Sidewalks stop, questions begin

"Over and over again through surveys and anecdotal information, our citizens tell us that connecting neighborhoods is important to us," said Community Development Director Ron Ruthven. "So this was an effort to make that a reality."

The problem often arises when a property owner tears down and rebuilds on an old lot. Because Colleyville didn't require sidewalks until 1990, owners may find themselves required to put in a strip of concrete that is the only sidewalk on the block—or pay the city the estimated cost.

As city spokeswoman Mona Gandy says in her recap of the issue on the city's website, master-planned cities that developed fairly quickly, such as Plano, tend to have plenty of connected sidewalks.

But, she adds, "In communities such as Colleyville, which grew from a rural community to a suburban one, sidewalks were once almost non-existent in neighborhoods that were developed earlier."

Sidewalks to nowhere

Resident Chris Putnam illustrated his appeal to the council June 18, with a video showing what he called "sidewalks to nowhere." He wanted a refund of the $6,200 he put in escrow.

Putnam told the council he did not want or need the sidewalk, which he said would not connect to anything because homes on either side do not have sidewalks.

Putnam also questioned having to pay for sidewalks when the residents across the street did not have to.

The City Council denied the refund, and also rejected three other appeals at the meeting.

Until last fall, residents did not have an option to appeal sidewalk decisions by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Since that was changed, appeals to the council have been coming regularly.

One was from a resident who also wanted a refund because he said it was physically impossible to build a sidewalk on the property in question. Another was from a property owner who did not want to build a sidewalk or put money in escrow because the adjacent road was going to be widened, which he thought might eliminate the sidewalk.

The council decided to require the escrow.

Gandy said in an email interview that a count of non-connected sidewalks is being developed for the Oct. 29 work session, as is a tally of sidewalks built and escrows for each project.

In a fourth June case, a builder told the council he was not informed of the sidewalk requirement until the home was almost finished. His appeal also was denied.

Why now?

Appeals to the 23-year-old ordinance are surfacing now because of more custom homebuilding in Colleyville since the economy has begun to recover, Ruthven said.

The requirement typically is not a problem in large subdivisions, he said.

"Sidewalks have always been required," he told the council at its June 18 meeting. "Sometimes communication maybe has not been as good as it should be."

Ruthven said the sidewalk requirement has always been stamped on city documents used by builders, but the city has recently added notes to the building permits to call more attention to it.

An appeal at the council's July 16 meeting was approved—the resident was allowed to place $4,882 in escrow rather than build the required sidewalk. The resident said, and the council agreed, that there was no need for a sidewalk on both sides of that street.

Escrow use

The city as of early August had $208,664 in its sidewalk escrow account. The council reviews staff recommendations for sidewalks and approves projects yearly, using escrowed money in the district for which it was put aside.

The city approved nine projects for the 2012-13 fiscal year.

Two of the larger projects include 2,030 feet of sidewalk on Colleyville Terrace and 100 feet along L.D. Lockett. Escrowed money will be used for both.

A review of the city Trails and Sidewalks Committee meetings through the years shows that decision-making is complicated by several factors.

The city has to take into account routes for children to get to school, general safety, existing sidewalks and future plans for roads while considering neighborhood connectivity.

The 1990 ordinance originally required sidewalks for all new "principal structures." The city enforces the law by not connecting utilities or approving final inspections until sidewalks are done.

Minutes of the city's Trails and Sidewalks Committee show that as early as November 1997, members were concerned about enforcement of the blanket rule.

By 2008, the committee created a master sidewalk plan, which streamlined the process. The city began following the master plan in 2009.

The detailed, street-by-street, color-coded map focuses on sidewalks leading to schools as well as general neighborhood connectivity. Sidewalks are required on some streets; escrow is also an option on others; some do not have a sidewalk requirement.

The 2009 amendment also allows the escrow money to be used within a neighborhood district. Previously, it could only be spent on the specific property for which the money was escrowed, according to the city's May-August 2009 Development Journal.

Colleyville is divided into six neighborhood districts, for planning and other purposes. The same districts are being used for sidewalk development.

The seven-member sidewalk committee is made up of residents appointed by the City Council. It now meets on an as-needed basis.

Problems such as Putnam's, in which he was asked to put in a sidewalk but none was required across the street from his property, were among the issues that prompted the council to schedule another look at the map at the October session.

As for establishing connectivity to the unconnected sidewalks, Gandy said there is no way to determine when that might be complete.