Vic Bradshaw
Frederick News
Post
If the sidewalk in
front of your home in this town is in
disrepair, your wallet may be in the same
shape soon.
The town’s board of
commissioners unanimously voted to amend the
ordinance that makes property owners
responsible for the condition of sidewalks
adjacent to their homes. Instead of
requiring the board to mandate that repairs
be made, authority for those decisions was
shifted to the town staff, with final
approval of the town manager.
The step was taken
to remove responsibility from the board and
enable repair mandates to be made quicker.
David Haller, town
manager, said Emmitsburg could face trouble
if someone were hurt because of a damaged
section of sidewalk. If the town knew about
the problem but hadn’t acted to have the
homeowner make repairs, it could be held
liable.
"There’s no way for
you to dodge the ultimate financial
responsibility," Mr. Haller said.
Commissioner
Clifford Sweeney said he thought that
because homeowners are responsible for
removing snow from their sidewalks, they
should be accountable for the condition of
those paths.
Resident Dianne
Walbrecker asked about damage caused by
trees that the town planted along the
walkways. If the trees are removed, put in
root boxes and replaced, she said she didn’t
think residents should be responsible for
any of the cost.
The board also
unanimously decided to have its planning and
zoning commission study the prospect of
requiring sprinkler systems in single-family
homes. The consensus was that the
commissioners favored mandating the safety
device but wanted the planning panel’s
input. In other action, the board
unanimously approved an ordinance to rezone
land so Bollinger Properties LLC can build
48 senior-housing units in the town, and it
decided to continue the practice of not
allowing the planning commission’s alternate
member to participate in discussion and
debate unless substituting for a panel
member.
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