ordinance or an amendment thereto involving a road closing or relocation:

(1)

A detailed description of the County public road to be closed or relocated.

(2)

A certified plat signed and sealed by a professional land surveyor or property line surveyor particularly describing the County public road to be closed or relocated.

(3)

Identification of ownership of the roadbed and rights-of-way including any easements which may exist.

(4)

A plan for changes to traffic control which may result from the proposed closing or relocation.

(e)

Fee. An individual, group of individuals, corporation, partnership, association, or governmental agency other than the County initiating a road closing or relocation shall pay a fee; set annually by resolution of the County Council, to cover the costs of advertising the proposed closing, notifying persons whose property adjoins the road, and posting the road.

(f)

Notification:

(1)

Road closings and relocations included in a capital project shall be posted and advertised and mailings sent as for any other capital project.

(2)

When a road is to be closed or relocated at the request of councilmember(s) or upon petition, notification is the responsibility of the County Council and shall include the following:

(i)

The Department of Public Works, at the request of the County Council, shall post the road for 30 days prior to the public hearing on the County Council resolution. The posting shall indicate that the road is to be closed or relocated and shall indicate the date, the time and place of the public hearing on the proposed closing or relocation. The notice poster shall:

a.

Give the location or street name of the road.

b.

Be double-sided and at least 30 inches by 36 inches in size.

c.

Include a three-digit alphanumeric code, which would be used to identify the case. The alphanumeric code shall be attached by the Department of Planning and Zoning in at least five-inch lettering in the top left corner of the poster.

d.

State that the road is proposed to be closed or relocated and include a description of the proposed road closing or relocation.

e.

Give the website address of the Department of Planning and Zoning plans in process webpage or a central inter-departmental webpage for searching for additional information, including plans for public review, for all projects assigned a three-digit alphanumeric code and a phone number for additional information.

(ii)

The County Council shall provide at least 30 days' notice of the date, time and place of the public hearing on the proposed closing or relocation by advertising the proposed closing with at least two separate insertions at weekly intervals in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the County.

(iii)

The County Council shall send letters by certified mail to all persons whose property abuts the limits of the proposed road closure or relocation. The letters shall be mailed no later than 30 days prior to the hearing and shall contain a full description of the road closing or relocation, and an announcement of the time, date and place of the County Council's public hearing on that closing or relocation.

(g)

Reports and Recommendations from County Departments. The Department of Public Works, Department of Planning and Zoning, Police Department, and Department of Fire and Rescue Services shall report to the County Council on the effect of the closing or relocation on public safety, the traffic network and public convenience and shall recommend denial or approval of the closing or relocation.

(h)

Council Approval. The Council may approve the closure or relocation of a road if it finds that the closing or relocation will not adversely affect public safety, the traffic network, or public convenience.

(i)

Disposition of Closed or Relocated Road. Approval of a road closing or relocation does not affect the legal ownership of the roadbed, rights-of-way, or any easements. Separate legislation pursuant to title 4 of the Howard County Code may be required to deal with disposition of this property.

(C.B. 40, 1969; C.B. 6, 1971; C.B. 30, 1990; C.B. 104, 1992; C.B. 69, 2018, § 1)

Editor's note

The provisions of C.B. 104, 1992, which changed "ordinance" to "resolution" in this section, were made effective retroactive to July 17, 1990, the effective date of C.B. 30, 1990.