Don’t stand on the sidelines of sidewalk repairs

The city has found a solution: The homeowner shall pay. In its most recent revision to the notice provided along the streets where sidewalks are about to be replaced, the city advises homeowners that they will ‘‘need to adjust their lead walk and⁄or stairs to conform to this new elevation to bring them into compliance with the city’s code and charter.” In many instances applying that verb ‘‘adjust” to lead walks or stairs can add up to hundreds of dollars worth of unanticipated expenses for the homeowner.

Ironically, the city’s standards for contractors performing infrastructure work clearly states that the contractor is responsible for the preservation and restoration of all public and private property along or adjacent to their work area. This city standard would lead a homeowner to expect that if their stairs or walks were code compliant before the contractors arrived then they need to be code compliant after the contractors leave – or the contractor shall pay. If the problem resulted from the city’s instructions to the contractor, then the city should have the responsibility to ‘‘adjust” homeowners’ steps or front walks. Yet the bill appears to have been handed to the homeowner.

Either option – the contractor or the city picking up the tab for the consequences of their actions – seems to be more fair than handing the bill to the homeowner, the only party who did not have a seat at the table where these decisions were made. Residents of Hyattsville have a choice: Raise your voice or pick up the tab.

Nicholas James Harris, Hyattsville