PISMO BEACH COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Agenda Item #12.C
SUBJECT/TITLE:
RESIDENTIAL SIDEWALK DEVELOPMENT POLICY
RECOMMENDATION:
Provide staff with direction on potential modifications to the current residential sidewalk development policy.
BACKGROUND:
The City Council has been dedicated to the walkability of the City and has demonstrated this commitment with the construction of the Shell Beach Streetscape Multimodal Path, the adoption of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, the Ocean Boulevard Coastal Access Improvement Project, the funding of the non-residential Hinds Avenue-to-Ocean View Avenue sidewalk adjacent to the US 101, and through the 2022 Paving Project, currently under construction, which will build a sidewalk under the US 101 Freeway at Spyglass Drive and across the median at Ventana Drive along James Way.
Consistent with a desire to make the community more walkable, staff has required the construction of sidewalks in conjunction with some residential projects in an effort to continue to improve the walkability of the city and to meet one of the City Council’s top goals of ensuring an exceptional quality of life for residents.
Public improvements, including curbs, gutters, sidewalks, streets, and other infrastructure are typically installed by developers when housing tracts are developed. These costs are factored into the selling price of the houses and, therefore, ultimately paid for by the future homeowner. California Streets and Highways Code Section 5610 places the maintenance of sidewalks on the adjacent property owner in residential neighborhoods. It has long been the City’s position that the City does not install residential sidewalks and that it is the homeowner’s responsibility to build missing sidewalks throughout the City when a parcel is developed, redeveloped, or a major modification has been made to an existing house.
The last residential sidewalk constructed by the City was approved on October 7, 2014, in conjunction with the Council’s award of the 2014/15 Paving Project. At that time, the Council reinforced its policy that the City does not install residential sidewalks; however, in the case of Longview Avenue and Wadsworth Avenue it was a “Safe Routes to School” project providing a safer path of travel for Judkins Middle School students, and not a residential sidewalk project.
The Council has also made clear that it is the City’s position that encroachments into the right-of-way should be limited, and reinforced this position at the September 7, 2021, Council meeting regarding a project on Palomar Avenue that changed scope through construction.
12.C-1Council Agenda 11-1-2022
Since the September 2021 Council meeting, staff has been requiring property owners to install sidewalks in all parts of the city, including Pismo Heights, on dead end streets, in Shell Beach where the right-of-way is limited and there are very few existing sidewalks, and all other residential neighborhoods.
Most recently, at the October 4, 2022 City Council meeting, the Council inquired about a landscaping project that was thought to have been required to install a sidewalk. Staff concluded that no such condition was required on a landscaping project in Shell Beach or any other part of the city. Instead, staff was attempting to inform the property owner of the limitation of placing a garden wall in the right-of-way. However, for this type of project, staff would require appropriate drainage improvements, which may include curb and gutter and/or a concrete drainage swale depending on the existing conditions and neighborhood characteristics, if those drainage improvements were not existing.
Currently, staff has been requiring sidewalks as a condition of approval for development permits in the following conditions:
Relocation of existing curb and gutter
Relocation of existing driveway approach
Substantial reconfiguration of an existing home
Addition and minor reconfiguration of an existing home Substantial addition of an existing home
While sidewalks are generally being required in the above circumstances, staff also understands that there are certain streets in the city that are not wide enough for sidewalks to be installed or that may have other conditions where sidewalks would not be advisable, and staff ultimately bases its final decision on the characteristics of the street.
Staff has reached out to other agencies through the League of California Cities and has compiled the following list of items that trigger the requirement for the installation of sidewalks in other agencies throughout the state:
Addition of any room other than a bathroom
Construction of any detached structure larger than 120 square feet Conversion of 25% or more unconditioned space (garage, shed, etc.) to conditioned space
Addition of 50% or more to a structure that is 999 square feet or less or the addition of 500 square feet to structures 1,000 square feet or larger Addition of 40% or more of the existing habitable square footage or 500 square feet, whichever is greater
Any addition of 100 square feet or more
Significant remodel modifying 35% or more of a structure, whether or not square footage is added
Remodel where alterations remove or modify 50% or more of exterior walls or remove or modify more than 50% of the roof framing
12.C-2Council Agenda 11-1-2022
Conclusion and Recommendation
The requirement to install sidewalks does place a greater financial burden on property owners and it does create several pockets of isolated sidewalks in neighborhoods.
Nonetheless, the installation of sidewalks enhances neighborhoods and will, over time, make them more walkable. Staff understands that there is some concern being raised about this policy in the community and seeks direction from Council on the City’s policy for requiring the construction of sidewalks in existing residential neighborhoods.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no direct fiscal impact associated with this report, however, requiring developers to install sidewalks will keep the financial responsibility of sidewalk installation in neighborhoods with the homeowner.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. Do not provide direction at this time.
ATTACHMENTS:
None
Submitted by: Meeting Date: November 1, 2022
Benjamin A. Fine, P.E., Director of Public Works/City Engineer City Manager Approval:
12.C-3Council Agenda 11-1-2022