As with the city’s streets, a huge portion of Los Angeles’ sidewalks have fallen into disrepair—cracked by time, rain and neglect, or pushed up by tree roots.

The sidewalks along Gardner Street have been badly damaged by tree roots. The city may require residents to make the repairs. (photo by Ian Lovett)

For the last 35 years, if it was the roots of trees on public property damaged the sidewalks, the city was responsible for repairing the damage. That policy is set to change, however, as the Los Angeles City Council Public Works and Budget and Finance Committees moved on Monday to shift all responsibility for sidewalk repair from the city to the adjacent property owner.

“Obviously, the city is in horrible financial shape,” said Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz, 5th District. “The council is trying to decide what our core mission is, and which things we can stop doing. I’ve generally thought we could use efficiencies in several areas to eliminate much of the budget shortfall, but the one area that we seem to have the clearest consensus on with cuts is sidewalk repair. The council feels there still needs to be sidewalk repair, but we’re going to have residents pick up that responsibility.”

Property owners were originally responsible for the adjacent sidewalks, following a 1911 state law that charged them with all construction, reconstruction, and repair. However, in 1974, when federal funding became available, the city took on responsibility for repairing curbs, driveways and sidewalks damaged by tree root growth. Although federal funding ran out two years later, the city has remained legally responsible for repairing sidewalks damaged by tree roots, even though most trees were planted by adjacent property owners and real estate developers.

Since 2000, the Bureau of Street Services (BOSS) has repaired about 550 miles of sidewalk, at a cost of $95 million, but the condition of the city’s sidewalks has continued to get worse, with roughly 40 percent in need of repair. Los Angeles also spends between $3 million and $5 million each year defending lawsuits brought by people who trip and fall on city sidewalks.

The estimated $1.2 billion it will cost to repair Los Angeles’ 4,600 miles of damaged sidewalk will now fall to property owners.

Ron Olive, assistant director of BOSS, said he believes the new system will lead to more sidewalk repairs across the city.

“I think we’ll definitely make some headway, with property owners taking responsibility for repairs again,” Olive said. “Right now, we’re only doing interim asphalt repairs. If we’re aware of a hazard, we’ll patch it with asphalt, but we’re not laying any concrete. Once the new program gets going, I can see sidewalks being replaced again.”

However, City Councilmember José Huizar, 14th District, expressed skepticism that shifting responsibility to property owners would lead to repairs across the city.

“Folks in low-income neighborhoods are not going to have the money to make those repairs,” Huizar said. “This policy would shift the responsibility to the property owners, but that doesn’t mean the repairs are going to get done.

Huizar suggested that the city offer a loan program and payment installment plan to help low-income residents fund sidewalk repairs.

In addition, there will be a one-year moratorium before property owners are held responsible for fixing sidewalks. And even once the new program begins, it remains unclear exactly how the city will compel property owners to repair adjacent sidewalks. Currently, several options are being considered, including a point-of-sale system, which would require property owners to have their sidewalks certified before an escrow could be closed, or using BOSS employees to inspect sidewalks and issue citations, which give the property owner 90 days to fix the sidewalk.

It also remains to be seen how the new policy will be enforced.

“The only kicker is, what if the property owner doesn’t repair the sidewalk after 90 days?” Olive said. “Does the city make the repair and put a lein on the property? We have to have a system to address noncompliance.”

Other questions remain as well. For instance, it’s unclear if the city will remain liable for trip-and-fall claims. At Monday’s committee meeting, neither BOSS nor the City Attorney’s office knew whether the money spent defending trip-and-fall litigation came from the Public Works budget, the City Attorney’s budget, or from the General Fund. The City Attorney’s Office did not return calls for comment.

What is clear is that whatever the cause of damage to the sidewalk, the cost for fixing it will soon fall to property owners.

Jim O’Sullivan, president of the Miracle Mile Residents Association, said it was unfair for the city to expect property owners to pay for damage caused by city-owned trees.

“The city wants to walk away from it and say, ‘OK, it’s yours now,’” O’Sullivan said. “There’s something really wrong with penalizing homeowners for sidewalks that are damaged when it was the city that put the trees in. Frankly, I think that’s the city’s responsibility. But the city doesn’t have any money, and they’re probably going to close a lot of Street Services down.”