Alabama Attorney General Opinion 1979-0090

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CHARLES A. CRADDOCK ATTORNEY Honorable George W. Roy Mayor, Town of Calera Calera, Alabama 35040 STATE OF ALABAMA • MONTGOMERY. ALABAMA 36 79- poop `) 5 Municipalities - Calera Streets and Alleys - Property Town may sell vacated alley if it owns the fee to the property. • Dear Mayor Roy: Acknowledgement is made to your request for an opinion from the Attorney General as to the following matter: Recently the Town Council of the Town of Calera was petitioned by property owners to vacate an alley. The question came up if the Town could sell the dedicated alley property to the property owners making the request to vacate the alley. This particular alley has never been opened and used by the public, and the Town does not have any utility easements through it. Is it legal for the Town to sell the street or alley property when it is vacated or does the property auto- matically revert back equally to the adjoining property owners? The law concerning the vacation of streets and alleys upon the request of abutting landowners is found at Code of Alabama 1975, Section 35-2-54. At common law and presumptively the fee to the middle of the street is in the abutting property owner. Cloverdale Homes v. Town of Cloverdale, 182 Ala. 419, 62 So. 712; McCraney v. City of Leeds, 239 Ala. 145, 194 So. 451. Where the abutting Honorable George W. Roy Page 2 owner is owner of the fee to the property he becomes entitled to absolute ownership of that part of the vacated street or alley in which he has fee. Grand Trunk Western R. Co. v. City of Flint, D. C. Mich., 55 F.2d 334, affd. C.A 69 F.2d 604. However, it may be the case that fee to the vacated alley or street belongs to the city by deed or otherwise. In that case, the property may be sold to the abutting landowners under the power of the city to sell or alienate its property. Code of Alabama 1975, Section 11-47-20. Therefore, it is probable that the fee to the vacated alley belongs to the abutting landowners and the property will revert back to them automatically, but if fee to the alley belongs to the city it may sell the property to the abutting owners. If our office can be of further help to you, please do not hesitate to call on us. Very truly yours, CHARLES A. GRADDICK Attorney General By c2ti LYNDA F. KNIGHT Assistant Attorney General LFK/sg ti