Maitland City Council passes sidewalk ordinance

In its quick session Monday, March 25, the Maitland City Council unanimously adopted a new ordinance that leaders believe will make sidewalks in the city safer for pedestrians.

The ordinance will amend the Maitland City Code — specifically Chapter 7, “Health and Sanitation,” Article 1 “In General” — to provide some clarity when it comes to maintenance of rights-of-way.

Now business owners, lessees or any other occupant of a property will be required to maintain upkeep on the sidewalks and public right-of-ways located immediately adjacent to their property and between the property and the public right-of-way.

It’s a situation that has been an issue in the past, Community Development Director Dan Matthys said.

“Most people already are doing it, but there wasn’t anything specifically in the ordinance that required that,” Matthys said. “We have had some pushback in the past, because without language, there’s no way to enforce it.”

Although there had been those past issues, more recently Matthys said the city had been put in difficult situations for simply not having the rules in writing.

“(In) some cases where people refused to do anything, they were leaving junk and debris, and they had excessive vegetation growing over the sidewalk, and it was blocking people’s paths,” Matthys said. “And they basically said, ‘Show us where we have to.’”

According to the ordinance, businesses and other entities will have to address those issues and keep their sidewalks clear of debris and liter while also keeping vegetation from overgrowing. Finally, the new change calls for businesses to maintain trees and shrubs — requiring a vertical clearance of at least seven feet above any sidewalk.

By not having trash or overgrown vegetation in the middle of walkways, pedestrians will be able to walk freely without having to worry about tripping over something.

“You find it in ordinances all around the country,” Matthys said. “This is very common ....”

CITY KEEPS EYE ON STATE BILLS
Before the Council adjourned for the night, City Manager Sharon Anselmo spent a few minutes discussing current bills making their way through the works in Tallahassee.

One of those bills included Senate Bill 1000, which is called “Communication Services,” as it started as a reduction of the state communication tax.

The bill’s current form would affect how the city and others regulate communications equipment significantly.

“It repeals everything — all of the provisions on the 2017 Small Cell Wireless Infrastructure Law — and strips the cities of the ability to regulate the placement of communication equipment in public rights-of-way,” Anselmo said. “So in 2017, the state spelled out what procedure you could go through and what you could regulate, and we adopted an ordinance that we think is in compliance with that recently and now most of that has been repealed.”

The bill would also bring changes to undergrounding requirements and permitting.