A. Permit Requirements:
1. Permit Required: No person shall construct, build and establish, upon any portion of the public right of way, a sidewalk, without having obtained a written permit. All sidewalk construction shall be performed by a competent contractor who has the requisite skills and knowledge in sidewalk installation.
2. Application For Permit: Applications for permits shall be in writing to the Village Clerk and accompanied by the fee required. The application shall contain the name and address of the person making the application; the name of the contractor or person who is to construct or repair the sidewalk, and the proposed location and dimensions of the sidewalk.
3. Permit Fee: The fee for all permits shall be twenty dollars ($20.00), which said sum shall be returned upon completion of the sidewalk.
4. Issuance Of Permit: No permit for the construction, renovation, and/or improvement of a sidewalk shall be issued, except with the prior approval of the Commissioner of Streets.
B. Village Contribution to Cost:
1. Requests for sidewalk cost reimbursement will not be considered in connection with new building construction or to circumvent the requirements of the subdivision code.
2. These funds will be available for reimbursement on a first-come, first-served basis. Property owners meeting the requirements in this chapter and making request for reimbursement in advance of construction on the petition form will have their petitions approved unless the budgeted concrete sidewalk reimbursement amount has been exhausted.
3. Under this program, property owners must arrange for the installation of sidewalks through contracted labor. There will be no reimbursement for sand, gravel, removal of existing sidewalk, labor or other material including lumber used for forms. Reimbursement will not be made unless the sidewalk is inspected and approved by the building inspector or Commissioner of Streets after it is formed and before it is poured, and inspected and approved again after final finishing. To be eligible for reimbursement sidewalks must be installed at grades and elevations specified by the village. This information will be provided by the village prior to initial petition approval and prior to construction. No reimbursement will be made until after the new sidewalk has received a successful final inspection. Reimbursements will be made by check within a month of final approval to the property owner.
4. Reimbursements will only be made for concrete necessary to pour and complete a five-foot wide sidewalk, unless otherwise previously approved, on village property parallel to the street. The village will not reimburse for private walkways on public or private property, or for driveway aprons. Property owners may pour driveway aprons, driveways, private sidewalks, retaining walls, public sidewalks in excess of five-foot width and make other improvements at the same time they are pouring a reimbursable sidewalk, but only the quantity of concrete necessary to complete a five-foot wide sidewalk, unless otherwise previously approved, will be reimbursed at the rate delineated above.
5. All sidewalks constructed on village property under the provisions of this program shall belong to the Village of Seneca.
C. Sidewalk Specifications:
1. Concrete Required:
a. All sidewalks shall be constructed of Portland cement concrete Class X or Class A, a minimum of four inches (4") thick and five feet (5') wide where driveway entrances do not cross, except the width can be reduced to four feet (4') with the prior approval of the Commissioner of Streets.
b. Where driveways cross sidewalks, the existing walks shall be removed and replaced with Portland cement concrete to a minimum thickness of six inches (6").
2. Subgrade Preparation: The subgrade shall be tamped or rolled until thoroughly compacted to a depth sufficient for the placement of a minimum of a three inch (3") base. The base shall be tamped or rolled until thoroughly compacted. At locations where a sidewalk is constructed at entrances, the sidewalk shall be thickened to the thickness of the adjacent entrance or driveway pavement.
3. Side Forms: Side forms shall be of lumber of not less than two inch (2") nominal thickness or of steel of equal rigidity. They shall be held securely in place by stakes or braces with the top edges true to line and grade. Forms for the sidewalk aprons shall be set so that the slab will have a uniform fall between the sidewalk proper and the curb grade.
4. Placing And Finishing:
a. The subgrade shall be moistened just before the concrete is placed. The concrete shall be placed in successive batches for the entire width of the slab, struck off, mechanically vibrated, and finished to a true and even surface with floats and trowels. The final troweling shall be done with a steel trowel leaving a smooth, even surface. After the water sheen has disappeared the surface shall be given a final finish by brushing with a whitewash brush. The brush shall be drawn across the sidewalk at right angles to the edges of the walk with adjacent strokes slightly overlapping producing a uniform, slightly roughened surface with parallel brush marks.
b. The surface shall be divided by grooves constructed at right angles to the center line of the sidewalk. These grooves shall extend to one-fourth inch (1/4") in width, and shall be edged with an edging tool having a one-fourth inch (1/4") radius. No slab shall be longer than six feet (6') nor less than four feet (4') on any one side, unless otherwise ordered by the engineer. The edges of the slabs shall be edged as described above.
5. Expansion Joints: Expansion joints of the thickness specified below shall consist of preformed joint filler. The top of the joint shall be placed one-fourth inch (1/4") below the surface of the sidewalk.
a. One-Half Inch Thick Expansion Joints: Expansion joints one-half inch (1/2") thick shall be placed between the sidewalk and all structures such as light standards, traffic light standards, and traffic poles which extend through the sidewalk.
b. Three-Fourths Inch Thick Expansion Joints: Expansion joints three-fourths inch (3/4") thick shall be placed at intervals of not more than thirty feet (30') in the sidewalk. Where the sidewalk is constructed adjacent to pavement or curb having expansion joints, the expansion joints in the sidewalks shall be placed opposite the existing expansion joints as nearly as practicable. Expansion joints shall also be placed where the sidewalk abuts existing sidewalks between driveway pavement and sidewalk and between sidewalk and curbs where the sidewalk abuts a curb.
6. Backfilling: After the concrete has been cured, the spaces along the edges of the sidewalk shall be backfilled to the required elevation with approved material. The material shall then be compacted until firm and the surface neatly graded. (Ord. 90-13, 6-5-1990; amd. Ord. 99-20, 7-6-1999; Ord. 21-27, 8-17-2021)