Sec. 11.1 Authority. - In addition to any authority which is now or may hereafter be granted by general law to the city for making street and sidewalk improvements, the city council is hereby authorized to make street and sidewalk improvements and to assess the cost thereof against abutting property owners in accordance with the provisions of this article.
Sec. 11.2 Street improvements; when petition unnecessary. - The city council may order street improvements and assess the cost thereof, exclusive of the costs incurred at street intersections, against the abutting properties at an equal rate per front foot, without the necessity of a petition, upon the finding by the council as a fact:
(a) That the street improvement project does not exceed twelve hundred lineal feet, and
(b) That such street or part thereof is unsafe for vehicular traffic and it is in the public interest to make such improvement, or
(c) That it is in the public interest to connect two streets, or portions of a street already improved, or
(d) That it is in the public interest to widen a street, or part thereof, which is already improved; provided, that assessments for widening any street or portion of street without petition shall be limited to the cost of widening and otherwise improving such street in accordance with the street classification and improvement standards established by the city's thoroughfare or major street plan for the particular street or part thereof to be widened and improved under the authority granted by this article.
Sec. 11.3 Street improvements defined. - For the purposes of the preceding section, the term `street improvement' shall include grading, regrading, surfacing, resurfacing, widening, paving, repaving, the acquisition of right of way, and the construction or reconstruction of curbs, gutters and street drainage facilities.
Sec. 11.4 Sidewalk improvements. - The city council is hereby authorized to cause sidewalks to be constructed or sidewalk improvements or repairs to be made in accordance with standards and specifications of the city, and to assess the total cost thereof against abutting properties, without the necessity of a petition; provided, that the council may order the cost of sidewalk improvements made on only one side of a street to be assessed against the properties abutting both sides of such street.
Sec. 11.5 Assessment procedure. - In ordering street or sidewalk improvements without a petition and assessing the cost thereof under authority of this article, the city council shall comply with the procedure provided by article 10, chapter 160A of the General Statutes [of North Carolina], except those provisions relating to the petition of property owners and the sufficiency thereof.
(Amended by Senate Bill 1497, passed 6-4-90)
Sec. 11.6 Effect of assessments. - The effect of the act of levying assessments under authority of this article shall for all purposes be the same as if the assessments were levied under authority of article 10, chapter 160A of the General Statutes [of North Carolina].
(Amended by Senate Bill 1497, passed 6-4-90)
Sec. 11.7 Maintenance of sidewalks. - It shall be the duty of every property owner in the city to maintain in good repair and to keep clean and free of debris, trash, and other obstacles and impediments the sidewalks abutting his property. The city council is hereby authorized to establish by ordinance a procedure whereby city forces may repair or clean any sidewalk or remove therefrom any trash, debris, or other obstacles or impediments upon the failure of the abutting property owner after ten days' notice to do so. In such event, the cost of such repair, cleaning, or removal shall become a lien upon the abutting property equal to the lien for ad valorem taxes, and may thereafter be collected either by suit in the name of the city or by foreclosure of the lien in the same manner and subject to the same rules, regulations, costs and penalties as provided by law for the foreclosure of the lien on real estate for ad valorem taxes. The authority and procedure of this section as to repair of sidewalks shall be supplementary to the authority and procedure of section 11.4 [of this Charter], and the city council may, in its discretion, proceed under either section in causing sidewalks to be repaired.
Sec. 11.8 Acceptance of conveyance in satisfaction of assessments. - The city tax collector or other official or employee of the city having charge of the collection of special assessments, shall have the right, power, and authority, by and with the approval of the city council first had and obtained, to receive and accept a fee simple conveyance to the city of any lot or parcel of land in the city, free and clear of other encumbrances, in full settlement and satisfaction of all street and sidewalk assessments outstanding and unpaid against such property. Such right, power, and authority, however, shall be limited to a conveyance of the whole of the lot or parcel of land against which the particular assessment or assessments involved were levied. No lot or tract of land may be divided and such right, power, and authority exercised as to a part, only, of the property originally embraced in and covered by said assessment or assessments. In the case of such conveyance, it shall not be necessary that the street or sidewalk assessment or assessments against the property be foreclosed; but the city, upon the receipt of any such conveyance, shall become and be the absolute fee simple owner of the property, as fully to all intents and purposes as if purchased in and through foreclosure proceedings for the enforcement of such street and sidewalk assessment or assessments.