Anaheim, CA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Sidewalk Repair (2026)

29 of the Anaheim Municipal Code, adopted by Ordinance 4854 in 1987, allocates the cost of sidewalk repairs caused by tree root damage. 010 places responsibility on the owner of any property where a tree is causing an adjacent City-owned sidewalk to become cracked, uplifted or depressed from root growth or other material beneath or next to the walk; that owner must repair the sidewalk and, if necessary, remove the tree. 020 requires the City department responsible for sidewalk maintenance, upon becoming aware of such damage, to notify the property owner of the requirement to fix the sidewalk and remove the roots or other cause, and, if the tree itself must come out, to either remove it or record an unsubordinated covenant, approved by the City Attorney, indemnifying the City against injury or damage from the tree, including any weakening caused by root removal.

030 gives the City a backstop: if the owner does not correct the condition within the time specified in the City's notice, the City may perform the repair itself and take other necessary corrective action, then bill the property owner for the cost. The Director of Public Works' calculation of that repair cost is final and conclusive under the ordinance, leaving no separate administrative appeal of the dollar amount. This chapter addresses tree-root-caused sidewalk damage specifically; it does not set out a general, non-tree-related sidewalk maintenance duty elsewhere in the Anaheim code.