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1
POLICY # 2017-05-45
MUNICIPALITY OF THE COUNTY OF PICTOU
SIDEWALK POLICY
PURPOSE
1)
The purpose of this Policy is to assist the Municipal Council in evaluating, selecting,
and implementing options relative to sidewalks by outlining the underlying
philosophies and processes to be followed.
OBJECTIVES
2)
The objectives of this policy are to:
a) To set forth the administrative procedures for residents to request
the Municipality to install new sidewalks along provincial or
municipally owned and maintained roads or streets.
b) To set forth the administrative procedures for the implementation of
an area rate to a neighbourhood or service district to install a
sidewalk.
i)
To set forth the administrative procedures to be
followed by the Municipality upon implementation of
an area rate.
c) To address safety issues and enhance walkability within the Municipality.
d) Provide a meaningful framework to evaluate requests for sidewalk
installations.
GENERAL POLICY
3)
In order for a sidewalk to be considered for implementation the Municipal Council
must allocate the appropriate financial resources as part of its annual operating
budget. The financial resources shall include:
a) Expenditures related to the capital cost of installation
b) Expenditures related to the annual maintenance
c) Expenditures related to the capital costs of repairing sidewalk
installations
2
4)
Sidewalks are pedestrian pathways within road right-of-ways, physically separated
from vehicular traffic.
5)
Residents or property owners on a provincially or municipally maintained street
without sidewalks may petition the municipality for support to install new sidewalks.
a) The municipality may require that the sidewalk be installed at the
expense of the adjacent property owners in accordance with the
provisions of this policy and the bylaws of the Municipality.
b) Residents may initiate the process by submitting a petition
indicating the street or streets where sidewalks are to be installed.
c) The petition must be accompanied by:
i)
a written explanation that identifies the primary
resident contact(s),
ii) reason for the request,
iii) the area in need of sidewalks
6)
Upon receipt of the petition, a Committee of Council, shall review the petition and
score the project based upon Schedule A. This score shall be known as the Priority
Score.
a) The Committee shall be made up of 6 members of council and shall
include
i)
The councillor from district that the petition has been
received. The councillor shall serve as chair of the
committee and be nonvoting; and
ii) Five other councillors, nominated by the financial
services committee.
7)
The decision to proceed or not to proceed with any sidewalk is always within the
discretion of the Municipal Council, and is subject to any conditions the Municipal
Council may choose to attach to any decision, and no decision to proceed with one
program will serve as precedent for any other program.
AREA RATES
8)
The Council may provide a subsidy for an area rate from the general rate in the
amount or proportion approved by the council
3
9)
An information letter shall be provided to all property owners within the area to be
affected, either by Canada Post or door to door delivery.
10)
The letter shall contain:
a) Detailed information on the area rate being proposed,
b) The need for the expenditure; and
c) An estimate of the area rate charge.
11)
The Property Owners shall be requested to provide their opinions and return a form
provided by the Municipality indicating whether they support the implementation of
the area rate and the manner in which the rate shall be implemented.
12)
The Property Owner will be provided a minimum of 14 days from the date of mailing
of the information letter to return their opinions and comments on the proposed
area rate.
13)
If no response is returned, Council will conclude that the owners are in agreement
with the area rate.
14)
The Municipality shall provide an envelope with postage prepaid for residents to
return their form described in section 11.
15)
The results of the information received from property owners shall be presented to
the Property Services Committee by the Chief Administrative Officer.
16)
The Property Services Committee will examine the opinions received from property
owners and will determine if an area rate should be recommended by a resolution
or motion of Council.
17)
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Municipal Council may require
additional consents, easements, and funding regardless of anything contained
herein to the contrary.
18)
The Municipality generally will only proceed with a project that requires cost
sharing from adjacent landowners if 75 percent of the property owners located on
either side of the street are in acceptance of an area rate required to finance the
capital cost of installation.
4
Area Rates Administration & Calculation
19)
The approved scoring as described in section 6 of the policy shall determine if the
adjacent landowners to the proposed project will be required to contribute to the
capital cost of installation.
20)
Cost sharing on the installation of new sidewalk projects shall be based upon the
following:
Priority Score
Municipal Contribution
Property Owner Contribution
>66
100
0
51-65
75
25
36-50
50.00
50.00
21-35
25
75
0-20
0
100
21)
For the purpose of this policy the capital improvement cost shall be the net cost of
the project, should the municipality be able to secure cost sharing from any other
sources.
22)
All area rates shall be subject to financing or administration charges.
23)
If the Municipality is required to finance the capital improvements borrowing
through the Municipal Finance Corporation or its lending institution, financing and
administration charges shall be calculated at the actual rate of interest incurred by
the municipality for financing the loan.
24)
If the Municipality finances the capital improvements through its own reserve funds
or operating budgets then the financing and administration charges shall be
calculated at the lesser of rates that the Municipality would normally have incurred
for such a borrowing from the Municipal Finance Corporation or the municipality's
lending institution for a debenture or loans of similar term and principal.
25)
An area rate shall continue from fiscal year to year fiscal year up to a maximum of
10 years or until such time as all debt relating to the project is retired or Council
pass a resolution canceling the area rate.
26)
An area rate shall be based upon an annual uniform per lot charge and shall be
applied to all properties including residential, resource, or commercial lots that
have frontage on the road.
5
27)
Accordingly, the Municipal Council may adjust or disregard one or more of the
provisions listed herein, or employ other considerations not listed herein, where
the Municipal Council has determined that such action is desirable in its discretion.
28)
This Policy may be discontinued at any time and for any reason, and remains
subject at all times to having available funds, which the Commission is under no
obligation to provide or to allocate to any particular project.
29)
All sidewalks in existence as of the effective date of this policy and contained in
Appendix A are exemption from the provisions of this policy.
30)
All prior policies, procedures and or protocols with respect to sidewalk construction
and implementation are hereby repealed.
6
Evaluation Criteria
1. Development
(6 points)
a. Adjacent Commercial Development: City Centre/Business Parks
6
b. Regional Commercial
4
c. Other Commercial
2
2. Existing Facilities
(4 Points)
a. Existing Pedestrian Route/Footpath: Yes
4
3. Employment Proximity:
(6 Points)
a. < 0.5 km
6
b. 0.5 - 1.0 km
4
c. 1.0- 1.5 km
2
4. Other Local Interest Proximity:
(4 Points)
a. High interest
4
b. Medium interest
2
5. School Proximity:
(10 Points)
a. < 0.5 km
10
b. 0.5 - 0.9 km
7
c. 1.0 - 1.4 km
4
d. 1.5 - 2.0 km
1
e.
6. Proximity to Seniors Complex, Licensed Da y Cares, etc.
(10 points)
a. < 0.5 km
10
b. 0.5 - 0.9 km
7
c. 1.0 - 1.4 km
4
d. 1.5 - 2.0 km
1
e.
7. Proximity to Public Facilities (Hospital, Library, Recreation):
(10 Points)
a. < 500 m
10
b. 0.5 - 0.99 km
7
c. 1.0 -1.4 km
4
d. 1.41 -2.0 km
1
8. Posted Traffic Speed:
(8 Points)
a. 80 + km/h
8
b. 70 km/h
6
7
c. 60 km/h
4
d. 50 km/h
2
e. 40 km/h
1
9. Daily Traffic Volume:
(8 points)
a. > 5000 vpd
8
b. 3,000- 4,999 vpd
6
c. 1,000- 2,999 vpd
4
d. 500-999 vpd
2
e. 0- 499 vpd
1
10. Road Lanes
(8 points)
a. Four lanes
8
b. Three lanes
4
c. Two lanes
2
11. Construction Constraints/Utilities
(8 points)
a. Clear Corridor
8
b. Feasible with some alterations
4
c. Congested with obstructions
2
12. Sidewalk Continuity
(8 points)
a. 75-100%
8
b. 50-75%
6
c. 25-50%
4
d. 0-25%
2
13. Formal Request
(5 points)
a. Received: Yes
5
14. High Proportion of Vulnerable Users:
(5 points)
a. Yes
5