Article 745
STREET AND SIDEWALK CODE

Sections:

745.01  Short title.

745.02  Sidewalks mandatory along certain streets and parts of streets.

745.03  Sidewalk standards.

745.04  Permit required to install or replace.

745.05  Sidewalk removal.

745.06  Sidewalk hearing and review board.

745.07  Procedure before sidewalk hearing and review board.

745.08  Initial procedure for request to remove or require sidewalks.

745.09  Standard of maintenance and mandatory compliance therewith.

745.10  Dirt and snow removal.

745.11  Obstructions prohibited.

745.12  Sliding prohibited.

745.13  Damaging or marking sidewalks.

745.14  Roof water running over or dripping on sidewalk prohibited.

745.15  Sidewalk openings or projections.

745.16  Playing on streets – Throwing articles.

745.17  Broken glass or injurious substances.

745.99  Penalties.

745.01 Short title.

This article shall be known and cited as the street and sidewalk code of the Meadville Municipal Code. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.02 Sidewalks mandatory along certain streets and parts of streets.

All persons owning property abutting on those streets and parts of streets set forth upon Schedule A, which forms a part of this article, shall install sidewalks and maintain them in good repair along the full length of those portions of the properties which abut such streets and parts of streets. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.03 Sidewalk standards.

No person shall install or replace any sidewalk abutting any street in the City of Meadville except in conformity with dimension and construction standards approved by the city engineer. It shall be unlawful for any person to furnish labor or materials for the installation or replacement of any sidewalk abutting any city street except in compliance with all dimension and construction standards promulgated by the city engineer. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.04 Permit required to install or replace.

No person shall install or replace any sidewalk abutting any street in the City of Meadville without first having obtained a permit from the office of the city engineer. The city engineer shall notify the sidewalk hearing and review board of the grant of each permit. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.05 Sidewalk removal.

(A) Sidewalks Shall Not Be Removed. No person shall remove any sidewalk abutting any street in the City of Meadville except as hereinafter provided.

(B) City Council May Permit Removal of Sidewalks. Upon application by the owner of any property abutting any street in the City of Meadville, and after obtaining the recommendation of the sidewalk hearing and review board, city council may, by resolution or ordinance, permit the removal of sidewalks from the applicant’s property. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.06 Sidewalk hearing and review board.

(A) Creation. There is hereby created a sidewalk hearing and review board which will consist of five members appointed by city council. Such members shall serve for five-year terms measured from the date of their appointment.The board shall annually elect one of its members to be chairman and one to be secretary. The initial appointees shall serve for the following terms: one for five years, one for four years, one for three years and two for two years, all measured from the date of appointment.

(B) Duties. The sidewalk hearing and review board shall:

(1) Constitute an advisory board to city council in all matters relating to the installation, maintenance and removal of sidewalks.

(2) Monitor the development of the city and of traffic patterns along its streets and, from time to time, on its own motion or at the request of city council make recommendations to city council regarding the installation and maintenance of sidewalks to best meet the needs of the citizens of the city.

(3) Investigate, hold hearings, and make recommendations to city council upon all applications for the permission to remove or require the installation of sidewalks. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.07 Procedure before sidewalk hearing and review board.

The sidewalk hearing and review board shall establish and prescribe such forms and rules of procedure as it determined to be necessary to its efficient operation. All forms and rules of procedure adopted by the sidewalk hearing and review board shall be available for public inspection in the offices of the city engineer. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.08 Initial procedure for request to remove or require sidewalks.

(A) Application. Any person who desires city council to permit the removal of or require the installation of sidewalks upon land abutting any city street shall make application therefor at the office of the city engineer upon a form prescribed by the sidewalk hearing and review board.

(B) Requirements for Processing Request. The office of the city engineer shall pursue all applications filed upon proper forms; provided, that if any application seeks permission to remove sidewalks in any of the following situations, the following additional materials must be filed with the application before any action is taken thereon:

(1) Dead End Streets. Written consent to the proposed removal signed by all persons who own and all persons who occupy properties which:

(a) Are on the same side of the street as the property affected by the application; and

(b) Have sidewalks; and

(c) Are located between the site of the proposed removal and the dead end of the street.

(2) Streets with Partial Sidewalks. Written consent to the proposed removal signed by all persons who own and all persons who occupy properties which:

(a) Are on the same side of the street as the property affected by the application; and

(b) Have sidewalks abutting the street; and

(c) Which are located within the same block as the site of the proposed removal.

(C) Procedure. Upon receipt of any application together with all supplemental data required by this code, the city engineer’s office shall forthwith notify the chairman of the sidewalk hearing and review board and send copies of the application and any supplemental data to each member of the board. The chairman shall schedule a public hearing upon any such application within 30 days of his receipt of the said materials. The chairman shall further cause public notice of the time, place and subject matter of each scheduled hearing by one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the city at least seven days before the date of the hearing.

(D) Hearings. The sidewalk hearing and review board shall make full inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding each application. The board shall hear and make note of such comment as any person may desire to make regarding the application.

(E) Recommendation to City Council. Within 30 days of each hearing, the sidewalk hearing and review board shall make a written recommendation thereupon to city council. Such recommendations shall fully describe the property in question, the nature of the application, the identity and comments of each persons who appeared at the public hearing and the recommendation for councilmanic action approved by a majority of the members of the board. Each such recommendation shall note the sidewalk hearing and review board’s consideration of each of the following factors:

(1) Location of schools.

(2) Pedestrian school children’s existing traffic patterns and volume.

(3) Location of commercial, institutional, industrial and other pedestrian traffic generators.

(4) Existing general pedestrian traffic patterns and volume of general pedestrian traffic.

(5) Sidewalks on one side only or both sides and the percentage, by number and front footage, of properties in the same block and along the same street which have sidewalks.

(6) Sidewalks in suburban type residential developments.

(7) Volume of vehicular traffic.

(8) Maximum permitted speed for vehicular traffic.

(9) Topography or special features.

(10) Lack of pedestrian or vehicular traffic.

(F) Recommendations of the sidewalk hearing and review board shall be filed in the office of the city clerk. The city clerk shall, upon receipt of any recommendation, forthwith forward a copy thereof to each member of city council and place the recommendation on the agenda of the next public city council meeting which is at least 14 days from the date upon which copies of the recommendation were mailed to the members of council. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.09 Standard of maintenance and mandatory compliance therewith.

(A) All sidewalks in the City of Meadville shall be maintained in accord with such standards as are, from time to time, promulgated by the city engineer and approved by the city council. Copies of current sidewalk standards shall be on file and available to the public in the office of the city engineer.

(B) Upon determining that a sidewalk does not comply with the standards promulgated in accord with subsection (A) of this section, the office of city engineer is hereby authorized to issue orders to the owners of properties upon which or adjacent to which said sidewalks exist requiring that such sidewalks be repaired or replaced in a manner which causes said sidewalks to comply with such standards.

(C) The subject orders shall be in writing and shall, except in the case of emergency or eminent hazard to the public health or safety, require correction of the defective sidewalk condition within a period of not less than 30 days.

(D) Any person who is aggrieved by any order issued pursuant to this section may appeal the order of the city engineer to the building code review committee by filing a written notice of appeal with the office of the city engineer within 10 days of the date of the subject order or notice.

(E) Any sidewalks which do not meet the standards promulgated in accord with subsection (A) of this section, and which are not repaired or replaced within the time permitted by any order issued pursuant to this section are hereby declared to be and to constitute public nuisances and hazards.

(F) In the event a property owner fails or refuses to take action to correct the sidewalk condition in accordance with an order issued pursuant to this section, the city shall replace the sidewalk as necessary to bring it into compliance with the standards promulgated in accordance with subsection (A) of this section, at the cost and expense of the property owner, including in such cost and expense a reasonable administrative fee as shall, from time to time, be approved by the city council.

(G) Should the owners of any property upon which or adjacent to which sidewalks have been replaced by the city pursuant to this section fail to pay the cost of such repair or replacement as determined and approved by the city council, the full cost thereof, together with all penalties, interest, fees and other charges which are authorized by applicable law, shall be assessed against the premises and the owners thereof and collected as a municipal lien or collected otherwise as permitted by law. (Ord. 3225, 1989; Ord. 3209, 1989; Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.10 Dirt and snow removal.

(A) The owner of any property within the city, whether occupied or unoccupied, which abuts any street upon which sidewalks exist shall keep the sidewalk abutting such property free from snow, ice and dirt in accord with the provisions of subsections (B), (C) and (D) of this section.

(B) Snow and ice shall be removed from sidewalks in all areas zoned B-2 and B-3 and from all sidewalks adjacent North Main Street from Chestnut to Walnut Streets by one business hour after the cessation of any fall of snow, sleet or freezing rain or by 9:00 a.m. of the next business day following such fall, whichever period is shorter. For the purposes of this article, "business hours" shall be defined as the normal hours during which premises abutting any sidewalks in the subject districts are open to the public for trade or business.

(C) Snow and ice shall be removed from all sidewalks within the city (other than those regulated in subsection (B) of this section) on the same day that a fall of snow, sleet or freezing rain ceases or within the first five hours of daylight after the cessation of any such fall, whichever period is longer. Sidewalks shall be kept clean and free from accumulations of dirt and litter at all times. Any dirt or litter accumulated upon any sidewalks in the City of Meadville shall be removed within 24 hours of its deposit or accumulation.

(D) For the purposes of this article, each fall of snow, sleet or freezing rain shall constitute a separate event and no person shall be excused from compliance within the time limitations imposed by subsections (B) and (C) of this section by the commencement of subsequent falls of snow, sleet or freezing rain before the expiration of the time provided for removal of accumulations of prior falls. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.11 Obstructions prohibited.

No person, firm or corporation shall place or permit the placement of any boxes, bales, barrels, hogsheads, crates, or other articles of merchandise, lumber, coal, wood, ashes, building materials, or any other article or thing whatever, in or upon any of the sidewalks or other portions of streets, lanes or alleys in the city. However, this section shall not be construed to apply to the temporary placing of the above enumerated articles or things upon any sidewalks, street, lane or alley, by the owner, tenant or lawful occupant of the abutting premises for a length of time reasonably necessary to the receipt or delivery of such articles or things. Any person, firm or corporation may, at any time, obtain permission under the provisions of existing ordinances to occupy portions of the streets, alleys and sidewalks of the city for the purpose of placing building materials thereon. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.12 Sliding prohibited.

No person shall engage in the sport of riding or sliding on any street or sidewalk, when the same is covered with snow or ice, on any sled or other similar device. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.13 Damaging or marking sidewalks.

No person shall willfully and maliciously damage or mark, or cause to be damaged or marked, any sidewalk. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.14 Roof water running over or dripping on sidewalk prohibited.

No owner, occupant or lessee of any building or part thereof shall permit water from the roof, eaves or spouting of such building or part thereof to run over, or drip or flow upon or over any sidewalk in the city. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.15 Sidewalk openings or projections.

No person shall construct any cellar door stairs, steps, passageway or opening of any kind, or any porch, piazza, veranda or any other projection from a building in any sidewalk, public street, alley or highway in the city. However, scuttles and skylights may be placed in sidewalks, but in every case they shall be secured by iron gratings on a level with the surface of the pavement. Violations of this section shall be subject to the penalty provided in MMC 745.99(F), and shall be removed by the city with the cost of such removal collected from the abutting property owner. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.16 Playing on streets – Throwing articles.

No person shall play ball or any other game or amusement upon any of the public streets, alleys or highways, or throw any ball, dart, arrow, other instrument of sport, stone, missile or any other substance whatever across or into any public street, alley or highway. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.17 Broken glass or injurious substances.

No person shall place or leave on the streets, alleys or places of public travel in the city any broken glass, nails or other sharp substances liable to be injurious to animals or vehicles. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

745.99 Penalties.

(A) Whoever violates MMC 745.10 shall be fined $10.00 for the first offense, and not less than $25.00 nor more than $100.00 for every additional offense.

(B) Whoever violates MMC 745.11 shall be fined not less than $10.00 nor more than $50.00 together with the costs of prosecution. Each day upon which such property designated in MMC 745.11 is placed or remains upon the sidewalk or other portion of the street in violation shall constitute a separate offense hereunder.

(C) Whoever violates MMC 745.12 shall be fined not less than $10.00 nor more than $25.00.

(D) Whoever violates MMC 745.13 shall be fined not more than $10.00.

(E) Whoever violates MMC 745.14 shall be fined not less than $5.00 nor more than $50.00 together with the costs of prosecution, for each offense. Each day that water is permitted to run, drip or flow upon or over any sidewalk shall be a separate and distinct offense.

(F) Whoever violates MMC 745.15 shall be fined not more than $100.00.

(G) Whoever violates MMC 745.16 shall be fined not more than $10.00 and costs.

(H) Whoever violates MMC 745.17 shall be fined not less than $10.00 nor more than $50.00.

(I) Whoever violates any other provision of this article shall be fined not less than $20.00 nor more than $300.00. Each day any such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense. (Ord. 2903, 1976)

Schedule A

The official sidewalk maps of the City of Meadville are on file and available for public inspection and are hereby incorporated and made a part of this article by reference.

This schedule shall consist of all streets and parts of streets upon which sidewalks now exist as is demonstrated upon said maps. (Ord. 2903, 1976)