A. Any final plat filed in the office of the county clerk may be vacated or a portion of the final plat may be vacated if:
(1) the owners of the land proposed to be vacated sign an acknowledged statement, declaring the final plat or a portion of the final plat to be vacated; and
(2) the statement is approved by the board of county commissioners of the county within whose platting authority the vacated portion of the subdivision is located.
B. In approving the vacation of all or a part of a final plat, the board of county commissioners shall determine whether or not the vacation will adversely affect the interests of persons on contiguous land or persons within the subdivision being vacated. In approving the vacation of all or a portion of a final plat, the board of county commissioners may require that streets dedicated to the county in the final plat continue to be dedicated to the county. The owners of parcels on the vacated portion of the final plat may enclose in equal proportions the adjoining streets and alleys that are authorized to be abandoned.
C. The approved statement declaring the vacation of a portion or all of a final plat shall be filed in the office of the county clerk in which the final plat is filed. The county clerk shall mark the final plat with the words "Vacated" or "Partially Vacated" and refer on the final plat to the volume and page on which the statement of vacation is recorded.
D. The rights of any utility existing prior to the vacation, total or partial, of any final plat are not affected by the vacation of a final plat.
History: 1953 Comp., § 70-5-7, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 348, § 7; 1995, ch. 212, § 7.
ANNOTATIONSThe 1995 amendment, effective July 1, 1996, substituted "final plat" for "plat" throughout the section; substituted "final plat" for "original plat" in the second sentence of Subsection B and in two places in Subsection C; substituted "parcels" for "lot" in the third sentence of Subsection B; and made minor stylistic changes.
Law reviews. — For note, "Gabaldon v. Sanchez: New Developments in the Law of Nuisance, Negligence and Trespass," see 9 N.M.L. Rev. 367 (1979).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 62 C.J.S. Municipal Corporations § 84.