Does a closed street automatically become the property of the adjoining owners?
In 1940, a the section of Monroe Street between 1st and 2nd street in a nearby town was closed by city ordinance because the Corps of Engineers was constructing a floodwall across it. I haven’t seen the ordinance, but the City Engineer looked at it and says that all it says is that the street is closed. Jefferson Street is to the east, Madison Street is to the west.
My client owns the 2 blocks either side of Monroe Street between the floodwall and 2nd Street. The description in the deed is for 2 tracts, each tract being one of the blocks, each being described as bounded on the north by the floodwall, the south by 2nd street, the east by Jefferson Street (Tract I),or the west by Madison (Tract II). The boundary on the Monroe Street side in each description only says “bounded by Monroe Street, if extended”. There is no separate description for the portion of Monroe that was closed. There have been several owners of the property since 1940. All deeds have the same description.
I”ve pointed this out to the owners and the City, waiting to hear back from them. Some are thinking that the strip automatically went to the adjoiners when it was closed and a deed wasn’t necessary. I’m thinking there should be a deed to clean it up. How would it be handled where you are located? Would you include the strip in a boundary survey based on the description in the deed?
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