Sidewalk Ordinance Amendments

[BeerNut]

https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/sidewalk-ordinance-amendments.html

Quote

The Planning and Development Department proposes amendments to the Sidewalk Ordinance to create a complete sidewalk network in the city by providing more sidewalk options and establishing a sidewalk fund and protocols for constructing sidewalks.

 

[editor]

So many of Houston's sidewalks are a mess.    I can't imagine being in a wheelchair, or someone who has to use a walker in this town. 

Heck, my Apple Watch sends me alerts saying I'm "unsteady," but that could just be a comment on my personality.

I have no idea how sidewalks are paid for in Houston, or elsewhere. 

[august948]

On 5/30/2022 at 10:25 AM, BeerNut said:

https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/sidewalk-ordinance-amendments.html

 

The way I read this, it allows a developer to not construct a sidewalk and just pay a fee in to the city instead.  Is that correct?

[editor]

22 hours ago, august948 said:

The way I read this, it allows a developer to not construct a sidewalk and just pay a fee in to the city instead.  Is that correct?

I've seen this in other cities.  The fee is usually the cost of having the sidewalk built, and the city takes the money and builds the sidewalk, itself.

The reason this is an option (elsewhere, I don't know what the motive is in Houston) is because smaller construction companies and developers may not have the resources to build the sidewalk, or to build it at a cost less than the city, which already has people to design and build these things.