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pburgh2517 t1_j3r512y wrote

I’ve had them come pick some of the ones that completely fell off the sidewalks, but technically the curb is the property owners responsibility. The city may not want to mess with the owners sidewalk/curb as then the owner could come back at the city for the condition of whatever is underneath saying they jacked it up. A 311 request about the condition of the sidewalk may work if the owner gets cited.

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Strong-Lawfulness805 OP t1_j3r9ii4 wrote

That’s been one of my thoughts that they are gonna say it’s the owners responsibility

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ArgyllFire t1_j3rcyun wrote

That's weird. Legally I was always told the curb is a part of the roadway, and therefore should be the responsibility of the municipality. I see there's PA documents that speak about curb/sidewalk as interchangeable and homeowners responsibility. Our concrete guy would NOT touch our curb in Pittsburgh when he repaired the sidewalk. So.. Now I'm lost.

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tesla3by3 t1_j3rna35 wrote

Here's the Pittsburgh Code.

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§ 417.02 - SIDEWALK AND CURB MAINTENANCE.
(a) It shall be the duty of the property owner abutting or adjoining the public right-of-way to provide for the continuing care, maintenance, repair, and replacement of all sidewalk pavements and curbing installed in the right-of-way abutting or adjoining their property.

(b) All sidewalks and curbs shall be kept in a proper state of repair, be free from hazardous conditions, and maintained in accordance with applicable laws, rules, guidelines, and policies.

(c) All sidewalks and curbs shall be constructed in accordance with specifications and regulations as established by the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure.

(d) The property owner must obtain a permit for any sidewalk repairs or construction as required by Section 413.02.
(Ord. No. 35-2021, § 1, eff. 10-11-21)

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Excelius t1_j3s516s wrote

My understanding is that PA has some stupid laws that make it difficult to impossible for municipalities to build and maintain sidewalks, forcing most of the expense onto the adjacent property owner.

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/uconsCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&yr=1933&sessInd=0&smthLwInd=0&act=069&chpt=24

And local governments often seem pretty reluctant to force local property owners to bear potentially thousands of dollars in expense to repave sidewalks.

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GottaWanna t1_j3ru19z wrote

I’ve always wondered about this because my property line stops before the sidewalk, yet if you live on a corner lot, you bet your butt they’re going to do the bumpy pads there for you. I feel like the reality is that this is a mega grey area and largely unenforced.

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dfiler t1_j3sazh0 wrote

Are you sure your property line stops before the sidewalk? I was under the impression that Pittsburgh property extends to the street center line. Of course, there is a public right of way and easements involving streets, sidewalks, street trees, etc.

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GottaWanna t1_j3td1zv wrote

I believe that’s how my parents’ house is in rural PA, but I had mine surveyed during a neighborly dispute and it ends at my retaining wall, behind the sidewalk. So everywhere is probably different. Possibly even within the city.

Side note, I used to talk shit about people who walk on the road when there’s a perfectly good sidewalk along the street, until I started going for walks in my neighborhood. You don’t know street to street if you’re going to get a walkable sidewalk, or any sidewalk at all. Then you get a random post-war street in places like Marshall-Shadeland (Ridgeland and Newhampshire drives , and Ingram to note) with random to no sidewalk at all like it’s Pleasant Hills. So now, I have an understanding of the street walking in certain situations. But that also had me wondering about the ownership of sidewalks. I bet the streets I mentioned own at least out to the road. So who made it okay to have no sidewalk when planning these?

Overall, I bet it’s an old oversight. They were probably officially part of city infrastructure at one time, until they realized they wouldn’t be able to legitimately maintain them.

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pburgh2517 t1_j3rlxkj wrote

And here I am in Pittsburgh and I paid to replace my own curb (on a cobblestone street too). There was metal on mine so I was glad to pay for their replacement.

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