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A Board of Sidewalk Appeals consisting of the Director of Capital Projects, a member of Council to be elected by Council and the Director of Law or his or her duly authorized representative, shall serve as the board to hear and determine any protests filed by property owners or their agents as to sidewalks, curb or gutter construction, reconstruction or repair, or any written notices issued pursuant to Charter Section 164. Additionally, the board shall hear and determine any other appeals that the board is designated to review under the Codified Ordinances of Cleveland, Ohio, 1976.
(Ord. No. 704-2023. Passed 7-12-23, eff. 7-17-23)
If protests are filed prior to the doing of the work called for by the notice, the Board of Sidewalk Appeals shall have authority to modify, alter or revoke any such notice as to the amount or type of work required, or the time in which it must be completed, consistent with the City ordinances and the specifications regarding sidewalk, curbing and gutter construction, reconstruction or repair. The Board shall also have the authority to waive strict compliance with such requirements where such compliance would cause undue hardship, provided such waiver will not cause or continue a public nuisance or an unsafe condition. Protests filed under this section must be filed no later than thirty (30) days after the service of the notice issued pursuant to Charter Section 164.
(Ord. No. 717-65. Passed 6-7-65, eff. 6-9-65)
If a protest is filed after the work provided for in the notice to the property owner has been completed, the authority of the Board of Sidewalk Appeals shall be limited to a determination that the amount of the bill is correct, that the bill has been properly charged against the affected property and that the work as performed was in accordance with the notice served the property owner. If the Board finds that an amount has been incorrectly charged against the property, but that work, for which the City contractor is entitled to payment, has been performed, it may order that such payment be made from the fund provided for the payment of the City’s portion of sidewalk work. Protests filed under this section must be filed no later than thirty (30) days after the receipt of the bill from the City.
(Ord. No. 717-65. Passed 6-7-65, eff. 6-9-65)
Any protests regarding sidewalk, curb or gutter construction, reconstruction or repairs, or the assessment therefor, shall be filed in writing with the Director of Public Service, who shall notify the person filing such protest of the date and place of hearing before the Board of Sidewalk Appeals.
(Ord. No. 717-65. Passed 6-7-65, eff. 6-9-65)
(a) No owner or occupant of abutting lots or lands shall fail to keep the sidewalks, curbs, and gutters in repair and free from snow, ice or any nuisance.
(b) In addition to the duty contained in division (a) of this section, no owner or occupant of abutting lots or lands which are used, in whole or in part, for the operation of a business, or which previously have been used for the operation of a business and are now vacant, shall maintain sidewalks with the characteristics contained in division (a) of Section 505.12. As used in this division, “business” means any enterprise, activity, profession or undertaking of any nature conducted for profit or ordinarily conducted for profit, whether by an individual, partnership, association, corporation or any other entity, but not including the rental of residential premises.
(c) An owner or occupant of abutting lots or lands who fails to comply with division (a) or, if applicable, division (b) of this section:
(1) Shall be liable in money damages to any person who, as a result of such owner’s or occupant’s failure to comply, sustains bodily injury or property damage while in the lawful use of the sidewalk (an “injured party”); and
(2) Shall be liable to and reimburse the City for all money paid by the City on any claim made or judgment obtained against the City by an injured party.
(d) When the Director of Public Service determines that an owner fails to keep the sidewalks, curbs, and gutters in repair because those sidewalks have one (1) or more of the characteristics set forth in division (a) of Section 505.12, the Director shall serve or cause to be served upon such owner a notice which states in detail the nature of the violation. The notice shall also contain an estimate of the cost to repair the sidewalk, curb, or gutter and shall notify the owner that he or she may submit payment of the estimated amount, which amount shall be the full amount unless there exists a properly authorized program subsidizing these repair costs, to the City by a certain date and enter into an agreement with the City to effectuate the repairs. Funds submitted as an estimated amount shall be deposited in fund No. 10 SF 057 and said funds are appropriated for sidewalks, curb or gutter repair purposes. Upon receipt of the estimated amount and the agreement, the City will construct or repair the sidewalk. If the actual cost of construction or repair is not equal to the estimated amount, the City will bill the owner for any additional cost or reimburse the owner from Fund No. 10 SF 057 for any amount paid to the City that exceeds the actual cost. The agreement required above shall contain such terms and provisions as determined by the Director of Law to protect and benefit the City. This notice is not a substitute for the notice described in division (b) of Section 505.12, but may be issued with that notice.
(Ord. No. 1729-01. Passed 10-22-01, eff. 11-1-01)
(a) Sidewalks having the following characteristics are determined to be in need of maintenance:
(1) Any block having multiple cracks or any single crack larger than one-fourth (1/4) inch wide;
(2) Adjoining sections of block, or portion thereof, whose edges differ vertically by one-half (1/2) inch or more;
(3) Any block with a transverse slope in excess of three-eighths (3/8) inch plus or minus one- eighth (1/8) inch per horizontal foot toward the street;
(4) Any block with a reverse slope (a slope away from the street);
(5) Any block with a depression or depressions that impound water to a depth of one- quarter (1/4) inch or more;
(6) Any block with disintegrated or deteriorated areas or missing pieces or missing particles of aggregate;
(7) Any adjoining blocks the expansion or control joints of which are separated by one-half (1/2) inch or more;
(8) Any block which the Director of Public Service determines to be hazardous, regardless of whether it has any of the characteristics set forth in paragraphs (1) through (7) of this division.
(b) When the Director of Public Service determines that an owner is in violation of the provisions of division (b) of Section 505.11 because the sidewalk or sidewalks abutting said owner’s property have one (1) or more of the characteristics set forth in division (a) of this section, said director shall serve or cause to be served upon such owner a notice which states in detail the nature of the violation. The notice shall further provide that within thirty (30) days after service of the notice, the recipient thereof shall:
(1) Remedy the violation;
(2) Appeal the Director’s determination to the Board of Sidewalk Appeals; or
(3) Submit payment and enter into an agreement pursuant to division (d) of Section 505.11.
The notice shall clearly indicate to the recipient that if the recipient fails to take one (1) of the three (3) steps listed in this division within thirty (30) days after service of the notice, the recipient may be found guilty of a fourth degree misdemeanor.
(c) If an appeal is filed after service of the notice provided for in division (b) of this section, the Board of Sidewalk Appeals shall have the authority to modify, alter or revoke any such notice as to the amount or type of work required or the time in which it must be completed, consistent with City ordinances and specifications regarding sidewalk maintenance. The Board shall also have the authority to waive strict compliance with such requirements where such compliance would cause undue hardship, provided such waiver will not cause or continue a public nuisance or an unsafe condition. The Board shall issue an order setting forth its findings and indicating the period of time within which the owner must comply therewith.
(d) If the Board of Sidewalk Appeals issues an order pursuant to division (c) of this section, the property owner to whom the order applies may appeal such order to the Board of Zoning Appeals established pursuant to Charter Section 76-6. Written notice of such appeal shall be filed with the Board within ten (10) days after the making of such order. Within ten (10) days after the filing of such notice, the Board shall proceed to hear such appeal, at which hearing all parties interested shall be afforded an opportunity to be heard. The Board shall approve, modify or annul the order from which the appeal has been perfected, and the decision of the Board shall be final with respect to all parties thereto.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision contained in this section, any notice served pursuant to division (b) of this section between November 15 of one (1) year and February 1 of the succeeding year to an owner of a parcel of land which is located within the Central Business District shall provide that the violation shall be remedied or the Director’s determination appealed within thirty (30) days of the end of that period. Any order issued pursuant to division (c) of this section and any decision of the Board of Zoning appeals pursuant to division (d) of this section shall take into consideration the provisions of Section 505.05.
(f) Any owner who violates the provisions of division (b) of this section or fails to comply with or appeal an order of the Board of Sidewalk Appeals issued pursuant to division (c) of this section within the period set forth in said order or fails to comply with the decision of the Board of Zoning Appeals pursuant to division (d) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. Each day during which noncompliance or a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense. Provided that the fine set forth herein shall not, with respect to any one (1) service of notice, exceed three (3) times the cost of the sidewalk maintenance required in such notice, as estimated by the Director of Public Service. The fine set forth herein is mandatory and shall not be suspended by the court, in whole or in part. All fines collected for violations of this section, or an amount equal to the fines collected, shall be credited to the Neighborhood Sidewalk Assessment Fund, and such monies are hereby appropriated for the purposes for which the fund was created.
(Ord. No. 837-2000. Passed 7-17-00, eff. 7-25-00)
(a) Every person owning any parcel of land abutting upon any sidewalk, curb or gutter within the City shall construct or repair such sidewalk, curb or gutter within fifteen (15) days after the service of notice to construct or repair required by Charter Section 164.
(b) If the abutting property owner does not perform such necessary construction or repair after receipt of notice, the Director of Public Service may proceed to carry out construction or repair pursuant to the provisions of Charter Section 165.
(c) If the Director of Public Service causes any such sidewalk, curb or gutter to be so constructed or repaired, said director shall report all expense of construction or repair plus a penalty of fifteen percent (15%) of the expense for failure to comply with division (a) of this section to the Director of Finance, who shall report such expense and penalty to Council. The fifteen percent (15%) penalty shall thereupon be assessed against the abutting property in the same manner as all other expenses or penalties arising out of the construction or repair of the sidewalk, curb or gutter.
(Ord. No. 242-05. Passed 4-25-05, eff. 4-29-05)
(a) The Director of Public Service may create a program for the City to repair sidewalks on residential property in the right-of-way that are designated by the Department of Public Service as being in an unsafe or dangerous condition, when the City receives voluntary payment of fifty percent (50%) of the estimated shared costs of repair from the owner of the property on which the sidewalk is located. Shared costs shall include, but not be limited to, any cost the City or its contractor incurs, such as the cost of paving or repairing, adjustment of castings, reseeding lawns, or grinding tree roots, except that shared costs shall not include costs incurred in removing a full tree.
(b) The Director shall run the sidewalk repair program in any year that funds are appropriated for the program.
(c) The program shall be available to any property owner whose residential sidewalks are determined by the Director of Public Service to be in an unsafe or dangerous condition, on a first-come, first- served basis, to the extent funds are available.
(d) The Director shall not authorize a contractor to perform sidewalk repairs on a property until the owner has paid his or her fifty percent (50%) share based on the Director’s written estimate.
(e) After the repair is completed, the Commissioner of Licenses and Assessments shall bill the owner of the property for his or her fifty percent (50%) portion of actual costs that exceed the Director’s estimate. The Commissioner of Licenses and Assessments shall issue a refund to the owner of the property for his or her fifty percent (50%) portion of actual costs that are below the Director’s estimate. Any refunds must be paid on or before March 31 of the year following completion of the work.
(f) That the Director of Public Service is authorized to promulgate rules for the program. The rules shall take effect upon publication in the City Record.
(Ord. No. 277-05. Passed 3-28-05, eff. 3-30-05)
(a) The Director of Mayor's Office of Capital Projects shall have the authority to accept on behalf of the City, a grant of an easement and any required appurtenances from any person, firm, corporation or political subdivision for the purpose of installing and maintaining sidewalks of conventional or non-conventional sidewalk installation, while preserving a tree in the right of way that would otherwise be removed. Such grant shall be an easement across the property owner's frontage. The Director of Mayor's Office of Capital Projects is further authorized to release on behalf of the City an easement acquired pursuant to this section no longer needed for the purposes for which it was acquired, and no sooner than five (5) years following the completion date of the sidewalk installation. All such easements and releases of easements must be approved by the Director of Law and filed with the County Recorder at the City's expense. The Director is further authorized to execute on behalf of the City all documents necessary to accept such easement and appurtenance rights.
(b) If for any reason, the tree dies or is removed in the future, the property owner may construct the sidewalk within the right-of-way and remove the sidewalk from the easement at the property owner's cost. Such property owner may request the release of the sidewalk easement at the City's expense.
(Ord. No. 890-2022. Passed 11-7-22, eff. 11-11-22)
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