You could be on the hook for sidewalk repairs in front of your home

You’re in charge of your property, but who takes care of the sidewalk in front of your home?

Marco Island neighbors are pushing for answers after the sudden spike of sidewalk citations and they’re asking, who’s really responsible for fixing the problem?

To the surprise of some, property owners bear the responsibility in Marco Island – and that has people upset.

When they see orange spray paint on the sidewalk, they know they could be on the hook for thousands of dollars in repairs.

Marco Island city leaders say they have received 433 complaints about “Unsafe” sidewalks this year alone, and 246 homeowners have been fined for not keeping those sidewalks smooth.

Rosalind Minicozzi is one of them.

“I have a notice of violation from the city of marco island,” she said.

The slabs of concrete don’t exactly align on the sidewalk outsider her home, and city ordinance says homeowners bear the responsibility to fix it.

Minicozzi said she sees the city’s position, “I can understand why the town wants everybody to fix it because it would be a lot of money for the town to do something like that.”

But Minicozzi wishes the city would connect homeowners with affordable contractors. Her sidewalk sticker shock is to the tune of $2,000.

Homeowner Hector Fernandez said it’s pretty common, “It’s hard to find sidewalks that are absolutely code compliant … It seems kind of random and all over the place but everyone’s afraid it’s just a matter of time before they get hit with a violation.”

City leaders passed the ordinance to keep sidewalks maintained for walkers and bikers, and instead of finding a way to pay for it, passed the cost on to homeowners.

That does not sit well with Fernandez, “It’s a bit of a financial burden when you think about it and I’d be careful opening that can of worms if I were the city.”

If an owner receives a violation they’re given 90 days to apply for a permit. Then they’re given 120 days to obtain the permit. After that, they have the length of the permit to fix the issue.

Sidewalk maintenance and repair is not the homeowners responsibility everywhere. For example in Naples, the city picks up the check.

To find out who is responsible for where you live call your local municipality.