Bessemer, AL Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Sidewalk Repair (2026)
Key Facts
- Notice period
- 10 days to repair
- Issued by
- street superintendent
- Repair-cost payment
- due in 30 days
- Nonpayment
- referred to city attorney
- Penalty
- up to $500 / 6 months
Summary
Bessemer puts sidewalk repair on the abutting property owner and occupant, not the city. Once the street superintendent serves written notice of a defect, crack or hazard, the owner has ten days to fix it before the city can repair the sidewalk itself and bill the owner for the cost.
No person shall allow a defect, crack, obstruction or other hazard to the travelling public to remain in or on the street or sidewalk in front of, along or abutting on premises occupied by such person after the expiration of ten days from service of a notice of such defect, crack, obstruction or other hazard by the street superintendent. ... No owner of any property shall allow a defect, crack or obstruction or other hazard to the travelling public to remain in or on the street or sidewalk in front of, along or abutting the property owned by such person after the expiration of ten days from the receipt by such person of a notice from the street superintendent. ... The city clerk and treasurer shall, upon receipt of the information required to be transmitted by the street superintendent, advise the property owner by registered mail of the amount due for repairing the defect. The owner shall be advised to pay the cost within 30 days at the office of the city clerk and treasurer, or the matter will be placed in the hands of the city attorney for legal action.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Republication).
Full Breakdown
Sections 94-2 through 94-4 of the Bessemer Code make sidewalk defects a private repair obligation. Section 94-2 forbids letting a defect, crack, obstruction or other hazard to the travelling public remain in a street or sidewalk that fronts, adjoins or abuts premises a person occupies, once ten days have passed from the street superintendent's notice of the defect. Section 94-3 repeats the same ten-day duty specifically against the property owner, so both the occupant and the owner can be held responsible for the same stretch of sidewalk.
If the ten days pass without repair, section 94-4 shifts the work to the city: the city clerk and treasurer sends the owner a registered-mail notice stating the amount due for the repair, and the owner then has 30 days to pay that amount at the city clerk and treasurer's office. An owner who ignores that 30-day payment window does not simply owe a debt; the Code says the matter goes to the city attorney for legal action, meaning the city can pursue collection through the courts rather than relying only on Code Enforcement citations.
Because none of these three sections states its own criminal penalty, a failure to repair within the ten-day notice period is also chargeable as a straightforward Code violation, since sections 94-2 and 94-3 each declare the conduct something a person 'shall not' allow.
Violations & Fines
Ignoring a street superintendent's ten-day repair notice is a Code violation under section 1-8, punishable by a fine up to $500.00, up to six months of imprisonment or hard labor, or both. Separately, an owner who lets the 30-day repair-cost payment deadline in section 94-4 lapse faces referral to the city attorney for legal action to recover the cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has to fix a broken sidewalk in Bessemer?
What happens if I miss the ten-day sidewalk repair deadline?
Is there a separate fine for not fixing a sidewalk?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bessemer
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Sidewalk Repair in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Jefferson County handle sidewalk repair.