Canton, OH Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Sidewalk Repair (2026)

Canton Codified Ordinances § 905.01(a) places the duty of repair on owners of lots abutting sidewalks and curbs, requiring them to keep the sidewalks, curbs, and the tree lawn or grass strip between them in a state of good repair and safe condition, and to prevent any nuisance or hazard arising on those tree lawns or grass strips, including the criteria specified in § 919.03. The Civil Engineering Department is responsible for inspecting the City's sidewalks upon receipt of a complaint, and the Clerk of Council must first give the abutting owner notice of any necessary repairs.

Subsection (b) sets the enforcement timeline: if the owner does not make the repairs within thirty-one days after notice, weather permitting, Council may pass a resolution notifying the owner of its intent to make the repairs itself, and if the owner still has not acted within five days after service of that resolution, the Director of Public Service is authorized to perform the repairs. Subsection (c) makes the cost of City-performed repairs an assessment against the abutting property, certified to the County Auditor for collection like other taxes, and that assessment acts as a lien on the property collected the same way as other special assessments against real estate.

Section 905.02 separately defines the sidewalk area itself, generally the space between the property line and curb line, with minimum widths of five feet on streets thirty feet or wider. Chapter 905 was enacted by Ordinance 59-2001, passed April 9, 2001.