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Strickland's sidewalk repair measure fails
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More from County NewsSACRAMENTO — The sidewalk that runs in front of your home doesn't belong to you. It's city property. But if it cracks, the city can ask you to fix it, or even do the repairs and then send you the bill.
That's the way the law has been in California for nearly 70 years.
On Wednesday, Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Moorpark, took a stab at changing it but was tripped up in the effort.
"If you own it, you fix it," Strickland argued. "I can't think of any other situation where your neighbor is responsible for fixing your property. What's so special about sidewalks?"
Strickland proposed a bill, AB1985, that would have specified that cities and counties are solely responsible for the repair of sidewalks and shoulder sole liability for injuries caused by sidewalks in ill repair. The measure was voted down in the Assembly Local Government Committee on a party-line vote, with majority Democrats opposed.
The two Republican committee members, both former mayors, said the issue had never been a problem for them, as their cities routinely made and paid for sidewalk repairs.
"We had lots of these situations," said Assemblyman Guy Huston of San Ramon. "We just did the repairs. We didn't really want homeowners fixing things their own way, because sometimes you would get very professional concrete jobs and sometimes not so professional."
That wasn't the case for Newbury Park resident Barry Gabrielson, who got a notice from Ventura County and took his complaint to Strickland.
Strickland said county officials, seeking ways to cut costs, have turned to homeowners to pick up the tab for sidewalk repairs.
The bill was opposed by the League of California Cities and the County Supervisors Association of California.
"There are 535 cities with very successful sidewalk programs in place," said League of Cities lobbyist Liisa Lawson Stark. "This would effectively overturn every municipal ordinance on sidewalk repair."
Posted by Equitable_Enforcer on April 10, 2008 at 9:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The bill was well intentioned and should have passed. There were valid reasons that were probably not addressed when the bill was submitted … though lawmakers would certainly have not considered them.
We live in an area in Ventura covered by an HOA. Thank God for the CC&R’s because they have served as an additional tool to prevent degradation of our neighborhood as is occurring in other areas of Ventura., such as rundown properties, cars parking in yards, repairs of vehicles in the streets, etc. City Code Enforcement does an admirable job with what staff they have, but City Manager Rick Cole flat does not support them. He could care less because he will soon move on to someplace else to wreak future havoc in the name of new urbanism.
A disadvantage is that our HOA is now being hit for very expensive sidewalk repairs that we predicted when the homes were built 21 years ago and I was president of the association. We fought the City of Ventura … for mandating trees that non-civil servant/non political appointees knew quite well would eventually cause damage to sidewalks, sewer lines and more. We were threatened with fines if we refused to do their bidding. All that we predicted has come to pass. Some retirees have paid many thousands of dollars to repair sewer and water lines that happened to be on their side of the meters. As per usual, there is ZERO accountability by anybody who caused the problems when they arrogantly disregarded input by residents … and it is we who must pay for their folly.
Posted by VenturaFreedom on April 10, 2008 at 10:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This article is incomplete. What is so interestingly excluded from the "reporting" is that the county recently voted to make private property owners liable for any injuries that occur on the public sidewalk if it is in disrepair as well!
It is a public sidewalk owned by the county, but they couldn't care less what it will do to private homeowners. So if you're looking to send some senior citizens to the poorhouse or gouge some rich person out of a chunk of change, just look around for some county sidewalks that are uneven or in disrepair.
Posted by shaver_one on April 10, 2008 at 11:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The city and/or county could impose a "sidewalk tax"...$1.49 person per day to walk on the sidewalk, or $30 per month if you promise NEVER to use a sidewalk. They could attach it to your property tax bill. They could call it a 'fee'.
Posted by shaver_one on April 10, 2008 at 11:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
And, just who pays if the disrepaired sidewalk is in front of the City Hall, County Government Center, Fire House, or Police Station...Public Library, or Mayor Weir's house?
Posted by Face on April 10, 2008 at 3:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
When the city comes out to fix their sidewalk and charge you for it... make sure not to trip over their unsafe work area and injure yourself thus causing you to sue the city.
Posted by kenclubber on April 10, 2008 at 7:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
face99 I really like your idea. lol its like cracking me up big time.Our damn government is using tax dollars from us for their perks, and they keep raising taxes to pay for there crap, like its an open money pit for the $^@^@^%$ crappy leaders. M akew due with what you have and quit making us pay over and over for them. Hell lets just FIRE them money hungry "theifs". And we will remember who you are come voting time . And then your fired. excuse my bad spelling and grammer I am just so pissed about our leaders taking advantage of use tax payers. As a matter of fact , maybe there should be investagation of the money spent and on what,and why,and explain it to us taxpayes, why your flushing money down the crapper. You all should be FIRED.
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