LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) – Got a thousand bucks to spare? Then you can go ahead and repair that broken sidewalk outside your home.
A Los Angeles City Council committee meeting set for Wednesday night will focus on a new policy for repair and management of sidewalks adjacent to private property.
The Public Works Committee meeting will address how the city should spend an estimated $1.4 billion over the next 30 years to fix broken sidewalks.
In May, City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said officials are considering a plan to make property owners responsible for fees to maintain sidewalks.
Since 1974, the city has maintained the areas where trees have uprooted sidewalks, but Santana wants the responsibility to shift to the homeowner.
But City Councilman Joe Buscaino may be approaching the problem with a very different – and very do-it-yourself – strategy.
Buscaino told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO last week he dug up the sidewalk in front his home, ripped out old tree roots that were buckling the concrete, and put down a new sidewalk.
The councilman even recorded the entire effort and posted the video on YouTube.
After spending about $400 on concrete, in addition a dumping fee and “labor costs” for a licensed contractor and professional mason, Buscaino said all told, the effort cost about $1,000. The city repair permit, he added, was free of charge.
“I had a tree on private property buckling my own sidewalk, and it’s kinda like a Sidewalk 101 lesson that we’re learning throughout the city,” he said. “The property owner’s responsible for maintaining his or her sidewalk, but if there’s a city tree involved, that’s where this policy is coming into play.”
According to Buscaino, a “city tree” is defined as any tree located on a public parkway.
In April, the City Council reached an agreement with disabled residents and their advocates to make more than $1 billion in city sidewalk repairs to settle an Americans Disabilities Act lawsuit, which requires the city to fix sidewalks that are broken and torn up by tree roots.
Tonight’s joint committee hearing starts at 6 p.m. at the Eagle Rock Center for Performing Arts and is open to the public.
