Multiple locations
Patch the Holes in Sidewalk Ordinance
RECEIVED Wed., Nov. 28, 2007
Dear Editor,
Austin's City Council will consider a sidewalk ordinance on Dec. 6. The gist of the ordinance (posted at www.tinyurl.com/2w6u6p) is that sidewalk installation will be required with building permits. Unfortunately, the ordinance is full of large loopholes.
Sidewalk installation may be waived if the director of public works “determines that the development does not generate pedestrian traffic.” Thus, a car dealership, for example, could be built without a sidewalk. But a sidewalk is not mainly for people walking to the building it fronts. It's for people walking past the building, on their way somewhere else. Any business that generates motor traffic definitely needs a sidewalk.
Sidewalk installation may be waived “if there are no sidewalks in the vicinity.” This is a very bad rule. It says that streets without a sidewalk will never get a sidewalk.
Sidewalk installation may be waived if the neighborhood plan doesn't call for a sidewalk. But sidewalks are not just for neighborhood residents. They're for people walking through the neighborhood. Neighborhoods should not be allowed to deny pedestrians safe passage.
For a building on a corner, a sidewalk is required on only one of the two streets that meet at the corner. Thus the sidewalk system falls apart at the corner, a dangerous place for pedestrians.
Sidewalk construction is waived wherever there are trees, drainage ditches, or other obstacles. It would be much better to have a procedure for routing sidewalks around these obstacles.
I hope that the City Council will pass this ordinance, but only after patching the holes in it.
Austin's City Council will consider a sidewalk ordinance on Dec. 6. The gist of the ordinance (posted at www.tinyurl.com/2w6u6p) is that sidewalk installation will be required with building permits. Unfortunately, the ordinance is full of large loopholes.
Sidewalk installation may be waived if the director of public works “determines that the development does not generate pedestrian traffic.” Thus, a car dealership, for example, could be built without a sidewalk. But a sidewalk is not mainly for people walking to the building it fronts. It's for people walking past the building, on their way somewhere else. Any business that generates motor traffic definitely needs a sidewalk.
Sidewalk installation may be waived “if there are no sidewalks in the vicinity.” This is a very bad rule. It says that streets without a sidewalk will never get a sidewalk.
Sidewalk installation may be waived if the neighborhood plan doesn't call for a sidewalk. But sidewalks are not just for neighborhood residents. They're for people walking through the neighborhood. Neighborhoods should not be allowed to deny pedestrians safe passage.
For a building on a corner, a sidewalk is required on only one of the two streets that meet at the corner. Thus the sidewalk system falls apart at the corner, a dangerous place for pedestrians.
Sidewalk construction is waived wherever there are trees, drainage ditches, or other obstacles. It would be much better to have a procedure for routing sidewalks around these obstacles.
I hope that the City Council will pass this ordinance, but only after patching the holes in it.
Yours truly,
Amy Babich
Amy Babich
