Is Your Sidewalk Clear and Safe for Neighbors?
LCC occasionally hears from neighbors who are concerned about overgrowth. Neighbors appreciate property owners who keep their trees, bushes, hedges, and ground covers trimmed back from walkways. Take a close look at your sidewalk and make sure your property is safe.
Walkers, joggers, dogs, and children biking and scootering frequently need to dodge overgrowth that encroaches on sidewalks. Do you have shrubs or hedges sprawling across the walk or overhanging the sidewalk’s edge? Do tree branches droop causing passersby to duck? Have plantings grown so tall that drivers can’t see past them? If so – with autumn quickly approaching – it’s time to get out the pruners.
City Code requires property owners keep adjacent sidewalks, roads, and alleys clear of all obstructions. This means shoveling snow in the winter, raking leaves in the fall, and repairing damaged sidewalks. Encroaching shrubs and hedges must be cut back, and a minimum eight-foot clearance must be maintained above sidewalks (14 feet above roads and alleys). Vegetation that obscures an intersection at a distance of 30 feet should be trimmed.
Failure to observe these laws may result in fines. But fines aside, keeping your sidewalks clear is a neighborly thing to do.
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