Does anyone know...

[Amina516]

..who owns the sidewalks in front of houses? City type dwellings mostly.

I googled and cant find what i need. Is it area dependant?

[MaggieTheCat]

I tried to find this out too, after reading that thread on Fratching, but my google-fu failed as well.

[ladyneeva]

Depends on the area, but generally the city. Typically, the property owner owns in full everything within the area they are legally allowed to fence in and the city owns anything that is not within that area for any of the adjoining properties. But it really depends on the individual city or sometimes even so far down as the neighborhood or even just one development within a neighborhood.

[csquared]

Usually, it is the local municipality. Or it could belong to the HOA.

Where is your property line? Rarely is it the curb. In my area, the county own a 30' path for the road. 15' either side of the center line. It gives them room for expansion, utilities, etc...

That said, you may still be responsible for certain maintenance, like mowing the grass between the side walk & curb and clearing snow/ice.

Contact your local department of roadway.

[draggar]

I'll agree with the consensus - it's usually the city / HOA but oddly in a lot of them, if there's grass between the sidewalk and the street - that's the home owner's responsibility.

To get the best answer - I'd check out your city's code office (or would that be zoning?)

[Amina516]

Ill have to look into it next week. It looks like the constant snow/ice we've been getting has managed to destroy a chunk of cement on the sidewalk in front of my house. I want to know whos liable to fix it...I realllllllly hope its not me.

[flybye023]

I think it's probably area-specific. I know that when the sidewalk in front of our house needed to be repaired, we called the city who told us it was our responsibility, however, we had to pay them $70 for a permit to fix it

[TheSHAD0W]

In El Paso, TX, you own the property up to the curb, and there is typically some landscaping between the curb and the sidewalk. In Las Cruces, NM, 50 miles away, the city owns the sidewalk, which is always up against the curb. In the subdivision I live in, in rural Hudspeth County, TX, we actually own up to the center line of the road easements, though of course since they are easements you are very limited as to what you can do with them.

In other words, it can vary enormously. If you purchased your house at all recently, there should have been a survey done, and you may want to try and find a copy. It will specify exactly what you own.

[Evil Queen]

As Shadow demonstrated, it depends on the state. When I lived in TN our "property" exended to the yellow line in the middle of the road! I don't know if that was a state wide thing or a county thing. Came in handy when, around local ellection time, ass holes kept putting signs on our property (in our ACTUAL YARD and ON THE BANK) without permission.

heeheehee

[Pedersen]

It can vary hugely, and I mean hugely.

In some places, you can own the land under the sidewalk, while the city owns the sidewalk itself, but you are still responsible for clearing it off when snow occurs.

The only answer is to ask your local government what you own and are responsible for.

[eltf177]

I think it's probably area-specific. I know that when the sidewalk in front of our house needed to be repaired, we called the city who told us it was our responsibility, however, we had to pay them $70 for a permit to fix it

Both where I live and where I work it's the town's responsibility to fix sidewalk unless the homeowner or their contractor broke it, in which case they fix it or foot the bill for its replacement.

It can vary hugely, and I mean hugely.

In some places, you can own the land under the sidewalk, while the city owns the sidewalk itself, but you are still responsible for clearing it off when snow occurs.

The only answer is to ask your local government what you own and are responsible for.

Same here, the sidewalk and the land below it (and any grass between the sidewalk and curb) belong to the town but you're responsible for cleaning the sidewalk. Of course, our area just got 29 inches of snow with another 14 inches a few days later. We're dumping tons of snow onto sidewalks as we've absolutely nowhere else to put it and the homeowners are making it clear they're _not_ clearing them off again! Can't really blame them either...