ARTICLE 905
Construction and Maintenance
905.01   Town standards.
905.02   Repairs.
905.03   Duty to keep sidewalks clear.
905.04   Signs; awnings.
905.05   Permit required to encumber streets, sidewalks or public places.
905.99   Penalty.
 
CROSS REFERENCES
General power to regulate - see W. Va. Code 8-12-5(1)
Special charges for street cleaning etc. - see W. Va. Code 8-13-13
Connection to State road system - see W. Va. Code 17-4-26 et seq.
Action for damages occasioned by defective streets - see W. Va. Code 17-10-17
Street obstructions - see W. Va. Code 17C-14-11
 
 
 
905.01 TOWN STANDARDS.
   Streets, sidewalks, gutters and curbs shall be laid out, graded, constructed, maintained and repaired only in accord with Town standards. The term “Town standards” as used in this article means the requirements of an ordinance in any particular case, or in the absence or silence of any ordinance, then the plans, specifications, materials and methods set out in rules and regulations of the Town Manager as approved by resolution of Council.
(1973 Code §22-1; Passed 5-4-23.)
905.02 REPAIRS.
   (a)   The owners of real estate abutting on any sidewalk shall keep the sidewalk and driveway entrance or apron adjacent to their properties in good repair. Any property owner failing to keep the sidewalk or driveway area adjacent to his property in repair shall be liable to reimburse the Town for all loss that it may sustain, or any damage, cost or expenses that may be imposed upon it by reason of the failure of the property owner to perform such duty.
   (b)   In the event any sidewalk or driveway entrance is out of repair and the owner of the abutting property has not upon his own initiative repaired it, the Town Manager may serve notice upon the owner of the property adjacent to the sidewalk or driveway entrance so out of repair, if he is a resident, or upon his agent if he is a nonresident, requiring the owner to repair or rebuild, where necessary, any such sidewalk or driveway entrance within a time stated in the notice. In the event of the failure of the property owner, or his agent, to rebuild or repair the sidewalk or driveway entrance within the specified time, the Town Manager may have such work done and may assess the cost thereof against the abutting landowner and the amount thereof may be collected by the Treasurer by distress and sale, or otherwise as provided by law for the collection of taxes, and he shall offer the assessment to be docketed in the office of the Clerk of the County Court as a lien against the property in the same manner as an original sidewalk assessment; provided, that where a dangerous condition exists in such sidewalk or driveway, the property owner shall be required to begin such repair or rebuilding within ten days from the receipt of such notice.
(1973 Code §22-2, 22-3; Passed 5-4-23.)
905.03 DUTY TO KEEP SIDEWALKS CLEAR.
   Every person or public institution using or occupying in any manner or for any purpose whatsoever any house, store, shop, garage, tenement or building of any kind, or any vacant lot, and all persons having charge of churches and public buildings of every description, and the owners of unoccupied houses and unimproved or unoccupied lots abutting on a sidewalk in the Town, and their agents shall within three hours after the fall of any snow or the formation of any ice on the sidewalk on which the property abuts, remove and clear, or cause to be removed and cleared, the snow and ice in such manner as to leave the sidewalk free and clear of the deposits and in such manner as not to obstruct the passage of water in the gutter adjacent to the sidewalk; provided that if snow falls or ice forms between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. the following morning, such snow or ice shall be removed before 10:00 a.m. The persons mentioned herein and their agents shall keep the gutters, downspouts and drains serving their properties so located and in such a state of repair that water, snow or ice shall not fall, flow or escape therefrom onto the adjacent sidewalk. (1973 Code §22-4)
905.04 SIGNS; AWNINGS.
   (a)   No person shall construct, install or maintain on any street, sidewalk or public place any sign, awning, fixture or other structure without a permit to do so issued by the Town Manager.
   (b)   No person shall construct, install or maintain any sign, awning, banner, fixture or other structure so that it overhangs any street, sidewalk or public place without a permit to do so issued by the Town Manager; and no permit under this subsection shall authorize anything which may be a hazard to the public health, safety or convenience, nor shall any such permit authorize anything to overhang any street, sidewalk or public place by less than seven feet from the surface thereof.
(1973 Code §22-5; Passed 5-4-23.)
905.05 PERMIT REQUIRED TO ENCUMBER STREETS, SIDEWALKS OR PUBLIC PLACES.
   (a)   No person shall, without a permit to do so issued by the Town Manager encumber any street, sidewalk or public place with merchandise boxes, trash or other substances so as to interfere in any way with the free and unobstructed use thereof by the public.
   (b)   Permits granted pursuant to this section shall state what, if any, safety barriers, lights, warning signs or other safety precautions shall be required of permit holders, and no person holding any such permit shall fail to comply with the requirements thereof.
   (c)   The removal of red lanterns, barricades or other safety devices placed on the streets, sidewalks, other public places and on construction projects, public or private, in the Town as a warning or protection for the public by persons unauthorized to remove the same, or the willful, careless or negligent destruction of such lanterns, barricades or safety devices is hereby prohibited. (1973 Code §22-6 to 22-8; Passed 5-4-23.)
905.99 PENALTY.
   (EDITOR’S NOTE: See Section 101.99 for general Code penalty.)