The property owners want to vacate the roads and alleys marked with cross-hatching on this surveyor’s map. The roads exist only on paper.
A property owner in the town of Methow wants to vacate two roads and two alleys that were drawn on paper more than a century ago but never constructed. The roads were sketched out across six building lots that property owners Joe and Lorianne Kitzman hope to consolidate into a single parcel.
In the early 1900s, tiny lots, some of which could barely accommodate a tent, were drawn on plats for towns throughout the county, Okanogan County Engineer Josh Thomson said. Many of these roads were never built, but if owners want to realign property boundaries, the roads need to be formally vacated, he said.
The Kitzmans, who’ve lived in Methow for decades, have a house on one of the lots. The other five have been in agriculture, mostly apples and alfalfa, Joe Kitzman said. Consolidating the lots would preserve the farmland and prevent someone from developing the land with small houses. The Kitzmans’ lots are about 100 feet wide — three 150 feet long and three 420 feet long. Most of the lots are too small to build on today, Kitzman said.
Although the roads and alleys were never constructed, they do have names. The petition for vacation asks to vacate part of Augusta Avenue east of Main Street, all of East Street north of Blanche Avenue, and two alleys.
The county commissioners directed Thomson to report on the roads and their utility to the county. There will be a public hearing on the petition for vacation on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 2:30 p.m. in the commissioners’ auditorium in Okanogan. People can testify at the hearing or submit written comments in advance to Project Coordinator Jo Ann Stansbury at jstansbury@co.okanogan.wa.us.
For more information, contact Stansbury in Okanogan County Public Works at (509) 422-7300.
