[Ord. No. 24-048, 7-1-2024]
A.
Purpose. The purpose of these requirements is to ensure continuity in the existing sidewalk system and compliance with the following goals:
1.
Providing pedestrian circulation routes throughout the City, offering safe and accessible routes for the health, safety, and welfare of the public;
2.
Promoting minimum Americans with Disability Act guidelines for all sidewalk or pathway installations, existing and proposed;
3.
Promoting attractive and well-constructed sidewalks or pathways that correspond to the character, aesthetic qualities, natural, environmental, and historical features of developing or existing neighborhoods;
4.
Connecting to existing and projected sidewalks or pathways whenever the opportunity arises to ensure an interconnected pedestrian system; and
5.
Ensuring that all development actively implements the building of sidewalks for new construction, reconstruction, or rehabilitation.
6.
Execute the vision and goals of Ozark's Active Transportation Plan.
B.
Sidewalks.
1.
Sidewalks shall be required for the full length of street or right-of-way frontage of any proposed new residential, commercial or industrial development along all existing and proposed residential collectors, primary collectors, secondary arterials, primary arterials and commercial streets as defined in the Ozark Missouri Major Thoroughfare Plan. Sidewalks shall also be required along one (1) side of an existing or proposed residential/local street.
2.
Existing developments shall be required to install sidewalks consistent with the regulations of this Section if either:
a.
The existing footprint area of the building structure is expanded by thirty percent (30%) or more;
b.
Improvements affecting more than twenty percent (20%) of the total existing development site area; or
c.
Existing public sidewalks are within five hundred (500) feet of the existing development's property line.
3.
The location of sidewalks along residential streets shall be determined at the time of preliminary platting. The Director of Public Works shall have the authority to determine sidewalk locations along residential streets to ensure compliance with the Pedestrian Master Plan and the potential impact on sidewalk accessibility and usability. Additional right-of-way may be required to be dedicated if needed to meet this requirement.
4.
All infrastructure, public or private, including sidewalks shall comply with the latest Edition of the City of Ozark Design Standards for Public Improvements and the City of Ozark Standard Drawing Details for Public Improvements. All new curbs which are constructed in the City and all existing curbs which are a part of any reconstruction shall comply with this Section. In order to enable persons using wheelchairs to travel freely and without assistance, at each crosswalk a ramp shall be built into the curb so that the sidewalk and street blend to a common level. Where, because of surrounding buildings or other restrictions it is impossible to conform the slope to this requirement, the ramp shall contain a slope with as shallow a rise as possible under the circumstances not to exceed ten percent (10%).
C.
Optional Fee In Lieu Of Construction.
1.
If the property owner feels a hardship exists that hinders the construction of a sidewalk, the property owner may submit a request to pay a fee in lieu of construction of sidewalks together with such information and studies as the Director of Public Works may deem necessary to consider the request. Upon filing a complete application, this request will be reviewed or denied by the Director of Public Works, or his/her designee, on the following criteria:
a.
The City plans to construct public improvements in the area which would result in damage or destruction of the proposed sidewalk;
b.
The cost to construct the proposed sidewalk would be at least twenty-five percent (25%) greater than the average cost of sidewalk construction; or
c.
The street is edged by a shoulder and ditch rather than a curb and gutter.
If the Director of Public Works, or his/her designee, denies the request, the property owner may appeal to the Planning and Zoning Commission within ten (10) days of the decision by filing a request for appeal with the City Clerk in writing. The Commission shall review the denial only on a claim that the denial was arbitrary and capricious and a submission of sufficient facts and evidence to establish that the Director of Public Works has acted in such a fashion. If the Planning and Zoning Commission finds by an affirmative majority vote that the Director of Public Works did act in an arbitrary and capricious fashion, a fee in lieu shall be allowed.
2.
The fee shall be calculated as a fixed amount per linear foot as approved by the Board of Aldermen.
3.
The fee shall be held by the City of Ozark, Missouri, Finance Department, in an account to be used for sidewalk construction only.
4.
Use Of Fees Paid In Lieu Of Sidewalk Construction. At a time determined by the City Administrator and/or the Director of Public Works, collected fees in lieu of construction shall be used to construct sidewalk in the same City Ward as the property from where the fee was collected if it is not used to construct a sidewalk adjacent to said property.