AGENDA #5e

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

                        Ralph D. Karpinos, Town Attorney

 

SUBJECT:       Response to Transportation Board Petition Regarding Removal of Barriers from Sidewalks and Bicycle Lanes

 

DATE:             March 24, 2003

 

 

The purpose of this report is to respond to a petition presented by the Transportation Board to the Town Council on June 24, 2002 (see Attachment).  In that petition, the Transportation Board requested that snow, leaves, branches and other barriers be removed from sidewalks and bike lanes.  The petition also inquires about current ordinances concerning maintaining access to sidewalks and how such ordinances are enforced.  The petition asks that the Council enact a new ordinance requiring abutting property owners to remove barriers to sidewalks if existing ordinances did not do so.

 

We regret the delay in our response to this petition. It was inadvertently omitted from the list of follow-up items prepared after the Council meeting.

 

DISCUSSION

 

There are two main issues in the petition: is there or should there be an ordinance requiring abutting property owners to maintain sidewalks, and, what does the Town do now or could it do to clear sidewalks and bike lanes.

 

Existing Ordinance(s)

 

The Town does not presently have an ordinance requiring abutting owners to maintain sidewalks.

 

Chapter VI, Article 2, section 6.10 of the Town Charter states, in part: “The council may require the owner of or lessee of the land abutting upon any sidewalks to repair same at such owner’s expense, and to require that the same be kept in good passable condition . . .”

 

While the Charter gives the Council the authority to require maintenance of sidewalks by adjacent property owners, to date there have not been ordinances enacted that would require action by property owners.  Moreover, this provision of the Charter, while apparently authorizing the Town to impose certain maintenance responsibilities on adjacent owners, must be read in the context of the General Statutory and Common Law principles applicable in North Carolina.  See Williams v. City of Durham, 473 S.E.2d 665 (N.C.App. 1996):

 

            The well-established common law rule is that the duty to keep sidewalks in a reasonably safe condition rests with the municipality rather than with abutting landowners.  . . .  In North Carolina, this duty is imposed as well by statute;  N.C.G.S. § 160A-296(a)(1) states cities shall have the "duty to keep the public streets, sidewalks, alleys, and bridges in proper repair."  

473 S.E.2d at 668

 

See also, Dunning v. Forsyth Warehouse Co., 158 S.E.2d 893, 272 N.C. 723, (N.C. 1968):

 

Ordinarily, a municipality is responsible for the condition of its sidewalks. . . .  However, one other than the municipality may be held liable for injuries caused by a defect in the sidewalk if he created the defect.  . . . (I)n so far as pedestrians are concerned, any liability of owner, or of occupant of abutting property for hazardous condition existent upon adjacent sidewalk is limited to conditions created or maintained by him, and must be predicated upon his negligence in that respect.' 

158 S.E.2d at 895.

 

Thus, while the Charter appears to allow the Town to enact an ordinance that would purport to assign responsibility for sidewalk maintenance to adjacent owners, we believe that unless an adjacent owner creates a hazard on a sidewalk or is otherwise found to be negligent, the Town is responsible for acting reasonably in maintaining sidewalks and keeping them free of obstructions.  Whether the Town ultimately would be held responsible for any specific injury in a specific case would require consideration of all of the particular facts and circumstances and the application of the appropriate principles of North Carolina law.

 

Snow Removal

 

Our crews remove snow and ice from streets, around public facilities, public housing units and some public sidewalks during and following inclement weather conditions.  We follow a prioritized order of clearing streets based on type of use of each street.  The top priority is bus routes, followed in order by collector streets, local through streets and, finally, dead end streets.  During severe storms, we frequently have to service major streets several times before we can start clearing limited-use residential streets.

 

Town crews are responsible for snow removal around public facilities, such as Town Hall, Library, the Community Centers, public housing units, parking lots and park and ride lots.  We include sidewalks in the vicinity of such public areas in this overall service; however, we do not have the resources to keep sidewalks clear in all commercial and residential areas.  The one exception is the Town Center, including Franklin Street and at least parts of Airport Road/Columbia Street.  We attempt to clear these walks because of the heavy concentration of pedestrians in the downtown area.  Even there, however, businesses often choose to augment public efforts to clear such sidewalks.

 

We note on our web site that citizens and businesses are encouraged to clear snow and ice from sidewalks in front of their homes and/or businesses.  

 

During the recent ice storms, especially following the December 4, 2002 storm, we used crews whose primary mission was removal of leaning branches and trees that interfered with pedestrian movement.  We did so in recognition of the potential hazards presented by the aftermath of the storm and provide safe access to Town facilities.

 

Although the Council could consider adoption of an ordinance pursuant to the Charter language cited above, we do not believe we are able to create a legal duty for adjacent owners to maintain a sidewalk on public right of way.  Further, we do not have resources necessary to assume responsibility for snow removal on all the public sidewalks in Chapel Hill.  We propose to continue the policy of providing such services as are reasonably possible to provide with the resources we have available.  

 

Leaves

 

Our annual program for removal of leaves and pine straw at the edge of the street runs between mid-October and mid-March.

 

Citizens are required to place their loose leaves near the street so that our vacuum-type collection equipment can access them; however, we request that the leaves be placed in such a location that they do not interfere with traffic flow, including vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, or natural drainage flow.  Our web site and weekly advertisements specifically note that such materials should not block sidewalks or travel lanes.  Again, we lack the resources to encourage or require residents to clear such areas when leaves are left in the wrong place.  If we are aware of a significant problem, we will attempt to contact the resident and will, if necessary, clear the area using our collection crews.

 

During the times of the year when our seasonal leaf collection program is not in service, we collect vegetative debris, including leaves and brush that are properly prepared and/or containerized and placed at the edge of the street.  This service typically is provided on a weekly basis, either on Thursdays or Fridays.  During heavy workload periods, we also provide service occasionally on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

 

Cleanup on Major Routes

 

We also provide regular cleanup service along the Town’s major walking routes and bike paths.  This service includes weekly or more frequent litter and debris pickup on greenways, quarterly cleanup on bike paths and major sidewalks around and leading to the downtown area (including edging, trimming and general cleanup) and at least monthly mowing along sidewalks in and around the downtown during the growing season.  We do not have the resources that would be required to provide more frequent service to these areas.

 

Tree Trimming

 

We have a right-of-way maintenance program that includes removing tree branches that interfere with sight distances, bike paths, and walkways.  During the growing season, the number of branches needing pruning typically exceeds our ability to complete the work as quickly as we would like.  We respond to individual problems as they are brought to our attention; however, our ongoing maintenance program attempts to attend to all streets and walkways in town on a cyclical basis. It can take two or more years for us to complete a cycle of the entire town.

 

Collection of Vegetative Debris

 

Our vegetative debris collection services include removing branches and related material.  We collect branches and other yard debris, properly prepared and placed at the edge of the street.  This service is available on a weekly basis, usually on Thursday and Fridays, for small piles of such materials.  We use a knuckle boom unit in our solid waste services division to collect large piles placed at the edge of the street.  We ask in our service announcements and on the Town’s web site that residents refrain from placing such materials in a manner that blocks public use of rights-of-way, including bike lanes and sidewalks.

 

During the recent ice storms, we responded to the need to clear access because of the location of brush piles in rights-of-way.  This included several brush piles that caused significant problems along sidewalks.  

 

SUMMARY

 

We provide a number of services that address concerns outlined in the Transportation Board’s petition.  In our notices about Town services, we will continue to emphasize the need for residents not to interfere with travel lanes or pedestrian ways when placing their debris at the curb for collection.  Also, we will continue to recognize the importance of public areas such as sidewalks and bike lanes in our community.  When problems arise, we address them within the overall context of priorities and available resources.

 

ATTACHMENT

 

1.      Petition from Transportation Board submitted to Town Council at 6/24/02 Council meeting (p. 5).