Sidewalk repairs: whose responsibility?
In 2014, a majority of Atlanta's City Council members co-sponsored an ordinance that would change the way the City of Atlanta funds sidewalk repairs. The current sidewalk ordinance makes property owners responsible for paying for repairs to sidewalks and curbs that abut their property. This policy is unfair, politically unpopular, and nearly impossible to enforce.
If the ordinance introduced last year had been approved, Public Works could no 
longer bill property owners for repairs. Instead, the City would use tax dollars to pay for repairs, just like it does to repair potholes.
On Tuesday, however, the City Council's Utilities Committee approved a substitute ordinance that deleted sections of the bill most important to people on foot. In particular, Public Works maintains the authority to bill property owners for repairs.
About 15 minutes before the meeting started, representatives from the Mayor's Office had provided the substitute, together with documents listing reasons for revising the previous version of the ordinance. Among those: "the legislation will create an unfunded mandate" and "funding this mandate would financially cripple the city of Atlanta."
Well, guess what. An unfunded mandate already exists. It's called the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Does Atlanta want to control its spending? Or put the courts in charge?
Public Works Commissioner Richard Mendoza has estimated the annual cost of sidewalk disintegration at $15 million. Despite that, Atlanta spends less than $1 million per year in sidewalk repairs. Averaged over 5 years, this is less than it spends on settlements to injured pedestrians.
If the city continues to invest too little in sidewalk maintenance, it could face legal action that puts the courts in charge of how Atlanta spe
nds its transportation dollars.
In April 2015, Los Angeles settled an ADA class action lawsuit by agreeing to invest $1.4 billion in sidewalks over the next 30 years. A decade earlier, Sacramento settled an ADA lawsuit by agreeing to assign 20 percent of all transportation spending to improve sidewalks, crosswalks and curb ramps for the next 30 years.
It's unlikely the City will enforce the ordinance authorizing Public Works to bill property owners for repairs, so keeping this authority provides little, if any, benefit to people who walk. Instead, maintaining the "option" of billing property owners will make City officials feel comfortable approving budgets that grossly underfund sidewalk repairs.
People who walk in Atlanta need and deserve more.
PEDS has asked for sidewalk policy reform for over a decade. The substitute ordinance that goes before the full City Council on Monday falls far short of needs. Sally Flocks, president of PEDS, will express concerns at Monday's meeting.
What's on the table includes a few positive provisions. They're too vague, however, to make up for the bill's serious flaws.
Better options exist. Charlotte, NC and Charleston, SC both use tax dollars to pay for repairs. Atlanta could do the same. What's missing here is political will.
Please e-mail your City Council representatives to ask them to reject the p
ro
posed ordinance. The bill should go back to committee, with more opportunity for public discussion. We need real policy reform, not changes that provide little benefit to people who walk.
