Yamhill County road vacations are authorized by Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 368 and County Ordinance # 625. Basically, there are two process types:

1. Application to vacate with a public hearing and

2. Petition to vacate without the requirement of a public hearing

An application process requires notification of all potentially affected property owners of the public hearing, publication of the notice of hearing in publications of general circulation in the county for specific periods prior to the hearing, and posting of the notice in three locations required by statute. As of September 1, 2005 the current fee for an application is $1000 (Board Order #02-288) The application process can take up to 90 days, and even longer if problems arise during the proceedings.

A petition process requires that the owners, as shown in the Deed and Mortgage Records of Yamhill County, of 100% of any private property proposed to be vacated and 100% of property abutting any public property proposed to be vacated sign a petition requesting the vacation. All signatures of petitioners must be individually notarized. As of September 1, 2005 the current fee for a petition process is $300. The petition process generally takes less than a month to complete.

Upon completion, either process will require an additional recording fee to be paid to the Yamhill County Clerk for recording the documents in the Deed and Mortgage Records. The Board Order vacating the property will not be recorded in the Deed and Mortgage Records until the recording fee is paid.

An applicant or petitioner will be required to complete the appropriate application or petition form, depending on the process selected. The appropriate form together with a map showing with specificity the location and extent of the proposed road vacation, along with the associated processing fee, must be submitted to the Yamhill County Public Works Department, 2060 Lafayette Avenue, McMinnville, Oregon, 97128. The county will prepare the property description unless you already have one meeting the road official’s approval.

Questions may be directed to Dan Linscheid, county surveyor, at (503) 472-9371, ext. 3621.

Here are links to the forms:

1. Application to Vacate a Public Road requiring a public hearing

2. Petition to Vacate a Public Road without the requirement of a public hearing

3.     Acknowledgement form (may be required based on multiple applicants or petitioners)