San Luis Obispo council approves formal sidewalk ‘notice to correct’ process, allows 30-day delay before formal notices

The San Luis Obispo City Council on May 20 approved a clarified process for issuing informal and formal notices to property owners whose sidewalks are found unsafe, and authorized staff to proceed with formal notices for several properties after a 30‑day buffer. The motion passed 5‑0.

Deputy Public Works Director Greg Crews described the multi-step process the city uses when it identifies sidewalk deficiencies. Crews told the council that the city’s program uses thresholds from its sidewalk inspection program — vertical displacements greater than three quarters of an inch, slopes exceeding 5:1 (20 percent), and cracks or gaps half an inch or wider — to determine when repairs are required. He outlined the city’s timeline for the informal process: acknowledge receipt within 30 days, submit plans within 60 days, obtain an encroachment permit within 90 days, and complete work within 120 days. If there is no progress, staff issues a second informal notice (minimum 90 days), then may ask council to authorize a formal notice that requires work to start within 14 days of issuance.

The nut of the council’s action is procedural but significant: the Streets and Highways Code gives the city authority to require owners to maintain frontage improvements; council voted to adopt a resolution formalizing the city’s existing informal steps, authorize issuance of formal notices for the properties listed in staff’s report, allow use of CIP reserve funding if the city must complete the work, and permit the Public Works Director to withhold formal NOCs when property owners are actively progressing toward repairs. Vice Mayor Schorzmann moved the combined action and Council Member Francis seconded; the five members present voted yes.

Council members and residents pressed for clarity and fairness during deliberations. Several council members asked staff to make the city’s written notices and online materials clearer and more user-friendly, and to include explicit, property‑specific findings explaining why a sidewalk is deemed “dangerous.” City Attorney and staff emphasized that the legal standard for a dangerous condition comes from state law and case law and that the purpose of the process is public safety, not aesthetics.

Staff also said work estimates include a standard 15 percent contingency and that when the city has to complete repairs it will seek cost recovery; unpaid amounts can be converted to a special assessment and lien recorded on the property. Crews said some of the cases under review are shared approaches (multiple adjacent properties share the same damaged approach) and that cost splits tied to those shared elements had been provided to owners.

The council asked staff to incorporate clearer checklists and timelines into the informal notices and on the city website so property owners understand the steps, possible appeals, and liabilities. Council members voiced a mix of urgency about public safety and concern about individual property owners’ ability to afford sometimes substantial repairs; several members said staff should work with owners to develop written timelines and flexible payment arrangements when feasible.

The council approved the staff recommendations with one change: for the specific properties before the council tonight, staff was directed to wait 30 days before issuing the formal notices, to allow additional time for property owners to respond or to reach written timelines with staff. If property owners fail to begin work within 14 days of a formal NOC, staff will complete the work and return to council at a public hearing to consider cost recovery and potential liens.

Crews said staff will incorporate council feedback into the notice materials and the city will publish clearer guidance online and in mailed notices.

The council’s action codifies the process the city will use going forward and gives staff the authority to use CIP reserves and the city’s job order contracting to complete repairs where owners do not comply.