Request By:
Mr. Sherman Dean, Jr.
Jessamine County Judge/Executive
Courthouse
Nicholasville, Kentucky 40356
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
You have written us that Jessamine County owns a farm on which is located a recreation park and a future county fair. The property adjoins the boundaries of the city of Nicholasville. An owner of lots in a subdivision adjoining the county property agreed to rearrange the division of his lots to provide a road access from the county property to a city street. The City Planning Commission approved the subdivision change, but the city commission refuses to sign the plat for recording under the authority of KRS 82.400.
You raise the following questions:
"Does KRS 82.400 apply only to roads or streets which a city legislative body considers as subject to acceptance into the city road system (now or in future) or does it apply to any and all streets in the city limits regardless of possible acceptance by the city? Must the city legislative body approve every map and plat as to every proposed street in the city? If a proposed street is to be maintained by the county, is the approval of the city legislative body required under KRS 82.400?"
KRS 82.400(1) reads:
"(1) Whenever any person desires to offer for dedication by recorded plat any public way or easement within the city limits, he shall file with the city legislative body a map or plat of the territory bounded, intersected or immediately adjacent to the proposed public way or easement, showing the proposed name, nature and dimensions of the public way or easement offered for dedication. If the city legislative body decides the proposed dedication would be beneficial to the public interest and suitable for the immediate or future acceptance of the city, it shall approve the map or plat, and the mayor shall subscribe a certificate of approval of the map and acknowledge the execution thereof before any public officer authorized to take acknowledgments of deeds. The map or plat may then be recorded in the office of the county clerk."
A city may exercise any power and perform any function within its boundaries that is in futherance of a public purpose of the city and not in conflict with a constitutional provision or statute. KRS 82.082. Here the city government is not mandated to accept the proposed dedication of the street easement by plat. The city commission may accept or reject the proposed street easement, according to its sound judgment in assessing the criterion as to whether the proposed dedication would be beneficial to the public interest and suitable for immediate or future acceptance of the city. In applying that criterion, the city commission can consider the relation or interrelation of the proposed street with the pre-existing city street network.
You ask whether the approval of the city legislative body is required where the proposed street is to be maintained by the county.
If the city commission approves the proposed street, that means the street will become a part of the city street system, and the city will have exclusive municipal jurisdiction or control over it. KRS 82.082. However, the fiscal court of Jessamine County may maintain the proposed street as a part of the county road system under the authority of KRS 178.010 and KRS 67.083, assuming that the city approves of the dedication, subject to the approval of the city commission. See