(a) Approval. The hearing examiner shall render a recommendation to the city council on proposed plat vacations.

(b) Criteria for Approval. The proposed plat vacation may be approved or denied after a written determination is made whether the public use and interest will be served by the proposed vacation of the subdivision. If any portion of the land contained in the subdivision was dedicated to the public for public use or benefit, such land, if not already deeded to the city, shall be deeded to the city unless the hearing examiner and city council find that the public use would not be served by retaining the public interest in such land.

(c) Vacation of Streets or Other Public Rights-of-Way. When the vacation application specifically proposes vacation of a city street or other public right-of-way, the city's street vacation procedures shall be utilized. When the application is for the vacation of a plat together with any street or other public right-of-way, the procedure for vacation in this section shall be used, but no street or other public right-of-way may be vacated contrary to the provisions of Chapter 35.79 RCW.

(d) Easements established by a dedication are property rights that cannot be extinguished or altered without the approval of the easement holder, unless the plat or other document creating the dedicated easement provides for an alternative method or methods to extinguish or alter the easement. (Ord. 2173, § 2 (Exh. A), 2022.)