(a) “Owner” means:
(1) In the case of land, any person who is recorded on the tax records as the owner of land, or
(2) In the case of property other than land, any person who is in lawful possession thereof.
(b) “Occupant” means:
(1) A person who is in physical possession of property, or
(2) A person who has responsibility for, and control over, the condition of a property, the activities conducted on that property, and the persons allowed to enter that property.
(c) “Person” includes any individual, corporation, society, association, partnership or firm, and the successor or the heir, executor, administrators, or other legal representatives of a person.
(d) “Sidewalk” means that part of a highway especially adapted to the use of or ordinarily used by pedestrians and includes that part of the highway between the curb line (or the edge of the roadway where there is no curb line) and the adjacent property line, whether or not paved or improved.
(e) Every occupant, owner or person of every house, shop, building, lot, parcel of land or other property that adjoins or is abutting to or on a sidewalk in the City of St. Marys shall be charged with the responsibility to keep such sidewalk in good state of repair and free from defects and debris. Failure to maintain will result in the City of St. Marys undertaking such repair or remedy and charging back to the property owner. On any claim presented for bodily injury or property damage on the sidewalk, the adjoining or abutting property owner shall be held liable in tort for such damages to another. Alternatively, should the City of St. Marys be called upon to make such payment to a third party, the City will look to the adjoining/abutting landowner for contribution and indemnity.
(Ord. 2004-6. Passed 9-21-04.)