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

Article VII of Chapter 20 lays out Gilroy's sidewalk-repair scheme for blocks where the work is already mostly done. Once sidewalks or curbs exist along more than fifty percent of a block's frontage, or once owners of more than half the block's frontage petition the city clerk for the improvement, Section 20.44 puts the duty on each remaining lot owner to build or repair the sidewalk and curb fronting their own property after the director of public works gives notice. Sections 20.45 through 20.47 set how that notice is delivered: personally, or by a postage-prepaid postcard to the owner's last-known address on the assessment rolls, backed up by an eight-by-ten-inch card posted on the property itself.

The notice must specify the day, hour, and place of a city council hearing on any objections, per Section 20.48, and must spell out exactly what work and materials are required and warn that construction must begin within sixty days, per Section 20.49. If the owner does not start and diligently finish the work, Section 20.50 lets the director of public works build the sidewalk directly. The director then reports the cost to the council, which holds another hearing on the assessment under Sections 20.51 through 20.53 before confirming it.

Under Section 20.54, an unpaid assessment becomes a lien on the property, and Section 20.59 lets the council allow assessments of $50 or more to be paid in up to ten annual installments at interest capped at six percent. Section 20.43 makes this whole procedure a standalone alternative track, separate from any other Code provision on street work.