All,

I have a council-manager city that has traditionally required citizens abutting alleys to maintain them. However, it was recently discovered that this responsibility had never been codified and so we are working on ordinances to address this issue.

I have seen several cities that require property owners abutting alleys to maintain from their property line to the middle of an alley, but I haven't found the authority for this to be enforced. I also ran across Byford v. Town of Asher, a 1994 OK Supreme Court case (No. 75,489) that appears to require cities to maintain alleys in a reasonably safe condition just like they maintain streets.

Does anyone have any experience with ordinances regarding rights and responsibilities with respect to city-owned alleys? Specifically, a city's ability to require an abutting landowner to maintain a portion of the alley, to prevent obstructions by requiring a citizen to cut down hedges, trees, etc.

Any guidance or direction on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Christopher Lind
Attorney

NICHOLS | DIXON
ATTORNEYS

104 E. Main Street Norman, OK 73069
T:405.579.3739 | F:405.701.5275
nicholsdixon.comhttp://www.drewnicholslaw.com/

Christopher,

I looked at this years ago, and recall that my conclusion was as follows:

1. If the alley was dedicated pursuant to a plat, then the city has an easement for the alley.  City does not own the fee simple.
2. If the alley was never developed and opened to the public, then the city does not have an obligation to maintain the alley.  In the Byford case, as I recall, the alley had been opened and the city had performed some historic maintenance.
3. Because the city had no duty to maintain the property, the adjoining owners of the underlying fee would have the obligation to maintain to the middle of the alley.
4. City could give notice to mow under the nuisance ordinance, and impose the mowing fee as a lien if the owner failed to do so.

I could not find my body of research, but hopefully this will point you in the right direction.  I did not research the issue of the extent to which a city could require removal of trees or hedges.

Jonathan E. Miller
City Attorney
City of Mustang
1501 N. Mustang Road
Mustang, Oklahoma 73064
Telephone: (405) 376-7746
Facsimile: (405) 376-7721

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Subject: [Oama] Alley Maintenance

All,  I have a council-manager city that has traditionally required citizens abutting alleys to maintain them. However, it was recently discovered that this responsibility had never been codifie
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All,

I have a council-manager city that has traditionally required citizens abutting alleys to maintain them. However, it was recently discovered that this responsibility had never been codified and so we are working on ordinances to address this issue.

I have seen several cities that require property owners abutting alleys to maintain from their property line to the middle of an alley, but I haven't found the authority for this to be enforced. I also ran across Byford v. Town of Asher, a 1994 OK Supreme Court case (No. 75,489) that appears to require cities to maintain alleys in a reasonably safe condition just like they maintain streets.

Does anyone have any experience with ordinances regarding rights and responsibilities with respect to city-owned alleys? Specifically, a city's ability to require an abutting landowner to maintain a portion of the alley, to prevent obstructions by requiring a citizen to cut down hedges, trees, etc.

Any guidance or direction on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Christopher Lind
Attorney

NICHOLS | DIXON
ATTORNEYS

104 E. Main Street Norman, OK 73069
T:405.579.3739 | F:405.701.5275
nicholsdixon.comhttps://us-west-2.protection.sophos.com?d=drewnicholslaw.com&u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5kcmV3bmljaG9sc2xhdy5jb20v&i=NjBhNjhkYzZhZmIzMmUwZjVhOTkxZDZk&t=VUgzeUxLSkRFbmxrZlMrZlpsRnZUUWVTbEtISk4yUmtkZWN3YSthQkp3QT0=&h=ff1c895f969e405e8729c4d2978268b9&s=AVNPUEhUT0NFTkNSWVBUSVYwiDSt18cnlPbW9bTFlV1ZfummaworVCN8q0WfxCo9ips1Os8sxFMJXNGwWU_9nWuO1pVEpCvAYoNQNMfqAtzH