Item Number: 1
City Council / Board of Directors
Public Hearing(s)
Meeting of: October 21, 2025
Submitted By:
Fredy Bonilla, City Engineer
Subject:
Vacation of California Avenue Excess Right-of-Way and CEQA Determination Recommendation:
That the Honorable City Council:
(1) Open and conduct a public hearing to consider the vacation (abandonment) of portions of roadway and landscape easements on California Avenue; (2) Hear evidence offered by persons interested in the vacation; (3) Find the vacation not subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15060(c)(2) and 15060(c)(3); and
(4) Adopt Resolution No. 25-068 vacating the easement dedications as described and depicted by the exhibits attached thereto and ordering the recordation of the same.
Fiscal Impact:
There is no impact as a result of this action.
Strategic Plan Goal:
This item aligns with “Goal C - Community and Economic Development” in the Victorville Strategic Plan 2023-2026. The vacation of the excess right-of-way will allow for future development of the vacant parcels which have already been entitled.
Background:
Dedication of easements for public street and landscaping purposes were offered to the City of Victorville by Parcel Map No. 13880 which was recorded on August 18, 1992.
These existing easements are located along California Avenue just east of Amargosa Road from Roy Rogers Drive to Valley Park Lane, as shown on the attached Vicinity Map (Attachment B).
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The excess right-of-way proposed for vacation by the City is shown in the exhibits attached to Resolution 25-068 (Attachment A, Exhibits A & B). The dedicated, but unimproved road, is not a master planned road, nor does it contain any existing utilities, and the vacation would not create any landlocked parcels.
Discussion:
On November 19, 2024, property owners requested the vacation of excess right-of-way (“ROW”), as it is no longer needed for public street improvements required by the City of Victorville and will be incorporated into the approved property development (Attachment C). As a result of this request, City Staff reviewed California Streets and Highways Code (“SHC”) Division 9, Part 3 to determine if the excess ROW could be vacated. Staff determined the excess ROW may be vacated by utilizing the General Vacation Procedures in SHC Sections 8320 – 8325, provided certain preliminary requirements of the SHC are met.
SHC Section 8313 requires the City Council to consider the City's General Plan prior to vacating a street. As required, the Planning Commission, considered the matter and on October 8, 2025, approved Planning Case No. PLAN24-00024, which included an entitlement for the development of a multi-tenant commercial retail center at the southeast corner of Roy Rogers Drive and Amargosa Road. SHC Sections 8314 and 892 require a determination that the excess ROW is not useful as a non-motorized transportation facility (i.e., a bikeway) prior to approval of an abandonment. This determination is supported by the City’s General Plan Circulation Element, which provides for such facilities within the portions of ROW along Amargosa Road, between Roy Rogers Drive and Valley Park Lane that are not being vacated.
Prior to adopting a resolution to vacate a street, the General Vacation Procedure requires the City Council to hold a public hearing to consider input from interested parties and determine that the described ROW is unnecessary for present or prospective public use, as outlined in Resolution No. 25-068.
SHC Section 8320(b) requires the public hearing notice to include a legal description and map of the street or portions thereof to be vacated and for said notice to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City for two successive weeks prior to date of the hearing. The City complied with this requirement by publishing the public hearing notice, including a legal description and map of the street or portions to be vacated (Attachment A - Exhibits A & B), in the Valleywide Newspaper on October 3, 2025, and October 10, 2025.
SHC Sections 8332 and 8323 further require that notices of the vacation be posted conspicuously along the line of the proposed vacation at least two weeks prior to the date of the public hearing, a requirement with which City Staff has also complied. The proposed vacation is exempt from environmental review under CEQA Guidelines sections 15060(c)(2) and 15060(c)(3) as it involves vacating portions of street easements that are no longer needed. Consequently, the action will not have a reasonably foreseeable direct 4 3
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or indirect impact on the environment, and does not qualify as a project subject to CEQA under Guidelines section 15378.
Staff recommends that the Honorable City Council: open and conduct a public hearing to consider the vacation of the excess ROW (easements); hear evidence offered by persons interested in the vacation; find the vacation not subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act; and adopt the attached Resolution No. 25-068 making the findings needed to vacate easements as described and depicted by the attached exhibits.
Staff is available for any questions Council may have.
Prepared By:
Fredy Bonilla, City Engineer
Attachments: A. Resolution No. 25-068
B. Vicinity Map
C. Letter from property owners requesting the vacation