Gilbert, AZ Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Sidewalk Repair (2026)

Sec. 54-5 of the Code of Gilbert, titled "Maintenance of public right-of-way adjacent to premises," places the duty to keep the sidewalk usable squarely on whoever owns, occupies or controls the abutting land. Subsection (a) makes it unlawful for that person to fail to keep the sidewalk fronting the premises free and clear of grass, weeds and rubbish, clear of obstructions, and to keep vegetation along the sidewalk trimmed and cut so it does not interfere with the public's free use of any part of the sidewalk or street for travel.

The same section, in subsection (b), imposes a parallel duty on adjacent flood-irrigation infrastructure: owners must keep irrigation and waste ditches in good repair so they don't obstruct water flow, and must maintain retention berms along their property so water does not escape onto the right-of-way. Both duties sit in Chapter 54, Streets and Sidewalks, and were added to the Code by Ordinance No. 2211 on December 2, 2008 (codified from the 1984 Code § 10-1-26). Subsection (c) expressly classifies a violation of the whole section, sidewalk neglect or ditch/berm neglect alike, as a civil offense, which under the Code's general penalty provision (Sec.

00 if the sanction goes unpaid. Because Sec. 54-5 addresses the abutting owner's upkeep obligation (clearing, trimming, keeping ditches in repair) rather than structural sidewalk replacement, a resident whose sidewalk slab is cracked or heaved from a town-owned tree root should still confirm capital repair responsibility with Public Works, since this section governs vegetation, debris and obstruction, not concrete replacement.