Procedure for Vacating a Street or Alley.
Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 308-28
in effect308-28. Procedure for Vacating a Street or Alley.
1. ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNERS OR COMMON COUNCIL TO INITIATE. Pursuant to s. 62.73, Wis. Stats., vacation of any street or alley under the control of the city may be initiated either by a petition to the common council signed by the owners of all property which abuts the street or alley proposed for vacation or by a resolution adopted by the common council. Vacation may be initiated by common council resolution only if the city, one of its affiliated agencies or another governmental unit is the owner of property abutting the street or alley proposed for vacation, or if the vacation is a necessary component of a publicly-supported project of the city, one of its affiliated agencies or another governmental unit.
2. FILING OR FORWARDING OF PRELIMINARY VACATION APPLICATION OR VACATION INITIATION RESOLUTION. A preliminary application for vacation of a street or alley may be submitted by any owner of property which abuts the street or alley proposed for vacation. Such application shall be filed with the department of city development and shall be accompanied by the appropriate fee specified in s. 81-116-1. Alternatively, whenever the common council adopts a resolution initiating vacation proceedings, the city clerk shall forward a copy of the resolution to the department of city development.
3. DEPARTMENT OF CITY DEVELOPMENT TASKS. Upon receipt of a preliminary application for vacation of a street or alley, or a resolution initiating a vacation, the department of city development shall:
a. Prepare and submit to the city clerk, for introduction by the common council, a resolution vacating the street or alley proposed for vacation. If the vacation was initiated by common council resolution and the council desires to waive the charges identified in s. 81-116-1-c, the vacation resolution shall identify a specific alternative funding source, including a budgetary account number, to cover the costs associated with the vacation.
b. Forward a copy of the application or resolution to the department of public works for completion of the tasks specified in sub. 4.
4. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS TASKS. Upon receipt of a preliminary vacation application, or resolution initiating a vacation, from the department of city development, the department of public works shall complete the following tasks:
a. Prepare a map and legal description of the area to be vacated, said map and description to be used in processing the vacation proposal. Such map shall also show the boundaries of all properties which abut the area to be vacated and the tax key numbers of such properties.
b. If the vacation procedure was initiated by an application from a property owner, attach to the map and legal description one or more separate sheets of paper that list all tax key numbers shown on the map, along with the names of the owners of record of the corresponding properties as specified in the records of the commissioner of assessments. Next to each name there shall be a space for the property owner’s signature and a space for notarization of such signature. This combination of map, legal description and ownership information shall constitute a vacation petition.
c. Provide notice of the proposed vacation to each private utility serving the area in question.
d. Transmit copies of the map and legal description, along with a request for written comments on the proposed vacation, to each division of the department of public works and to the fire department. The department of public works shall prepare a single, coordinated report containing comments and other information provided by its divisions and the fire department. The coordinated report shall include a statement of the costs that will be incurred by the city as a result of the vacation, including, but not limited to, costs of easement preparation, pavement and light removal, closing of intersections, utility relocation or abandonment and equity in catch basins and street trees. In addition, the coordinated report shall include a benefit assessment for the proposed vacation prepared by the department of public works in accordance with s. 66.0703, Wis. Stats.
e. Transmit the completed map, legal description, list of tax key numbers and property owner names (if required) and coordinated report to the department of city development. The department of public works shall make its best effort to provide all of these items to the department of city development within 30 days of receipt of the preliminary vacation application, and, in the case of a vacation initiated by an application from an abutting property owner, may transmit the vacation petition to the department of city development before transmitting the coordinated report so as to expedite the process of collecting signatures on the petition.
5. COMPLETION OF APPLICATION. If a vacation petition was prepared pursuant to sub. 4-b, the department of city development shall, upon receipt of such petition from the department of public works, provide a copy of the vacation petition to the person who submitted the application so that said person may collect the notarized signatures of all owners of abutting property. Once all signatures have been collected, they shall be submitted along with the map and legal description to the department of city development and shall constitute a completed application for vacation of a street or alley.
6. PROCESSING OF VACATION PROPOSAL. Upon receipt of the map, legal description and coordinated report from the department of public works (in the case of a vacation initiated by common council resolution) or the completed vacation application described in sub. 5 (in the case of a petitioner-initiated vacation), the department of city development shall proceed to perform each of the following:
a. File a notice of the pendency of the application or proposal for vacation in the office of the Milwaukee county register of deeds.
b. If the vacation proposal was initiated by common council resolution, prepare a written report on the proposed vacation and submit such report to the city plan commission and the common council. This report shall include a summary of the comments, easement requests and vacation-related costs, if any, identified in the coordinated report of the department of public works, as well as the department of city development’s evaluation of whether the vacation would be detrimental or beneficial to the public and to the city in terms of such factors as property access, traffic circulation, future land development and future use of the street or alley to be vacated.
c. If the vacation was initiated by a petition signed by the owner or owners of abutting property, mail written notice to the petitioner of any benefit assessment and vacation-related costs for the proposed vacation, as identified by the department of public works pursuant to sub. 4-d. Such notice shall indicate that the department of city development will schedule a proposed vacation for city plan commission action only after it has received full payment from the petitioner of any benefit assessment and vacation-related costs. The department of city development shall forward the required payment to the department of public works. Following receipt of the required payment, the department of city development shall schedule the proposed vacation for plan commission action and prepare the report required by par. b. In the event that the common council does not adopt the resolution vacating the street or alley, the city clerk shall inform the department of public works of such fact and the department shall return such deposited monies to the petitioner.
7. NOTICE OF HEARING. Owners of record of all property which abuts the portion of street or alley proposed to be vacated shall be notified by the city clerk of the common council committee hearing in the manner specified in s. 62.73, Wis. Stats., unless the owners waive notice of the hearing. If only part of a street or alley is proposed to be vacated, owners of record of all property which abuts the remainder of that street or alley in the block in which the portion of the street or alley proposed for vacation is located shall be notified by the city clerk of the common council committee hearing by first-class mail at least 5 days in advance of the hearing. The city clerk shall use the most current property ownership information available from the commissioner of assessments.
8. RECORDING OF RESOLUTION. Whenever the common council has adopted a vacation resolution, the department of city development shall record a certified copy of the resolution, together with the map and legal description of the area vacated, with the Milwaukee county register of deeds and mail a copy of the resolution to the petitioner.
Source: City of Milwaukee Legislative Reference Bureau, Milwaukee City Charter and Code of Ordinances (city.milwaukee.gov master PDFs)URL: https://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/ccClerk/Ordinances/Volume-3/Master-V3.pdf#page=84Fetched: 10/26/2026