Borough of Verona, PA Article II Construction and Repair of Sidewalks

[Adopted 7-8-2014 by Ord. No. 03-2014[1]]

[1] Editor's Note: This ordinance superseded former Art. II, Construction and Repair of Sidewalks, adopted 12-5-1941 by Ord. No. 8-1941 (Ch. XXI, Part 2A, of the 1976 Code of Ordinances), as amended.

§ 215-3 Property owners to construct sidewalks after notice.

All persons, firms and corporations, being the owner or owners of any lot, lots or pieces of ground abutting upon or bounded by any street, avenue, court, alley or highway, or any part thereof, within the limits of the Borough of Verona, shall, after 10 days' written or printed notice, served as hereinafter provided, lay and construct sidewalks therein or thereon in accordance with the regulations as hereinafter provided.

§ 215-4 Authority for Borough to construct sidewalks and collect cost plus 10%.

Should any property owner fail, neglect or refuse to construct sidewalks as directed in the notice required under § 215-3 of this article within the time limit specified therein, the Borough shall have the authority to cause such construction to be done and collect the cost thereof, with 10% additional, in the manner provided by law.

§ 215-5 Sidewalk specifications: supervision; Borough may correct improper work and collect cost plus 10%.

From and after the passage of this article, no sidewalk shall be constructed within the limits of said Borough which does not comply with the sidewalk cross-section detail and plans and specifications prepared therefor by the Borough Engineer, a copy of which is hereto attached and made a part of this article and shall be kept on file in the office of the Secretary of said Borough. They shall at all times be constructed of concrete pavement and shall be of the width and thickness provided in said specifications and shall be laid only in the manner and form provided thereby, unless otherwise specifically provided by motion, resolution or ordinance of Council, and then they may vary therefrom only as so specifically provided. They shall be laid only under the supervision and with the approval of the Borough Engineer or Borough Street Commissioner, and said Borough Engineer and Borough Street Commissioner shall each have power to stop any work not being done in accordance herewith, until the provisions of this article and their reasonable directions are complied with; or if not complied with within 10 days after notice, the said Borough may complete the construction and collect the cost thereof, with 10% added, in the manner provided in § 215-4 hereof; provided, however, that paved sidewalks which at the time of repairing are in substantially good condition may be repaired with the same material of which they are then constructed, if such repairs will put them in a safe condition; and provided, further, that a permit therefor shall first be had from the Borough Council or Borough Engineer or Street Commissioner.

§ 215-6 Widths, locations and grades.

From and after the passage of this article, all the sidewalks in the streets, avenues, courts, alleys or highways of the said Borough of Verona shall be paved and constructed in the following manner, viz.:

A. They shall be paved of the respective widths and in the respective locations as may now be provided by ordinances and regulations of said Borough as may be hereafter provided by a proper motion, resolution or ordinance of the Council of said Borough.

B. The grade of the paved portion of all sidewalks must be such as to fall 1/4 inch per foot from the back edge to the front or curbline edge, except at street intersections where necessary variations may be made so as to provide adequate drainage and safety for pedestrians and users of the sidewalk.

C. Hereafter all sidewalks shall be paved at the grade fixed and determined by the respective ordinances and regulations of said Borough now in effect applying to the particular sidewalk; subject, however, to the requirement of a slope of 1/4 inch, with necessary variations at intersections in the paved portion, as provided in Subsection B hereof. The requirement of such subsection as to slope must at all times be complied with; if no grade has been established for any particular sidewalk, then the sidewalk shall be paved in accordance with whatever grade may be fixed therefor by the Council of said Borough by proper motion, ordinance or resolution duly enacted; should the grade of any such sidewalk be changed prior to improvement or pavement thereof, then the same shall be paved in accordance with the established grade as then fixed, but in case no grade is so established, fixed and/or determined for any such sidewalk, then the sidewalk grade is hereby established, fixed and determined and may be ascertained from the established curb grade of the nearest curb to such sidewalk as follows:

Beginning at the inside line of the nearest curb or the line of such curb nearest to the center of the paved cartway and at the grade established therefor; thence by an even or uniform rising grade of one inch per foot for each foot of the distance from said inside curbline at grade to the nearest or inside line of the paved portion of said sidewalk; thence from the inside line of the said paved portion of said sidewalk by a uniform rising grade of 1/4 inch per each foot of the distance to the outside line of the paved portion of said sidewalk; and thence by a uniform rising grade of one inch per foot of the distance from the outside portion of the paved sidewalk to the property line in said street. That is to say, from the inside curb grade of the nearest curb to the inside line of the paved portion of the sidewalk there shall be a uniform rising grade of one inch per foot of the entire distance; from the inside line of the paved portion of the sidewalk to the outside line of the paved portion of such sidewalk there shall be a uniform rising grade of 1/4 inch per foot for the entire distance of said paved portion; from the outside line of the paved portion of said sidewalk to the property line there shall be a uniform rising grade of one inch per foot of each foot of the entire distance; where no curb grade is specially fixed or established the established street grade shall be considered as the required curb grade; where a special sidewalk grade is fixed sidewalks shall only be laid or paved in compliance with such special grade, but there shall be maintained a uniform rising grade from the outer side of the curb to the inner side of the paved sidewalk; and in all cases, unless otherwise provided, the grade from the outer side of the paved portion of the sidewalk to its inner side shall be a uniform falling grade of 1/4 inch per foot of the entire distance.

§ 215-7 Property owners to grade sidewalk after notice.

Every person owning any lot abutting upon any street or highway of the Borough shall, upon 10 days' notice so to do, served in the manner hereinafter provided in § 215-10 hereof, grade the space reserved for the sidewalks, etc., in front of or along such lot from the curb or curbline to the property line, and also raise or lower the paved sidewalk on such reserved space to said established grade.

§ 215-8 Responsibility for maintenance.

It shall be the duty of every property owner who shall own a sidewalk abutting any street in the Borough to keep and maintain such sidewalk in good repair. Should any sidewalk fall to a state of disrepair, the Council shall have the authority to notify the owner of property abutting thereon to repair such sidewalk within 10 days after such notice. Should such owner fail, neglect or refuse to comply with the requirements of the notice within the time limit therein, the Borough shall have the authority to cause such sidewalk to be repaired and collect the cost thereof along with 10% additional from such defaulting property owner in the manner provided by law.

§ 215-9 Repairs.

If at any time, in the opinion of the Council, Street Commissioner or police, a dangerous condition exists in any sidewalk in the Borough that can be repaired, a notice shall be served on the owner of the property abutting such sidewalk or the agent of such property owner, or the premises abutting such sidewalk shall be posted, stating that necessary repairs should be made within 48 hours of such notice. Should the property owner fail, neglect or refuse to make such repairs within the time specified in the notice, the Borough shall have the authority to cause such repairs to be made and collect the cost thereof, with 10% additional, as provided by law.

§ 215-10 Manner of serving notice.

Any notice required under the provisions of this article shall be served upon the owner of the premises affected thereby if such owner is a resident of the Borough. If the owner is not a resident of the Borough, notice shall be served upon the agent of the owner or upon the tenant or occupant of the premises. If the owner shall have no agent, tenant or occupier, notice shall be made by posting the notice upon the premises. A copy of any such notice provided herein shall be mailed by first class mail to the owner of said property.

§ 215-11 Violations and penalties. [1]

Any property owner who shall violate any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 and costs of prosecution or, in default of payment of such fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment for not more than 30 days, provided that such penalty may be in addition to any other penalty imposed by this article.

[1] Editor's Note: Section 37 of Ord. No. 03-2014, adopted 7-8-2014, stated that any person who shall violate any provision of this article or who knowingly files a false report required by this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentence to pay a civil fine of not more than $1,000.