Houston’s new ordinance allows property owners to opt out of sidewalk construction, but must pay a fee instead.

Gale Delother

FILE: Edgemoor Street near Renwick. There is sidewalk on only one side of the street, and Kinder’s research found this to be a common complaint in Gulfton. The city’s new ordinance will allow homeowners and developers to choose whether they want to build a sidewalk in front of their property or pay a fee for it.

Homeowners and developers will now be able to choose whether they want to build a sidewalk in front of their property. The Houston City Council on Wednesday voted to implement Decree on payment for the construction of sidewalks.

The ordinance will allow residents who opt out of laying sidewalk in front of their home to pay a fee of $12 per square foot of new sidewalks that would be built if the homeowner agreed to lay the sidewalk. For example, a single-family home with a 25-foot front lot can waive sidewalk installation and pay a $1,500 fee if it meets certain criteria that make sidewalk construction achievable.

Mayor Sylvester Turner said the new fee will prevent further development of what the city calls “sidewalks to nowhere.”

“One of the reasons we’re doing this is because under the current system, people are forced to build sidewalks, and if you look in certain places, they’re building sidewalks and people have nowhere to go.”

under the city current The Sidewalks Ordinance, homeowners and developers are required to build sidewalks in front of the property unless they meet certain exemptions. The fee gives property owners and developers a choice, but also remains in line with the city’s current requirements for sidewalk construction.

Councilman Edward Pollard acknowledged that sidewalks needed to be built to allow for better occupant mobility, but that no toll should be charged if one refuses a sidewalk.

“I just don’t know why we tie a fee to this,” he said. “I’m always paying when it makes sense, but if the sidewalk leads to nowhere, then we’re essentially telling the developer either build a sidewalk to nowhere, or don’t build a sidewalk, but give us some money.”

The fees collected will go to a fund that is projected to bring in $1.7 million to the city to build new sidewalks. At present, the city has sidewalk program this generates $3.3 million annually to build new sidewalks and ramps along school roads, major thoroughfares, and improve accessibility for people with disabilities.

The ordinance does cover new sidewalks, but board members Robert Gallegos, Mary Nan Huffman, and Mike Knox wanted the ordinance to include sidewalk repairs.

“We need sidewalks, but we also need to repair our existing sidewalk,” District I Board member Robert Gallegos said. “And, unfortunately, it won’t solve this problem due to the fact that it only affects new sidewalks or sidewalk modifications.”

Gallegos said he would prefer to use community service funds to improve parks and other amenities in his area, but instead they are being used to repair aging sidewalks.

Mayor Turner said he would support a budget amendment to receive funding for repairs due to Council members Gallegos and Huffman, who are proposing an amendment to include repairs in the ordinance.

“I will support this budget amendment at the time to do exactly what you were talking about,” he said. “So it doesn’t have to come from your balance of funds, and that keeps that element clean.”

The ordinance divides Houston into 17 service areas. 70% of the collected fees will be spent in the areas where the fees were collected, and 30% will go to a fund that will be used to build sidewalks throughout the city.

Council member Mike Knox originally flagged the clause that repairs should be included in the ordinance and builders should be given the option to charge instead, as it refers to situations where sidewalks cannot be built due to such things. like drainage ditches.

“The point I wanted to make here is that we have the ability to create funding for the very thing that we want to do right now,” he said. “We don’t have to wait until May next year to pay off the budget.”

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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