(a) As used in this section, “sidewalk” means that portion of the street between the curb lines or the lateral lines which is designated for use by pedestrians. “Property owner” means an owner, occupant, agent, superintendent, officer, member, partner, trustee or receiver of any lot or land.
(b) (1) A property owner of any lot or land abutting upon any street shall be primarily responsible for the repair of the sidewalk in front of the lot or land and shall also be primarily responsible for keeping such sidewalk in repair and free from nuisance and obstruction.
(2) Any hole or defect that is capable of causing injury, inconvenience or damage to sidewalk users shall be repaired by the abutting property owner within a reasonable period of time from the time the property owner should have known of the necessity of such repair through the exercise of due diligence, or within such period of time as may be determined to be reasonable by the Director of Public Service at the time the repair work is determined to be necessary.
(3) The failure of a property owner to reasonably repair such defect within the applicable time frame shall be considered a negligent act as a matter of law and the property owner shall be liable for any injury resulting from such defect.
(c) The property owner of each and every parcel of real estate in the Municipality abutting upon any sidewalk shall keep such sidewalk free and clear of snow and ice and shall remove therefrom all snow and ice accumulated thereon within a reasonable time, which will ordinarily not exceed 12 hours after the abatement of any storm during which the snow and ice may have accumulated.
(d) No property owner of commercial or multifamily units having three or more family units contained therein shall fail to keep the parking lots and means of ingress and egress in repair and free and clear of all snow and ice or any nuisance, nor shall any such owner allow any of the off-street parking facilities, or means of ingress to and egress from such facilities, which are required as accessory to the use of the subject property, to be obstructed in any manner whatsoever, or to be reduced below the required number or size as long as the main use remains, unless an equivalent number of parking spaces is provided for such use, or other means of ingress and egress are provided, in other locations approved by the Department of Public Service.
(e) No property owner or person in control shall place merchandise or other objects of any kind upon the sidewalk or continuation thereof or knowingly permit such merchandise or objects to remain thereon.
(f) If, after due notice from the Director of Public Service ordering the repair of a sidewalk, the removal of an obstruction or the abatement of a nuisance, the property owner fails to comply with the notice, Council, by resolution, shall cause the sidewalk to be repaired. All expenses and labor costs incurred shall, when approved by Council, be paid out of Municipal funds not otherwise appropriated. Council shall make a written return to the County Auditor of its action, with a statement of the charges for its services, the amount paid for labor, the fees of the officers serving the notices and a proper description of the premises. The amounts, when allowed, shall be entered upon the tax duplicate, shall be a lien upon the lands from and after the date of the entry and shall be collected as other taxes and returned to the Municipality for the General Fund.
(g) Whoever violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(Ord. 1996-8. Passed 4-22-96.)