(A) No owner of any lot or land abutting upon any street shall refuse, fail or neglect to repair or maintain, or to keep free from nuisance and obstruction, the sidewalk in front of said lot or land, or any trees in the street lawn causing damage to the sidewalk.
(B) If, upon inspection, the Director of Public Service finds that the sidewalks abutting any land are in need of repair, the city shall physically mark the sidewalk pad in need of repair. Thereafter, the Director shall mail to the property owner a notice directing the owner to make repairs in accordance with the standards established by the Engineering Department.
(C) For the purpose of this section, a sidewalk shall be considered to be defective for any of the following reasons:
(1) Any block having multiple cracks or any single crack larger than one-fourth of an inch wide;
(2) Adjoining sections of a block, or portion thereof, whose edges differ vertically by three-fourths of an inch or more;
(3) Blocks having a transverse slope in excess of three-fourths of an inch per horizontal foot towards the street;
(4) Blocks having a reverse slope (toward the property) that impounds water to a depth of one-half of an inch or more;
(5) Blocks having depressions that impound water to a depth of one-half of an inch or more; and
(6) Blocks having disintegrated or deteriorated areas.
(D) Within 30 days from the receipt of a notice from the Director, the property owner of the abutting land shall repair the damaged sidewalk himself or herself or hire a private contractor. If the damaged sidewalk is not repaired within this time period, the Director shall repair the sidewalk(s) and shall, thereafter, mail an invoice to the property owner requesting payment at a rate established each year by Council, which may be less than the actual cost of the repairs per square foot due to Council's desire to encourage and assist property owners in repairing damaged sidewalks abutting their property. The property owner shall pay in full the invoice within 30 days after receiving it. If the property owner does not pay the invoice in the office of the Director of Finance within the 30-day period, then the Director of Public Service shall certify the unpaid invoice/ assessment to the County Auditor to be placed on the tax duplicate and collected in accordance with the assessment schedule posted in the Finance Director's office.
(E) Upon providing the notice set forth in division (C) above, the Director of Public Service shall also mail a copy of this section to the property owner, with instructions for the city's sidewalk replacement program established by this section.
(Ord. 9-1995, passed 2-27-1995)