Town Hall on Sidewalks 

September 18, 2024

Chapter 20 of the Township Code requires that sidewalks be constructed with every new home that
is built. With new subdivisions, there is no question, and the developer always constructs
sidewalks. But we are seeing that in some of the neighborhoods without sidewalks, current
residents have decided to demolish and re-build their homes, or a flipper will purchase, demolish,
and rebuild a home. These residents have come to Council asking for a waiver of the sidewalk
requirement, citing the following reasons:

• The additional cost.
• The difficulty of working around existing trees or other obstacles.
• Future maintenance and shoveling.
• The liability.
• The fact that, in some instances, a sidewalk would not connect to other sidewalks because
their neighbors do not have sidewalks.

While we support the concept of greater walkability within the Township and its neighborhoods,
Council is sensitive to residents’ concerns, and so we decided to have this Town Hall meeting to get
your input. There are several areas without sidewalks but the largest neighborhood without
sidewalks is Plymouth Valley.
Here’s the question on the table for this Town Hall…should the Code be changed? Or should we
enforce the code (with rare exception) requiring that sidewalks are constructed by property owners,
recognizing that it will take decades or beyond, for all of the sidewalks to be connected?