Kirkwood, MO Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Sidewalk Repair (2026)

Kirkwood Code of Ordinances § 20-42, Sidewalks requiring repair, places responsibility for maintaining and repairing the sidewalk in front of a premises on that premises' owner. Walkway easements are excluded and instead governed by Resolution 111-93, not this section. An owner may not let a sidewalk become out of repair to the point it impedes the public's free and safe use, and must fix it within the time set in a first-class-mail notice from the City. Section 20-43 lists the conditions the Public Services Department treats as requiring immediate repair, including an adjoining-slab vertical edge difference of 3/4 inch or more, a missing corner exceeding six inches across or 12 square inches in area, structural instability from shattering or cracking, a slab cracked into three or more pieces, surface spalling deeper than 1/2 inch or with continuous loose material, an abrupt grade change greater than a one-to-12 (8%) slope, asphalt or other nonconcrete patching, or a missing section.

Under § 20-44, if the owner does not repair or replace the walk within the notice period, the City has the work done itself, prepares a bill covering the cost plus administrative fees set by Council resolution, and, if that bill goes unpaid for 30 days, issues a special tax bill collected with other property taxes. That special tax bill becomes a first lien on the property from the date it is issued and stands as prima facie evidence of its own validity, so a clerical error in the process is not a defense to it.