Opinion ID: 2543536
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: county violation of cup and other ordinances

Text: ¶ 35 Plaintiffs seek a declaration that 1070 East and North Union Avenue do not comply with the Salt Lake County Roadway Standards. Specifically, they allege: (1) that 1070 East is less than twenty-one feet wide and that the remaining segment of North Union Avenue is now less than or equal to nineteen feet wide, when both should have a right-of-way width of forty-two feet and a pavement width of at least twenty-five feet pursuant to section 14.12.100(a) of the Salt Lake County Code of Ordinances, (2) that the intersection of the two streets violates section 14.12.120(a) because it has a radius of less than twenty-five feet, and (3) that the abrupt dead end of North Union Avenue violates section 14.12.080(a) of the county ordinances, which requires all turnarounds and cul-de-sacs to have a minimum right-of-way radius of fifty feet. Plaintiffs also seek a declaration that Hermes's construction of the Ernst and Future Shop buildings violates the CUP [14] and sections 19.76.155 [15] and 19.76.210 [16] of the county code for the lack of twenty-foot landscaped setbacks and curb, gutter, and sidewalk improvements along 1070 East and North Union Avenue. They seek enforcement of these ordinances. ¶ 36 Defendants do not dispute that these buildings were built without twenty-foot set-backs from 1070 East and North Union Avenue, that those streets lack curbs, gutters, and sidewalks, or that they do not meet the width requirements for local public streets set out in the county roadway standards. They do, however, dispute whether those standards apply to the buildings. The resolution of that dispute depends on whether 1070 East and North Union Avenue are public streets for purposes of the CUP and county zoning and roadway ordinances, which in turn depends on the meaning and effect of Ordinance 1275 and the grant of easement referred to therein. ¶ 37 The district court held that Ordinance 1275 altered the legal character of North Union Avenue, making it an access easement, not a public street. It also determined that 1070 East is an access easement rather than a public street by virtue of Ordinance 1275 and the grant of easement. The district court stated as an alternate ground for its ruling granting summary judgment that Ken Jones, the director of the Division of Development Services and the county official charged with enforcing county zoning ordinances, see Salt Lake County Code of Ordinances § 19.94.010 (1983), was entitled to deference in his decision that the buildings complied with all applicable ordinances. Plaintiffs contest the district court's interpretation and assert that Ken Jones's determination concerning Hermes's compliance with county ordinances was erroneous. They seek a declaration that North Union Avenue and 1070 East are public streets subject to the requirements listed above.
¶ 38 To determine whether North Union Avenue and 1070 East are subject to the above-mentioned requirements of the CUP and county ordinances, we first review the district court's conclusion that they are not public streets. Section 19.04.515 defines a street as a thoroughfare which has been dedicated or abandoned to the public and accepted by proper public authority, or a thoroughfare, not less than twenty-five feet wide, which has been made public by right of use and which affords the principal means of access to abutting property. Salt Lake County Code of Ordinances § 19.04.515 (1997). Thus, a street is a thoroughfare [17] that is (1) dedicated or abandoned to the public, or (2) made public by private right of use, and (3) the principal means of access to abutting property. ¶ 39 The Utah Code provides, All public highways once established shall continue to be highways until abandoned or vacated by order of [competent] authorities. Utah Code Ann. § 72-5-105 (Supp.2000). Section 72-1-102 of the Utah Code includes any public road, street, alley, [or] lane ... laid out ... for public use, or dedicated or abandoned to the public in its definition of highway. We stated in Heber City Corp. v. Simpson that section 72-5-105 [18] provides the only method for eliminating the `public' status of a public highway. 942 P.2d 307, 313 (Utah 1997). Thus, once dedicated as a public street, North Union Avenue continues the same until abandoned or vacated. Id. ¶ 40 It is undisputed that North Union Avenue, before the adoption of Ordinance 1275, was a public street under the above definition. It was a thoroughfare, or a way through which there is passing or travel, Morris v. Blunt, 49 Utah 243, 251, 161 P. 1127, 1131 (1916). Defendants do not dispute that it was dedicated as a public street on the recording of the original Fort Union plat in 1857 or that it provided the principal access to abutting property including the Croxford property. The question then becomes whether Ordinance 1275 constitutes an order abandoning or vacating the closed portion of North Union Avenue as per section 72-5-105. ¶ 41 Ordinance 1275 provides that the segment of North Union Avenue described... is being closed rather than vacated and that the segments of said public highway[] being vacated and the segment being closed are not needed as a public highway or a public right of way. The district court held that in enacting the ordinance, the County properly vacated and closed North Union [Avenue], following the requirements set out in section 72-5-105. We disagree. ¶ 42 Section 72-5-105 plainly provides that a public highway remains a highway until the proper authorities order it abandoned or vacated. The trial court erred in concluding that the County followed the sections of the Utah Code for vacating public streets. The County specifically stated in Ordinance 1275 that the segment of North Union Avenue abutting the Croxford property was not being vacated, except for the north eight feet, and there is no evidence in the record of any other order of abandonment or vacation. We conclude that the trial court's and Ken Jones's decision that this portion of North Union Avenue is not a public street is erroneous and hold that the twenty-five-foot-wide closed portion of North Union abutting the Croxford property remains a public highway, or a public street, for purposes of the Salt Lake County ordinances. Although a public road may be closed temporarily, see Utah Code Ann. § 72-6-114 (Supp.2000), defendants offer no authority for the proposition that a public road can lose its legal status as a public road by being permanently closed rather than vacated. [19] ¶ 43 Because the segment of North Union Avenue bordering the Croxford property is a public street, the County must comply with the CUP and all other county zoning and roadway ordinances. To the extent there is not compliance, the County and Hermes are in violation of the CUP and the zoning and roadway ordinances and were improperly granted summary judgment.
¶ 44 The trial court held that 1070 East was created by a grant of easement from Hermes to the County and was not a public street. It came to that conclusion because of the terms of the grant of easement, including the fact that the right-of-way was to be used for the express permitted purpose of only ingress and egress of all pedestrian and vehicular traffic of the County and that Hermes held a right of reversion on the right-of-way. The trial court also justified its decision under section 17-27-1001(3) of the Utah Code, which grants deference to a County's land use decisions, including Ken Jones's determination that 1070 East is not a street. ¶ 45 In reviewing the district court's decision, we look again to the definition of a street in the county code. A street is a thoroughfare that is (1) dedicated or abandoned to the public or (2) made public by private right of use and the principal means of access to abutting property. See Salt Lake County Code of Ordinances § 19.04.515 (1997). The street designated 1070 East cannot be considered public by right of use because it clearly has not previously existed, let alone been used by the public, for a period of ten years. See Utah Code Ann. § 72-5-104 (Supp.2000). Thus, to be public, 1070 East must be dedicated as public in the instrument of its creation. It was created by a Grant of Easement for Public Right of Way, which was conveyed by Hermes to the County. This instrument reads, in pertinent part: Hermes[,] GRANTOR, as a requirement and in consideration of the passage of [Ordinance 1275] hereby GRANTS to: SALT LAKE COUNTY, ... GRANTEE, an easement for a public right of way for the express permitted purpose of only ingress and egress of all pedestrian and vehicular traffic of GRANTEE and its permitted assignees, and successors in interest, over and above ... certain real property.... Reserving upon GRANTOR, the right of the automatic reversion of said easement to the GRANTOR, in the event that GRANTOR acquires those certain lots. [20] Ordinance 1275 required Hermes to convey a twenty-five-foot-wide public right-of-way to the County to provide access to the north (or front) side of the Croxford property from 7240 South, which is unquestionably a public street. The instrument creating the right-of-way accordingly describes the right-of-way as being public, and for the purpose of providing ingress and egress of all pedestrian and vehicular traffic of the County and its permitted assignees. A County ordinance defines a private roadway as a roadway in private ownership which is controlled and maintained by the owners and not the County. Salt Lake County Code of Ordinances § 14.12.010(L) (1992). Clearly, 1070 East does not fit that definition. It is owned and controlled by the County. ¶ 46 We therefore hold that the right-of-way is public. The County does not contend that it has taken any measures to restrict who may use the right-of-way and does not dispute that as a matter of fact, it is open to the public. Nor do we think that because Hermes has an automatic reversion in the event that it ever acquires the Croxford property, the right-of-way is necessarily made private and not public. In sum, because 1070 East is a public way, it is subject to county zoning and roadway ordinances and the CUP.