The vacating of streets, highways or other public ways within or abutting the area affected by the disaster, in whole or in part, by the voluntary action of the governmental agency under whose jurisdiction the streets, highways, or ways are vested, for the purpose of making it possible for the court to mitigate the hardships suffered by entities because of the change in land boundaries caused by the disaster can be accomplished by the affected governmental agency expressing the offer in the proceedings followed by the court's acceptance thereof in an action authorized by this chapter, without complying with any other formalities of law.
§ 751.58.Vacating of Streets, Highways Or Other Public Ways
Title 10. Actions In Particular Cases · Chapter 3.6. Cullen Earthquake Act · Enacted 1972 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 751.58 lets a governmental agency voluntarily vacate streets, highways, or other public ways within or abutting the disaster area, without following any other legal formalities, when the agency offers the vacation in the proceedings and the court accepts the offer to mitigate landowners' boundary losses.
Full Text of § 751.58
Plain-English Summary
Ground movement doesn't respect the line between public streets and private lots, and this section gives the court a tool to use public land to ease private losses. A governmental agency with jurisdiction over streets, highways, or other public ways within or abutting the disaster area can voluntarily vacate them, in whole or part, for the specific purpose of letting the court mitigate the boundary hardships the disaster caused affected landowners.
The mechanism is deliberately simple: the agency expresses the offer to vacate within the action's proceedings, and the court accepts it. That combination — offer plus acceptance — accomplishes the vacation without requiring the agency to comply with whatever other legal formalities would normally govern street vacation.
These voluntarily vacated areas then feed directly into the judgment. Section 751.60 directs the court to allocate the released land equitably among contiguous parcels, and § 751.61 requires the court to give effect to that allocation when it reaches its boundary conclusions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a government agency vacate a street to help resolve this kind of case?
Yes, if the street or way is within or abuts the disaster area, and the agency voluntarily offers the vacation for the purpose of mitigating landowners' boundary losses.
What formalities does the agency have to follow to vacate the street?
None beyond what this section describes — the agency expresses the offer within the proceedings, the court accepts it, and no other formalities of law need to be satisfied.
What happens to the vacated land afterward?
Under § 751.60, the court allocates it equitably to contiguous lots as part of the judgment resolving the disaster-caused boundary changes.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1972, Ch. 936.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: vacating streets cullen earthquake act california