San Antonio, TX Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Sidewalk Repair (2026)

Sec. 29-11 assigns the maintenance duty to 'any property owner, or person, firm or corporation making special use of any sidewalk, curb, parkway or driveway,' whether that use is ordinary ingress and egress or something more specific like a loading dock, elevator or downspout drain. Subsection (a) requires that owner or special user to keep the sidewalk, parkway, curb and driveway abutting the property in good, safe condition, free of defects and hazards. Subsection (b) puts a clock on that duty: once the director of public works, or one of the director's subordinates, sends written notification of a defective or dangerous condition, the owner or special user has thirty days from receipt of that notice to repair it and restore a safe condition.

Subsection (c) shifts liability onto the abutting owner or special user as well: if a defective sidewalk, curb, parkway or driveway causes injury to a person or property, that owner or user is primarily liable and must indemnify the city, and that liability exists whether or not the city itself had prior notice of the defect under the city charter's notice provisions. Subsection (d) makes a violation of the section a misdemeanor, punishable under the general penalty in Sec. 1-5. 1) and functions as the flip side of Sec.

29-10's tree-trimming duty: together the two sections put the physical upkeep of the sidewalk corridor, both the pavement and the overhanging growth, on the adjoining property rather than on city crews.