The purpose of this article is to promote the maintenance of safe and adequate sidewalks for pedestrian use by regulating the manner of construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of sidewalks and the materials to be used in the grades and the widths thereof in the Village of Mount Morris; to prohibit any construction, reconstruction or repair which does not comply with such regulations; and to provide guidelines for assuring the safety of such sidewalks; and to delineate the responsibility of the Village of Mount Morris and of the property owner.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DRIVEWAY APRON
The area of a residential driveway that lies between the street and sidewalk. In areas of the Village without sidewalks, the maximum length of a driveway apron will be four feet.
PROPERTY OWNER OR OWNERS
Anyone who holds title to the premises in fee simple or by life estate or remainder, and also any beneficial owner of the premises such as a contract vendee in possession, who has the duty to pay the taxes on the premises.
SIDEWALK OR SIDEWALKS
Existing sidewalks, those presently under construction, if any, and any future sidewalks constructed after the date of the adoption of this article which abut public highways in fact used by the public.
It shall, in all cases, be the duty of the owner of every lot or piece of land in said Village to keep the sidewalks adjoining the owner's lot or piece of land in good repair and to remove and clean away all snow and ice and other obstruction from such sidewalks, except to the extent that such duty has been assumed by a sidewalk snow removal contractor, a sidewalk repair contractor, a sidewalk district and/or a sidewalk snow removal district. Failure to do so will result in the costs of any repair done by the Village of Mount Morris to be assessed against the landowner, and further, said landowner shall be liable in tort for any injuries to any person or property as a result of the landowner's failure to comply with this article.
Quality of concrete, grade, thickness and width of sidewalks and other standards of construction and installation shall be determined by specifications provided by the Superintendent of Streets and adopted by the Mayor and Village Board. Copies of the specifications will be available at the Village Department of Public Works or the Village office upon request. Unusual circumstances, which may affect installation or cause a deviation from these specifications may be approved on a case-by-case basis after investigation by the Superintendent of Streets or authorized representative. All agreed to deviations must be listed on the permit.
A. 
No sidewalk or driveway apron shall be constructed or work thereon commenced unless and until the owner of premises abutting upon such sidewalk or driveway shall receive a permit therefore issued by the Code Enforcement Officer. The fee for the filing of said permit shall be as established by the Mayor and Village Board by resolution from time to time.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The current fee resolution is on file in the office of the Village Clerk.
B. 
No permit shall be issued until the Superintendent of Streets shall first certify his approval of the lines and grades thereof, and such permit shall specify the lines and grades of such construction and may make such additional requirements and restrictions in respect to the construction thereof in addition to the specifications provided in § 199-10, Standards and specifications for concrete sidewalks.
C. 
The permit fee shall be charged to the abutting property owner for each application to repair, reconstruct or install a sidewalk, curb cut or driveway apron; said fee shall also be charged to the abutting property owner when such repair, reconstruction or installation has been so ordered by the Village of Mount Morris.
D. 
In addition to the permit fee herein required, if new lines and grades are necessary, the property owner or contractor shall pay the cost of establishing lines and grades, the fee for which shall be as set from time to time by resolution of the Village Board of Trustees,[2] at the discretion of the Superintendent of Streets.
[Amended 9-9-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
[2]
Editor's Note: The current fee resolution is on file in the office of the Village Clerk.
Curb cuts in any public street shall be made at the expense of the adjoining property owner. Likewise, the cost of restoring any curb cuts shall be at the expense of the adjoining property owner. The Superintendent of Streets shall ascertain the cost and cause a bill for the amount to be sent to the property owner.
The work of constructing, repairing or relaying sidewalks, curb cuts, or driveway aprons shall be performed under the supervision of the Superintendent of Streets. All work will be subjected to periodic and a final inspection.
A. 
All sidewalks, driveway aprons or pavements laid upon any private street or on the streets of any new development shall be subject to the same regulations and must comply in all respects with the regulations governing streets the title to which is vested in the Village.
B. 
The repair or replacement of existing sidewalks, and driveway aprons shall conform to the standards in effect the day the permit is issued for the repair or replacement.
The repair or replacement of existing sidewalks and driveway aprons shall conform to the existing established lines and grades, unless required changes are directed by the Superintendent of Streets.
A. 
Sidewalks and driveway aprons shall be reviewed annually by the Code Enforcement Officer and considered to be unsafe if, by determination of the Code Enforcement Officer and/or the Superintendent of Streets, they are so broken, cracked, lifted, spalled or scaled or otherwise deficient as to cause a clear and present danger to pedestrians. Upon such determination, the owner of the property where such sidewalks and/or driveway aprons are located will be notified, in writing by standard form, of the need to repair or replace the sidewalk and/or driveway apron in question. Such notice shall specify the sidewalk and/or driveway apron or portions thereof which require repair or replacement and contain a brief summary of the reasons therefor. Such notice shall be served upon such owner by personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the last known address as shown on the latest completed assessment roll of the Village of Mount Morris. If delivery of the certified mail is returned or unclaimed, then service shall be made by regular mail and shall be deemed complete five days after the date of mailing. The cost of such repair or replacement will be borne by the property owner.
B. 
Upon delivery of the written notice, the property owner shall make every attempt to correct the deficiency noted within a reasonable time after delivery of the notice; in no event shall more than one year elapse between delivery of the written notice and correction of the deficient or unsafe sidewalk and/or driveway apron.
C. 
If, within said one-year period, the sidewalks and/or driveway apron required to be repaired shall not have been repaired, then the Village Board may cause the same to be done at the expense of the property owner. If said expense, as determined by the Village, is not paid within 30 days after billing to the property owner, such a charge shall be a lien upon the property benefited until paid and shall be added to the property owner's tax bill as an assessment as set forth in § 199-25, Noncompliance.
D. 
Written notice of repair shall be served upon the property owner by the Code Enforcement Officer, Superintendent of Streets or any other Village officer as may be designated by the Village Board, describing the violation and requiring the immediate removal of the obstruction.
The Village of Mount Morris will provide a suitable site for the disposal of the rubble from the replacement of sidewalks and/or driveway aprons, provided the owner has agreed to replace the sidewalk and/or driveway apron in accordance with the other requirements of this chapter. The replacement of sidewalks and/or driveway aprons must be completed within a reasonable time, not to exceed 14 days from the removal of the sidewalk and/or driveway apron rubble.
The Village of Mount Morris will not be responsible for damage to sidewalks in the form of cracked or lifted blocks caused by tree roots or for any root damage. The Department of Public Works will cut out roots of trees within the right-of-way under the sidewalk in conjunction with a sidewalk contractor and/or at the request of the property owner. It is suggested that the owner/contractor remove any blocks involved beforehand. In the case of such root removal by the Village, a one-year guaranty will be accorded the property owner by the Village against the cost of further repairs caused by such roots damaging sidewalks.
No blacktop or blacktop sealer of any kind shall be permitted along the path of a sidewalk where it crosses a driveway or parking area. Exceptions to this provision will be allowed only in the case of such conditions preexisting this article, unless deemed hazardous. Whenever such preexisting blacktop should deteriorate or be replaced or when the blacktop driveway abutting such a blacktop area shall be replaced, the blacktopped sidewalk area must be replaced with concrete.
In the case where an occupied lot is situated at the end of a dead-end street, sidewalk otherwise required along the frontage of the property shall be permitted to terminate at the driveway on such property rather than be installed to the end of the right-of-way.
In the event that sidewalks are replaced at intersecting streets, corner lots or at other locations that would require the curb and sidewalk to be reconstructed as provided for in § 330 of the Highway Law, then the Village of Mount Morris shall assume the responsibility and pay for the cost of resetting the curb and sidewalk for the handicapped access from the curb to the first intersecting block of the main sidewalk. Work associated with these conditions shall be conducted in accordance with the most recent edition of the Standards and Specifications for Public Concrete Sidewalks.
It is the policy of the Village of Mount Morris that new sidewalks be installed on both sides of the street when a new street is built or rehabilitated. Costs for work associated with public sidewalks shall be shared between the Village and property owner where the sidewalk resides. The Superintendent of Streets shall make recommendations to the Mayor and the Village Board on cost-sharing to consider for newly installed sidewalks, with the property owner, just prior to a construction or renovation project.
In certain cases, it may be more practical to have a sidewalk on only one side of a street or portion of a street between intersections. Where the Village Board authorizes this to be the case, sidewalks will no longer be authorized for the side of the street without the sidewalk. Furthermore, the property owners on the side of the street without the sidewalk may be required to share in the cost of the sidewalk installed on the opposite side of the street. Prior to commencing work, the Superintendent of Streets shall make every effort to obtain general agreement on construction plans with property owners on the street where only one sidewalk is the best solution.
A public hearing will be held for all construction and rehabilitation projects. At such public hearings all project plans, responsibilities, agreements and costs to the property owner will be detailed by the Superintendent of Streets. The Village Board must then accept such terms and conditions prior to starting work on a project.
Owners of premises in the Village of Mount Morris subject to this article must comply therewith and with any regulations, specifications and any order passed by the Mayor and the Village Board of the Village of Mount Morris. In the event that any owner fails to comply with this article, the sections of the Village Law set forth above, any regulations passed by the Mayor and the Village Board or the specifications or any orders of the Mayor and the Village Board pursuant thereto, the Village may cause the construction, reconstruction, repair or removal of obstructions to be accomplished and audit and pay the expense of doing the same. If the owner in question does not reimburse the Village, the Village shall assess the expense thereof against the property benefited as a whole in any five or fewer annual installments.
A. 
If such expense is assessed in installments, there shall be assessed as part of each installment, except the first, as interest, an amount not exceeding 6% of such installments, such rate to be fixed by the Mayor and the Village Board in the order providing for the assessment.
B. 
If such expense is assessed as a whole and the Village Board resolution assessing such expense against a particular piece of property shall so provide, the assessment against such property may be paid in five or fewer annual installments on the dates fixed by such resolution with interest, not exceeding 6% of each such installment, fixed by such resolution.