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City law shocks homeowner Photo by Bob Pennell When Bill Hall tried to sell his west Medford home, he discovered the city wants him to repair the sidewalk first. A city ordinance makes sidewalk upkeep and repair the responsibility of home owners. Medford man learns he's liable for fixing crack in city sidewalk By CHRIS BRISTOL Bill Hall knew he was supposedly responsible for the sidewalk outside his home in west Medford, but he didn't really believe it -- until a pedestrian tripped on it one day and complained. Not to him, to the city. It was a city street tree that was pushing up an entire slab of the city sidewalk. Hall got the letter from the city about a week later. "These repairs must be completed within thirty (30) days of the date of this notice," the letter, dated Feb. 22, demanded. "Thank you for your cooperation regarding this matter." After the deadline, when Hall said he couldn't pay, the city staff asked the City Council for permission to put a lien on the Halls' property. The council last week "indefinitely" postponed the lien request on the Halls' home. Crebbin asked for the delay, saying his staff is negotiating a solution. According to the Halls, the city has offered to fix the sidewalk and subtract the cost from the sale of their home. Or the cost could be added to their property taxes. Nevertheless, when Hall first learned of the requirement to repair the sidewalk, he was devastated. The retired millworker living on a fixed income -- who also spends $600 a week on kidney dialysis treatment -- could neither afford to pay a contractor nor do the work himself. Besides, the way he sees it, It's a public sidewalk. "It's not my property, it's theirs," says Hall, who laid plywood core at Timber Products for the better part of 45 years. "But they have an ordinance that says you're responsible for it if the sidewalk abuts your property. That's not right, but they have an ordinance. Legally I have to do something about it." If he didn't, the city threatened to do it for him and then charge him for it. If he didn't pay, the city threatened to put a lien on his property, which could ultimately lead to foreclosure. "This is a pretty typical municipal ordinance," counters Corey Crebbin, director of the city's Public Works Department. "Everywhere I've been they've had this." The ordinance says property owners must maintain adjacent sidewalks so they're safe. If they don't and someone's injured, the owner is liable for damages. Medford has many blighted sidewalks, but the city has never performed an inventory because it would be too time-consuming and costly, Crebbin says. Instead, the city acts only when a complaint is made about a specific stretch of sidewalk. When that happens -- as in the case of the sidewalk outside Bill and Rita Hall's home -- the city has to aggressively pursue repairs to protect itself from the threat of a lawsuit. "Somebody could say, hey, the city knew there was a hazard there and didn't do anything about it," Crebbin explains. Based on his experience with sending fix-it-now letters, many homeowners in Medford are unaware of the ordinance, Crebbin says. "I'd say it's about 50-50," he says. "Yeah, about half the time I would say it's a surprise to homeowners." Among those in that category was Matt Hart, a Medford City Council member. Hart represents Ward 3, which includes the Haven Street neighborhood where Bill and Rita Hall built their home back in 1964. Hart heard about the ordinance for the first time last week when the city staff wanted permission from the council to put the lien on the Halls' home. "I found out Wednesday morning, when I read my four-page council agenda," Hart says. "It shocked the hell out of me." Hart says he wishes he had known about the ordinance last year, when the city went ahead with a controversial plan to use federal HUD money to repair uprooted sidewalks in an historic eastside neighborhood. Some of the homes in the neighborhood are valued at more than $200,000. Hart says he never realized homeowners there -- or anywhere, for that matter -- were technically on the hook for repairs. "I would've liked to have known," he says. "This really opened my eyes." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA