Kansas Statutes

Chapter 12: Cities And Municipalities

Article 18: Sidewalks

Statutes:

• 12-1801: Construction and repair.
• 12-1802: Plans and specifications.
• 12-1803: Petition.
• 12-1804: Condemnation and reconstruction.
• 12-1805: Notice to abutting owner; publication; construction by contract, when.
• 12-1806: Construction by abutting owner; request to city, when.
• 12-1807: Grade.
• 12-1808: Repairs by owner or city; notice; special assessments; payment from general fund or general improvement fund, when.
• 12-1809: Assessment of cost; old sidewalk materials.
• 12-1810: Levy by ordinance; full payment by owner; notice to owner; limitation of actions.
• 12-1811: Installment payments; interest; costs included in assessment.
• 12-1812: Financing of cost of assessment levied in one installment; scrip or bonds.
• 12-1813: Payment of cost by city, when.
• 12-1814: Sidewalks; terms of scrip or bonds; issuance and sale.
• 12-1815: Sections not affected.
• 12-1816: Invalidity of part.

• 12-1801: Construction and repair. The cities of Kansas may provide for the construction, repair, condemnation, and reconstruction of sidewalks.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 1; June 30.

• 12-1802: Plans and specifications. The governing body of the city shall, by ordinance, determine the plans, specifications (including widths and location in the street), for the construction, repair, and reconstruction of all sidewalks: Provided, That plans and specifications may be adopted by reference, in which case a copy or copies of the plans and specifications as adopted shall be kept on file in the city clerk's office and, if the city has a city engineer, in the city engineer's office, and shall not be changed or amended or added to without a readoption by ordinance.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 2; June 30.

• 12-1803: Petition. When a petition signed by not less than ten citizens owning real estate in a precinct or ward in a city of the second or third class or by not less than twenty-five citizens owning real estate in a precinct or ward of a city of the first class, praying for the construction of a sidewalk or sidewalks in such precinct or ward is filed with the city clerk, the governing body may, in its discretion, by resolution, order such sidewalk or sidewalks constructed.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 3; June 30.

• 12-1804: Condemnation and reconstruction. When any sidewalk, in the opinion of the governing body, becomes inadequate or unsafe for the travel thereon, the governing body may adopt a resolution condemning such walk and providing for the construction of a new walk in place of the walk condemned.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 4; June 30.

• 12-1805: Notice to abutting owner; publication; construction by contract, when. The resolution providing for the construction or reconstruction of a sidewalk shall give the owner of the abutting property not less than thirty days nor more than sixty days after its publication in which to construct or cause to be constructed or reconstructed the sidewalk at his or her own expense. Such resolution shall be published once in the official city paper, or if none, then in a paper of general circulation in the city. If the sidewalk is not constructed by the property owner within the time specified, the governing body shall cause the work to be done by contract.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 5; June 30.

• 12-1806: Construction by abutting owner; request to city, when. Nothing herein shall prohibit the owner of property abutting on a street who desires to construct or reconstruct a sidewalk from doing so without any petition or condemning resolution, if the owner does so at the owner's own expense and in accordance with official plans and specifications and meets such other requirements as would have to be met if the sidewalk were constructed or reconstructed by the city: Provided, That if such property owner desires the walk to be constructed or reconstructed by the city and an assessment levied as provided in other cases, the owner shall file a request with the governing body and it may in its discretion provide for the construction or reconstruction of the sidewalk in the same manner as in cases where citizens or taxpayers file petitions.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 6; June 30.

• 12-1807: Grade. Where a grade has been established for a street, the grade for the sidewalk shall be established either in the same manner as the grade for the street was established or by reference to a stated distance above or below the street grade. Where no street grade has been established, the natural grade may be used.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 7; June 30.

• 12-1808: Repairs by owner or city; notice; special assessments; payment from general fund or general improvement fund, when. It shall be the duty of the owner of the abutting property to keep the sidewalk in repair, but in cities of the third class no formality shall be required for the repairing of a sidewalk by the city and such repairs may be made without notice to the abutting property owner; and in cities of the first and second class the city engineer, or city clerk, may, after giving five days' notice to the owner or his or her agent, if known, of the necessity therefor, and without notice if the lot or piece of land is unoccupied, make all necessary repairs at any time. Repairs may be made by force account or by contract and an account of the cost thereof shall be kept and reported to the governing body.

        The city shall by ordinance levy a special assessment against the lot or piece of land abutting on the sidewalk so repaired for the cost of repairs, and if the abutting property owner does not pay the assessment within thirty days, upon the city clerk mailing to the owner or his or her agent, if known, a printed or written notice of the amount of such repairs, the full amount shall be certified by the city clerk to the county clerk to be put on the tax rolls for collection like other taxes. The temporary financing of repairs may be borne by the city out of the fund for maintaining streets or out of the general fund or general improvement fund. In cities of the first class having a population of more than sixty thousand and less than ninety thousand, the cost of repairing sidewalks may, in the discretion of the governing body, be paid from the general improvement fund of the city when the costs of such repairs do not exceed three thousand dollars in any one calendar year, and no assessment shall be levied.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 8; June 30.

• 12-1809: Assessment of cost; old sidewalk materials. The cost of all sidewalks shall be assessed against the property abutting on the sidewalk: Provided, That where a sidewalk is condemned and a new sidewalk constructed, the materials of the old sidewalk shall be the property of the city, except in those cases where the property owner builds the new sidewalk and pays for the same without any assessment having to be made, and in such cases he or she shall remove the old material from the street.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 9; June 30.

• 12-1810: Levy by ordinance; full payment by owner; notice to owner; limitation of actions. When a sidewalk or sidewalks has or have been constructed or reconstructed and where special assessments must be levied for the expense thereof, the governing body shall, as soon as the cost is ascertained, levy an assessment against the lot or piece of land chargeable therefor, by ordinance, and the property owner shall have thirty days after the publication of the ordinance within which to make full payment of the assessment. The city clerk shall mail a notice not less than fifteen days prior to the end of the thirty days to the owner of the property as shown on the records of the office of the register of deeds, but failure of the owner to receive the notice shall not affect the validity of the assessment. Any suit challenging the validity of the proceedings or the amount of the assessment must be filed within thirty days after the publication of the assessment ordinance.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 10; June 30.

• 12-1811: Installment payments; interest; costs included in assessment. The assessment may be levied to be paid in one installment or in not more than five installments at the discretion of the governing body, and when installments are certified to the county clerk, interest at the rate specified on the scrip or bonds hereinafter authorized to be issued shall be added: Provided, That when scrip or bonds are not issued the interest on the one installment shall be four percent. The assessment shall include the cost of materials, labor, engineering and supervision, publication expense, cost of printing bonds, removing old sidewalk, and all other expenses properly chargeable against the project: Provided, That certain costs not ascertained at the time of figuring the expense, such as publication of the assessment ordinance, printing of bonds, etc., may be estimated: Provided, That the costs relating to scrip or bonds shall be deducted if the assessment is paid within the thirty days provided for herein.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 11; June 30.

• 12-1812: Financing of cost of assessment levied in one installment; scrip or bonds. If the assessment is levied in one installment, the cost of construction or reconstruction of sidewalks may be financed, until the assessment is paid, out of the fund provided for the maintenance of streets or general improvement fund if such cost has been budgeted as an expense of such fund, and when the assessment and the interest thereon are paid they shall be credited to such fund; otherwise, the financing shall be by the issuance of sidewalk scrip or sidewalk bonds.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 12; June 30.

• 12-1813: Payment of cost by city, when. The cost of constructing, reconstructing, and repairing all sidewalks abutting on lots or pieces of land belonging to the city or to the state or to the United States, and that portion of the sidewalk extending from the projected property line to the curb and which does not abut on and which is not in front of or along-side of any lot or piece of land, shall be paid for by the city unless the state or the United States shall pay the cost of the sidewalk abutting on property owned by the state or the United States, and may be paid for out of the fund provided for the maintenance of streets or general improvement fund or by the issuance of scrip or bonds and the levying of taxes to pay such scrip or bonds.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 13; June 30.

• 12-1814: Sidewalks; terms of scrip or bonds; issuance and sale. Any issue of sidewalk scrip or sidewalk bonds shall be issued to mature in not more than four installments. The last installment shall be not more than four years after the date of the scrip or bonds. Scrip and bonds shall bear interest of not more than the maximum rate of interest prescribed by K.S.A. 10-1009, and amendments thereto. Scrip and bonds shall be general obligations of the city, and the city shall take into account probable delinquencies in payment of assessments or installments of assessments and make a general tax levy therefor or include the amount in the city's general bond tax levy in order to pay the scrip on bonds and interest when due, delinquent assessments notwithstanding, but this levy by the city shall not affect the obligation of the property owner to pay the assessment.

        Bonds shall be in the general form of other bonds, and shall be registered, sold and issued in the manner provided by the general bond law. Scrip shall promise that the city will pay the bearer the stated amount on a stated date with interest at a stated rate, or in stated amounts, payable on stated dates interest coupons may be issued. The scrip also shall state that the payment of principal and interest shall be paid at the office of the city treasurer, and that it is issued for sidewalk purposes, shall be dated, shall be signed by the mayor and attested by the city clerk, shall have the seal of the city attached thereto, shall be registered in the offices of the city clerk and city treasurer, shall be disposed of at not less than par and accrued interest by being turned over to the contractor or sold and the proceeds used for the payment of the costs of the sidewalks. The sale of scrip may be public or private, or without advertisement or bids. One issue of bonds or scrip may be for assessments against one or more tracts of land and may include or be only for the cost of intersection sidewalks, sidewalks along city, state or federal property or in other cases where the city at large must pay the cost. The issuance of bonds and scrip shall be authorized by an ordinance for each issue.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 14; L. 1970, ch. 64, § 16; L. 1983, ch. 49, § 51; May 12.

• 12-1815: Sections not affected. Nothing in this act shall be considered as repealing or amending or affecting sections 12-675 and 12-676 of the General Statutes of 1935, and section 13-1008a of the General Statutes Supplement of 1939.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 15; June 30.

• 12-1816: Invalidity of part. If any section or part of section of this act shall be declared to be invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such declaration shall not affect any other section or part of section.

        History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 17; June 30.