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Eugene property owners are responsible for fixing their sidewalks, but some don’t know it. City leaders explored options for a long-term sidewalk repair strategy at a Wednesday City Council work session.
Eugene city staff presented strategies to expand and fund repairs to the city’s sidewalks at a city council work session Wednesday.
Keeping sidewalks in “good repair and safe condition” is a responsibility that falls on property owners in Eugene, according to the city’s code. But public works officials said Wednesday that the rule, common in American cities, is often little-known to residents — and that prevents timely sidewalk repairs.
“We’ve been hearing from the public that the reporting process is challenging for some to navigate online, and that the responsibility for sidewalk infill and repair is not really widely understood,” principal civil engineer Katie Marwitz said.
Under the city’s sidewalk repair program, public works maintenance staff inspect sidewalks for hazards, issue notices to noncompliant property owners, and then work together on mitigating sidewalk defects. Marwitz said requests for these inspections, which residents can submit through an online portal, spiked in 2024, with 544 inquiries.
Not all property owners can afford necessary sidewalk repairs. To make fixes more accessible, the city launched a pilot program this year offering repairs to property owners at a potential discount by bundling them into existing street repair projects supported by a 2022 bond measure.
Eugene offers a subsidy for low-income property owners who hire the city for repairs, and the city code allows for the deferral and modification of repair payments for homeowners who meet age and income criteria.
But staff and councilors agreed Wednesday that the existing repair program and cost-savings tools don’t meet the long-term upkeep demand for Eugene’s 770 miles of sidewalk.
More than 800 people have signed a petition started last year urging councilors to develop a long-term plan for fixing the city’s sidewalks. Residents also recently formed Citizens United to Repair Broken Sidewalks (CURBS) to advocate for the same.
“It’s past time that we start finding a way to address this problem,” Councilor Randy Groves said.
Councilor Eliza Kashinsky took issue with the existing age requirement for payment deferrals and modifications, with concern it imposes an unneeded barrier to assistance.
Public works staff said they’re looking to scale up the city’s repair program, which would require additional staff and funding likely generated on the local level through bonds, levies or fees.
They presented examples of sidewalk repair financial assistance models at other cities — including Pittsburgh’s sliding-scale repair subsidy based on income — as “food for thought” to make sidewalk maintenance more affordable for Eugene’s property owners.
City staff also proposed that Eugene could cover the cost of tree-related sidewalk damage as has been done in San Francisco, or pursue an initiative where property owners must repair their adjacent sidewalks at the time of sale, as is the policy in Pasadena, California.
Councilors expressed interest in the proposals on the table, with Grove, Alan Zelenka and Matt Keating agreeing that expanding sidewalk repair should be part of future budget stabilization conversations.
