SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The City of San Diego started seeing a lot more construction projects on sidewalks on Wednesday, Nov. 15.
Following Monday's City Council vote approving the Safe Sidewalks Program, there are about 2,500 sidewalk projects that the city will eventually repair in the next year. The City Council approved $9 million for the projects dedicated to fixing uneven and damaged sidewalks.
However, it’s not just the city that needs to fix sidewalks.
Property owners will also need to get their shovels ready.
“We have about 5,000 notices in our backlog currently that we need to send out to property owners," said Patrick Hadley, the deputy director of the City Transportation Department's Street Division.
Hadley said the notices will start being mailed out in November.
In addition to the notice's instructions to property owners on next steps, it will also have some good news. The city has decided to waive costly permit fees and help expedite the process for property owners' sidewalk repairs.
"What we’ve tried to do with the Safe Sidewalks Program is eliminate that fee barrier of $2,100 permit fee that’s required to take work to your sidewalk," Hadley said. “The permit is really an automatic permit that we issue the property owner if they provide us all the information that’s required; hiring a general contractor that licensed and that you’ll perform the work to city standards.”
City leaders say that many times, property owners don’t even realize that it’s their responsibility to fix uneven sidewalks.
Here's an easy tip.
Anthony Santacroce, the city's senior public information officer, said property owners can determine if the sidewalk damage is their responsibility or not, based on the side of the sidewalk the tree is on. If the tree is facing the street, it's the city's responsibility. If it's on the property owner's side of the sidewalk, it's their responsibility.
The city has already put signs up warning residents of the coming construction.
However, Donald Fournier, a resident of Golden Hill, was still caught off-guard by demolition that started at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"The sign’s been up for a week and it doesn’t say what day it’s going to happen," Fournier said. "We were in bed, then we heard the noise, and jumped up and get ready and came out here.”
Hadley said the sidewalk projects the city is taking care of will have a quick turn-around time.
“Day one here, we’re demoing this sidewalk, and day two will be pouring up new concrete in this location," Hadley said.
To find out more about the Safe Sidewalks Program, visit the city's website here.
