Editorial: Right call on sidewalk policy

The city must consider alternative solutions before enforcing its sidewalk repair ordinance.

Lawrence city commissioners made the right call Tuesday in deferring action on the city’s sidewalk ordinance.

City Manager Tom Markus wants the city to be more aggressive in enforcing the city’s existing sidewalk ordinance, which requires property owners to pay for repairs to sidewalks adjacent to their property. Commissioners were scheduled Tuesday to consider the more aggressive approach, including grant programs to help some property owners pay for sidewalk repairs.

But faced with significant public criticism, commissioners indicated a willingness to rethink how aggressive they want the city to be on forcing property owners to pay for sidewalk repairs. An estimated $6 million in repairs need to be made throughout the city.

Commissioners rightly noted that the city is largely to blame for the problem by not being rigorous about enforcing the sidewalk ordinance in the past. Getting aggressive now puts the onus on property owners to pay for a problem the city created.

“It begs the question: why has it never been enforced for 30 to 40 years?” Commissioner Matthew Herbert said. “Is it because we lacked initiative? Did we lack backbone? Why has it not been enforced? My theory would be that for the last 40 years, we’ve had commissions or leadership that have said that probably ought not be enforced because it’s probably not equitable.”

Mayor Leslie Soden noted that the administrative policy was complicated, and would require significant staff time to enforce. Vice Mayor Stuart Boley added it’s “our failure that’s caused this problem, and we need to solve it.”

During public comment Tuesday, residents spoke overwhelmingly in favor of the city funding sidewalk maintenance as it does other infrastructure. Commissioners seemed open to the idea, though it’s unclear where the money would come from to pay for it. Commissioner Mike Amyx suggested that the city consider devoting a portion of the city’s infrastructure sales tax to sidewalk repairs.

There is significant logic to treating sidewalks as city infrastructure instead of private property. After all, the sidewalks are meant for public use. Commissioners were right to slow things down Tuesday and to begin looking for a funding solution.

One suggestion could be to prioritize sidewalk repair needs and try to address the repairs over a three to five-year period. Extended over several years, $6 million is not a significant sum for the city, particularly in comparison to the burden it could be on property owners.