Sec. 31-2. Responsibility for maintenance and repair of sidewalks.

(a) Declaration of legislative intent. It is hereby declared to be the purpose and intent of the board of county commissioners of Broward County, Florida, to hold the owner of land located within Broward County, but outside any municipality, responsible for notifying Broward County of sidewalks in need of maintenance and repair located within the public right-of-way which abuts his or her land.

(b) Duty of owner of abutting property. It shall be the duty of each owner of property located within the unincorporated area of Broward County to notify Broward County of sidewalks in need of reconstruction or maintenance which are located within the public right-of-way abutting upon each parcel of his or her property.

(c) Sidewalk width, material grade, etc., shall be as prescribed and approved by the county.The width of each sidewalk, the material to be used in its reconstruction or repair, the grade thereof and the method and manner of reconstruction and repair, shall be as set forth in the manual entitled "Minimum Standards Applicable to Public Rights-of-Way Under Broward County Jurisdiction," approved by the Board of County Commissioners of Broward County, Florida, on the fourteenth day of March, 1995, and on file in the Broward County Engineering Division.

(d) Replacement and repair criteria. Upon notice by the abutting property owner or upon its own initiative, the county shall inspect the existing sidewalk. If it meets the following criteria, it shall be reconstructed or repaired:

(1) Vertical displacement at the joints or within blocks exceeds one (1) inch, or unstable sections within blocks exceeding ten (10) percent of the block area;

(2) Scaling and/or peeling of the sidewalk surface exceeds twenty-five (25) percent of the block surface area;

(e) Notification of by property owner. Notice as required by this part by the abutting property owner of a sidewalk in need of repair or maintenance must be in writing, sent by certified United States mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the Broward County Administrator, or his or her designee.

(f) Cumulative nature of section. This section shall be considered cumulative, and nothing contained herein shall prevent the county from constructing sidewalks and providing for the payment thereof as specified in chapter 31, article III, of the Broward County Code of Ordinances.

(g) Violation. It shall be unlawful and punishable as provided for by law for any person to reconstruct or repair any sidewalk contrary to, or to violate any of the provisions of, this section.

(Ord. No. 77-75, §§ 1--10, 12-14-77; Ord. No. 96-6, § 1, 3-12-96)

Editor's note: Ord. No. 77-75, §§ 1--10, adopted Dec. 14, 1977, did not specifically amend the Code. Codification herein as § 31-2 was, therefore, at the discretion of the editor.