Public street abandonment can occur when the Board of Supervisors determines that a road is no longer necessary for public use. Public street abandonment is a formal process where the Board of Supervisors extinguishes the public's right of passage and vests ownership of the right-of-way to abutting landowners. Non-use does not constitute legal abandonment.

Key reasons for abandonment include:

• Lack of Public Necessity: The road is no longer needed for public travel.
• Safety and Welfare Concerns: The road may be dangerous, creating a liability for Fauquier County.
• Replacement by New Roads: A new, compliant road has been built that serves the same citizens.
• Paper Streets: The road exists as a "paper street", where the road, street, or alley is shown on a subdivision map, deed, or recorded plat and was never physically constructed, opened for public use, or maintained.
• Redundancy: The road is no longer needed for traffic flow.

Property owners may request that the Board of Supervisors abandon a public street adjacent to their property. The first step is to meet with Community Development staff to discuss the potential public street abandonment, to gauge the potential of the abandonment meeting one of the reasons above. If the public street abandonment appears to be reasonable, the property owner (or their representative) will need to research and obtain (from the Fauquier County Record Room) a copy of the relevant deed or plat that created the public street. The property owner will also need to prepare an exhibit showing the portion of the street(s) to be abandoned and the public right-of-way being transferred to abutting properties. This information is then submitted, as a formal application, to Community Development, who will then guide the request through the formal process that involves obtaining permission from the Board of Supervisors to advertise a public hearing, a Board of Supervisors public hearing, and finally (if passed by the Board of Supervisors), recording of an Ordinance which abandons the public street and associated exhibit.

Public Street Abandonment Submission Requirements

• Land Development Application with original signatures
• 3 copies of an exhibit showing the proposed abandonment
• 3 copies of the deed showing the original creation of the street
• Fee - $550 (including the technology fee)
• Flash drive containing individual PDFs of all submission materials - do not include any financial information (i.e., copy of checks)