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Who is responsible for sidewalks?

Jesse Bailey
Wed, 27 May 2015 22:30:41 GMT

The LA Times ran this interesting article about sidewalks and the huge ADA settlement they are dealing with to get into compliance. http://www.latimes.com/local/cityhall/la-me-sidewalks-20150527-story.html Who is responsible for sidewalk repair and maintenance in your town, city or the adjacent property owner? Who pays for the initial construction? What are the pros and cons to each, and what would a strong town do? I'm grappling with this myself. My inclination is to say it is in the public realm; therefore it's a city responsibility just like the carriageway is a city responsibilty. Imagine if property owners were supposed to maintain the asphalt in front of their property? But on the other hand, the LA case shows how neglectful a city can be. What are your thoughts?

Josef Bray-Ali
Thu, 28 May 2015 05:18:47 GMT

Donald Shoup wrote a thorough history of sidewalks in Los Angeles and how it came to be the city's responsibility to maintain them after a one-time federal grant covered maintenance in the mid to late-1970's.

Jesse Bailey
Thu, 28 May 2015 18:33:53 GMT

Thanks Josef. I'd like to read that; can you link to it?

Josef Bray-Ali
Thu, 04 Jun 2015 19:54:55 GMT

Yes! Here it is: http://www.uctc.net/access/36/access-36brokensidewalks.pdf

Jesse Bailey
Thu, 04 Jun 2015 21:59:31 GMT

Thanks!

Andrew Price
Thu, 11 Jun 2015 18:01:27 GMT

I was typing a long post but then I lost it. :( I might as well turn it into a blog post instead.

Andrew Price
Thu, 11 Jun 2015 19:04:35 GMT

I'm going to turn this into a blog, but I'll write a quick summary here from my research. In most American cities (with exceptions to the few large cities that were around pre-20th century), the modern sidewalk came from buildings having a 'porch' - something that was always privately owned. After all, streets were always open and fair to everyone, there was little reason to build a 'path for people' through this . At the start of the 20th century, we established this idea that the street was a place for people (we drew out lanes for cars, came up with road rules for cars, we made jay walking illegal.) The 'porch' was considered private property, and it evolved into the sidewalk of today - something property owners would have to build themselves if they wanted it. The few exceptions were the large established pre-20th century cities. In established crowded cities, streets were known to be very dirty; they often had open drains, sewage and waste water would drain out into the open, horse waste would accumulate. Out of concerns for hygene and being a more affluent place, many city governments established a network of 'walking paths' throughout the city (which are very similar to today's sidewalks and crosswalks.) In America today, with Complete Streets and all, we have this view that streets and roads are automatically for cars, and that's not fair to people not driving, and so the city should build sidewalks along every street and road. In places like the UK, the streets and roads is still a legal realm for pedestrians (even though most would consider standing in a travel lane full of cars would be dangerous and keep to the side.) Rules go back for centuries regarding traffic of road (such as what happens when a pedestrian and a wagon reach a narrow crossing, usually the one lowest on the food chain would have priority), there's no such thing as jaywalking, and so early roads built just for motor vehicles would be called 'motor roads' to give them the ability to prevent pedestrians from crossing except at designated points. To get back to your question - who should be responsible for the sidewalk - you really have to ask "What is a street?" If it's a tool to simple connect properties together via automobile (a car-centric viewpoint I disagree with, but your community is allowed it's view), then no. Sidewalks would be an extra that property owners would build if they wanted. If a street is part of the public realm - a tool to not only to get between properties built along it, but part of the public realm where people can meet, collaborate, preach, advertise, trade, play, and rest - then yes. Your city should be responsible for maintaining the entire public realm, not just the motor-realm.

whitemice
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 11:12:48 GMT

Here in Grand Rapids, MI - until last year - the sidewalk was the responsibility of the property owner. As a result sidewalks were often pretty bad, ADA-like improvements rarely happened, and at best sidewalks where inconsistent. We had an election, including a property tax adjustment, to have the city take over sidewalks. It passed overwhelmingly. The improvements to sidewalks just a year later is noticeable. Now one can report a bad sidewalk through the city's website and track the repair, etc... Huge improvement.

Dave Lippert
Fri, 09 Oct 2015 14:41:01 GMT

Still the property owners responsibility in Houston but the city is trying to help streamline the process. http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/City-proposing-to-help-homeowners-fix-bad-6195348.php

Jesse Bailey
Fri, 09 Oct 2015 15:22:37 GMT

I had a good discussion not about sidewalk maintenance responsibilities, but street tree maintenance. Do any cities follow a similar procedure as the one @josef describes for maintaining street trees?

rachelquednau
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 19:54:04 GMT

I think that if street maintenance is the purview of a city government, then sidewalks should be too. It's frustrating to me when so many people don't shovel their sidewalks and it makes life very challenging for someone walking or using a wheelchair, yet the street is perfectly plowed for cars. In my opinion, this is a service that would be improved with centralized control and action, instead of just the nebulous threat of fining people if they don't shovel (which rarely happens, I bet).

Jason Haremza
Fri, 16 Oct 2015 21:38:59 GMT

I'm not sure I agree with Mr. Price's historical context. In my part of the world, Upstate New York, cities and villages were first platted in the early 19th century and the sidewalk was almost always part of the public right-of-way. It did not evolve from privately owned "porches." In my city, sidewalk maintenance and sidewalk snow removal is the responsibility of the municipality. Property owners are assessed a small "sidewalk maintenance fee" on their tax bill based on the linear frontage their property has. I find it to be a very fair system. Sidewalks are public infrastructure and should be maintained as such.

dhofmann
Fri, 16 Oct 2015 22:14:53 GMT

I like the idea of the sidewalk maintenance fee in that it fairly charges people for the amount of sidewalk in front of their property and therefore discourages wide street frontages, but at the same time it also discourages wide sidewalks. If the scope of that fee were extended to the middle of the street, it would discourage wide streets rather than wide sidewalks, and I think that's a better result.

Dan Allison
Fri, 16 Oct 2015 23:30:36 GMT

Sidewalks are part of the transportation network, and as such, should be the responsibility of the city/county to repair. Agencies have been able to build more roads/stroads, that we don't need, because they have shifted the burden of sidewalk repair to property owners. I'm not as sure how I feel about sidewalk maintenance, snow in winter and leaves in fall. Yes, the general pattern is that roads are plowed first, and sidewalks later if ever. However, I also saw an instructive winter in Reno when some streets were never plowed (too few plows for the storm), but the property owners cleared the sidewalks. That was nice, a winter storm traffic calming of immense value!

JimthePE
Sat, 17 Oct 2015 03:36:02 GMT

@Jason Haremza, I don't think he's entirely wrong, given that NYS Highway Law refers to "boardwalks." In NY, the city, village or town is responsible for maintenance, even if the sidewalk is along a state of county road. Quite a few have laws requiring the adjacent land owner to shovel snow. The City of Albany is notorious for not removing snow in front of its own properties.

Randy Garbin
Mon, 26 Oct 2015 12:16:36 GMT

We are currently dealing with this issue here in Jenkintown. I've launched a blog devoted specifically to this issue, because our borough has embarked upon a comprehensive paving program while simultaneously citing sidewalks AND CURBS that homeowners must also repair directly.. A public resource is a public responsibility, especially if where the public policy lavishes its largesse upon the roads, but not the sidewalks. This policy of forcing homeowners to take fully responsibility for a large chunk of a public right of way amounts to yet another authomobile subsidy. I have no problem shoveling snow off my sidealk. I happily accept that responsibility, but forcing me to fully steward a community asset that I barely use myself is just plain wrong. And finally, this forum is one of the very few other places I've found online that is even mentioning this situation. While I've long been an advocate for walkable communities, almost no one (until now) has addressed how we fund their creation and maintenance. Please visit my site at http://www.walkablejenkintown.com. I need your help!

Dennis Beaman
Wed, 28 Oct 2015 01:16:18 GMT

In my community, property owners are responsible for repair, cleaning, and keeping sidewalks clear. However, if you're Walmart, they'll gladly waive those fees for you.

John Lam
Thu, 10 Dec 2015 23:22:34 GMT

The mayor of Rochester NY [proposed legislation](DemocratandChronicle.com/story/news/2015/12/02/rochester- winter-snow-shoveling-sidewalks-accessibility/76620236/) for City Council to change the City code, making the property owner solely responsible for clearing snow from the sidewalks. The existing law holds first-floor tenants also responsible, which in practice is hard to enforce. The article above and [here](ReconnectRochester.org/southeast/2015/12/04/city-of-rochester-sidewalk-snow-clearing) delve into the proposed changes.

Randy Garbin
Thu, 28 Jan 2016 17:12:03 GMT

I've yet to see Strong Towns officially weigh in on this subject. I believe it's long overdue.