14-423.   Improving and vacating streets and alleys; reversion of land;recording of ordinance.The governing body of any city of the second class shall have power toopen, widen, extend or otherwise improve any street, avenue, alley, orlane, and also to vacate or discontinue the same and also to vacate orcancel any lot, block, townsite, part of townsite, addition or part ofaddition whenever deemed necessary or expedient. Beforethe governing body shall open, widen or extend any street, avenue, alley,or lane, it shall proceed to condemn or acquire by purchase or gift thenecessary lands as provided by law.Whenever any street, avenue, alley, or lane shall be vacated, the sameshall revert to the owners of real estate thereto adjacent on each side inproportion to the frontage of such real estate, except in cases where suchstreet, avenue, alley or lane shall have been taken and appropriatedto public use in different proportions, in which case it shall revert toadjacent lots of real estate in proportion as it was taken from them, andwhenever any lot, block, townsite, part of townsite, addition or part ofaddition shall be vacated, all of the streets, avenues, alleys, and lanestherein shall revert as above provided.

      Immediately after an ordinance opening, widening, extending, or vacatingany street, avenue, alley or lane or vacating any lot, block, townsite,part of townsite, addition or part of addition becomes effective, theclerk of the city shall file a copy thereof which has been certified bythe clerk as a true and correct copy in the office of the county clerk and inthe office of the register of deeds. The county clerk shall enter thesame in the transfer records of the county clerk'soffice. The register of deedsshall record the same in the deed records of the county and no fee shall becharged by the county clerk or register of deeds for such entering orrecording. No reversion provided for hereinshall be so applied as to divest any person of possession who is in actualor constructive possession of such property.The ordinance so vacating, discontinuing, or canceling shall provide thatthe same shall become effective 30 days after the publicationthereof unless one or more interested parties file a written protest beforethe expiration of such time.

      In the event such a protest is filed in the office of the city clerk ofthe city within such time the governing bodyshall set the same forhearing 10 days after the end of the30 day period abovementioned. The hearing may be continued from time to time, and at theconclusion thereof the governing body shall adopt a resolutionconfirming the vacation ordinance and the same shall then be filed withthe county clerk and register of deeds as provided above, or in the eventsuch resolution is not adopted, the vacation ordinance shall be void andof no effect.

      History:   R.S. 1923, § 14-423; L. 1939, ch. 129, § 1; L. 1951,ch. 142, § 2; L. 1961, ch. 102, § 1; L. 1984, ch. 65, § 6; July 1.