In This Section
A road vacation removes the public interest in a County road right-of-way and relinquishes the property to the abutting property owners. The State laws authorizing and guiding the vacation process are available in the California Legislative Information website under Streets and Highways Code - SHC starting at Section 8320.
Not every road can be vacated. Some right-of-way is needed for continued or future public use and some right-of-way cannot be vacated by law. If you have questions about a particular road or right-of-way, contact us and we can discuss your situation.
Please see the Road Easement Vacation Application(PDF, 426KB).
If you choose to begin this process, you can email a completed application, along with a copy of the legal description map, to rightofway@fresnocountyca.gov. Please call 559-600-4109 for any questions.
An application fee of $559 is also required before this request can be processed. The $559 application fee will need to be delivered via regular mail or in person, at your earliest convenience. For regular mail, send payment to:
Attention: Real Property - Road Vacation Application Design Division Department of Public Works and Planning 2220 Tulare St. 6th Floor Fresno CA 93721
Once the initial application fee of $559 has been processed, County staff will begin the initial feasibility study.
When the initial feasibility study is complete you will be contacted by staff to go over the results. If the determination is made that the request has merit you will be advised that your application can move on to the next phase and will be classified as "General" (most applications are General) or "Summary" (for specific cases where the adjoining road has been impassible and unmaintained for at least five years).
At that time an additional General Fee of $2,720 or Summary Fee of $1,559 will be required to move on to the next phase. In either case, the request will be considered by the County Board of Supervisors at a public hearing. You will be informed of the date of the public hearing.
Additional fees, information, processes and professionally prepared documents may be required, which you will be notified of in writing.