There are some chicken and egg issues involved here.
Before the town can complete the contract by closing streets, it must hold public hearings. Those hearings require public notice at least four weeks in advance. Here are the relevant provisions from North Carolina General Statutes:
§ 160A‑299. Procedure for permanently closing streets
and alleys.
(a) When a city proposes to permanently close any
street or public alley, the council shall first adopt a resolution declaring
its intent to close the street or alley and calling a public hearing on the
question. The resolution shall be published once a week for four successive
weeks prior to the hearing, a copy thereof shall be sent by registered or
certified mail to all owners of property adjoining the street or alley as shown
on the county tax records, and a notice of the closing and public hearing shall
be prominently posted in at least two places along the street or alley. If the
street or alley is under the authority and control of the Department of
Transportation, a copy of the resolution shall be mailed to the Department of
Transportation. At the hearing, any person may be heard on the question of
whether or not the closing would be detrimental to the public interest, or the
property rights of any individual. If it appears to the satisfaction of the
council after the hearing that closing the street or alley is not contrary to
the public interest, and that no individual owning property in the vicinity of
the street or alley or in the subdivision in which it is located would thereby
be deprived of reasonable means of ingress and egress to his property, the
council may adopt an order closing the street or alley. A certified copy of
the order (or judgment of the court) shall be filed in the office of the
register of deeds of the county in which the street, or any portion thereof, is
located.
(b) Any person aggrieved by the closing of any street
or alley including the Department of Transportation if the street or alley is
under its authority and control, may appeal the council's order to the General
Court of Justice within 30 days after its adoption. In appeals of streets
closed under this section, all facts and issues shall be heard and decided by a
judge sitting without a jury. In addition to determining whether procedural
requirements were complied with, the court shall determine whether, on the
record as presented to the city council, the council's decision to close the
street was in accordance with the statutory standards of subsection (a) of this
section and any other applicable requirements of local law or ordinance.
No cause of action or defense founded upon the invalidity
of any proceedings taken in closing any street or alley may be asserted, nor
shall the validity of the order be open to question in any court upon any
ground whatever, except in an action or proceeding begun within 30 days after
the order is adopted. The failure to send notice by registered or certified
mail shall not invalidate any ordinance adopted prior to January 1, 1989.
(c) Upon the closing of a street or alley in
accordance with this section, subject to the provisions of subsection (f) of
this section, all right, title, and interest in the right‑of‑way
shall be conclusively presumed to be vested in those persons owning lots or
parcels of land adjacent to the street or alley, and the title of such
adjoining landowners, for the width of the abutting land owned by them, shall
extend to the centerline of the street or alley.
The provisions of this subsection regarding division of right‑of‑way
in street or alley closings may be altered as to a particular street or alley
closing by the assent of all property owners taking title to a closed street or
alley by the filing of a plat which shows the street or alley closing and the
portion of the closed street or alley to be taken by each such owner. The plat
shall be signed by each property owner who, under this section, has an
ownership right in the closed street or alley.
(d) This section shall apply to any street or public
alley within a city or its extraterritorial jurisdiction that has been
irrevocably dedicated to the public, without regard to whether it has actually
been opened. This section also applies to unopened streets or public alleys
that are shown on plats but that have not been accepted or maintained by the city,
provided that this section shall not abrogate the rights of a dedicator, or
those claiming under a dedicator, pursuant to G.S. 136‑96.
(e) No street or alley under the control of the
Department of Transportation may be closed unless the Department of
Transportation consents thereto.
(f) A city may reserve its right, title, and interest
in any utility improvement or easement within a street closed pursuant to this
section. Such reservation shall be stated in the order of closing. Such
reservation also extends to utility improvements or easements owned by private
utilities which at the time of the street closing have a utility agreement or
franchise with the city.
(g) The city may retain utility easements, both public
and private, in cases of streets withdrawn under G.S. 136‑96. To retain
such easements, the city council shall, after public hearing, approve a
"declaration of retention of utility easements" specifically
describing such easements. Notice by certified or registered mail shall be
provided to the party withdrawing the street from dedication under G.S. 136‑96
at least five days prior to the hearing. The declaration must be passed prior
to filing of any plat or map or declaration of withdrawal with the register of
deeds. Any property owner filing such plats, maps, or declarations shall
include the city declaration with the declaration of withdrawal and shall show
the utilities retained on any map or plat showing the withdrawal. (1971, c. 698, s. 1; 1973, c. 426, s. 47; c. 507, s. 5;
1977, c. 464, s. 34; 1981, c. 401; c. 402, ss. 1, 2; 1989, c. 254; 1993, c.
149, s. 1.)
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