Privatizing of Public Streets
Gating (Selected Closure Based on Residency) Gating a public street to allow residents whose properties are accessed from the street to obtain access but to deny non-residents the same access is not permitted.
A public street may only be abandoned, and thereby potentially converted to private use, pursuant to the provisions of the AZDOT Code provides that a city may vacate a public street if the city council, after a public hearing, determines that the street is unnecessary for ?“present or prospective public use.?”
A city council may have difficulty making the required finding with regard to the streets of an occupied residential subdivision. Even if no street provides access to areas outside of the subdivision, the streets are used by the residents of the subdivision to access their properties. Therefore, in order to safely make the finding required, a city would need to have the consent of all property owners who would be required to maintain the proposed private streets and would need to ensure that after vacation of the public streets, all property owners would continue to have access to their property through CC&Rs.
Gating (Selected Closure Based on Residency) Gating a public street to allow residents whose properties are accessed from the street to obtain access but to deny non-residents the same access is not permitted.
A public street may only be abandoned, and thereby potentially converted to private use, pursuant to the provisions of the AZDOT Code provides that a city may vacate a public street if the city council, after a public hearing, determines that the street is unnecessary for ?“present or prospective public use.?”
A city council may have difficulty making the required finding with regard to the streets of an occupied residential subdivision. Even if no street provides access to areas outside of the subdivision, the streets are used by the residents of the subdivision to access their properties. Therefore, in order to safely make the finding required, a city would need to have the consent of all property owners who would be required to maintain the proposed private streets and would need to ensure that after vacation of the public streets, all property owners would continue to have access to their property through CC&Rs.
