Councilmembers Want City Responsibility for Sidewalk Upkeep

Pasadena property owners are responsible for sidewalk repairs even when damage has been caused by a city-owned tree, so the City Council passed the Pilot Sidewalk Repair Partnership Program as an incentive for property owners to fix the damaged sidewalks abutting their homes.

“That stuns people,” said Councilmember Terry Tornek. “What makes people even crazier is when a city tree does the damage to the sidewalk and they are responsible to repair the damage, but prohibited from touching the city tree.”

Though in favor of the pilot program, council members took issue with the law that it is based on.

Councilmember John Kennedy said. “No matter when this was adopted, if it’s bad public policy, it’s bad public policy that needs to be changed.”

Passed Monday, the pilot program approves a contract for $450,000 for on-call sidewalk repairs. The program will match 50% of the cost of homeowners’ sidewalk repairs (with a cap of $1,000). This will be done on a first come, first serve basis until funds are depleted. Some residents may qualify for a match of 70% of the cost of the repairs. Owners can find out if they qualify for the 70% match by visiting cityofpasadena.net/waterandpower/CARE/.

“What this is doing is giving those property owners a break,” city public information officer William Boyer said. “Giving them some assistance to help maintain those sidewalks.”

“The fundamental issue that John and Margaret are raising is a question of whether or not citizens should be responsible for maintaining the sidewalks, period,” Tornek said.

After property owners apply, the Department of Public Works will send someone to inspect the condition of the sidewalk to make sure it qualifies for matching costs. The program will not match costs for driveways, steps, or other walkways that have been damaged by city trees.

“A permanent source of funding for street tree maintenance, root pruning, sidewalk repair – is something I really think we should look at,” Councilmember Margaret McAustin said. “But otherwise I support the motion.”

Kennedy was also concerned that there were no specific areas targeted for the program. He said that there were a number of seniors and disabled persons in his district that would greatly benefit from the program and that he has witnessed people in motorized chairs who have had to go off the sidewalk and into the street in order to bypass a patch of particularly gnarly concrete.

“Good public policy would dictate that it would be done in a way that the most difficult areas are addressed first,” he said. “There needs to be an objective way in which to prioritize which areas are fixed first.”

Tornek described the program as a modest and positive first step, but urged that the council raise the issue again.

The council said there have been 49 applications for the program so far. To apply for the program, contact the Department of Public Works at 626-744-4191 or cityofpasadena.net/publicworks.