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

04, 'Streets and Sidewalks Generally,' and places an affirmative, ongoing duty on whoever owns, occupies or controls a lot fronting a public street, lane or alley to keep the sidewalk directly in front of that property, and the strip between the curb line and the property line, free of holes or obstructions that endanger life or limb. The duty does not extend to damage caused by parkway trees or by city-owned vehicles, and subsection B separately exempts holes or excavations made by anyone holding a franchise or permit for pole erection, pipe-laying or similar utility work, since those actors answer to their own permit conditions instead.

The chapter's companion provision, Sec. 070, governs the flip side, damage an owner or driver causes to the sidewalk: a person who wants to drive a vehicle across a curb or sidewalk anywhere other than a driveway must first get a $3 drive-over permit from the director of public works, valid up to 60 days. If that driving damages the curb, sidewalk or other improvements, the director notifies the permittee in writing of the needed repairs, and if the repairs are not made within 30 days the director can order the work done and bill the property owner in front of whose property the repair occurred, recoverable by civil action if the bill goes unpaid after 60 days, along with collection costs.