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Batavia to re-examine sidewalk requirement

A Batavia couple that does not want to build a sidewalk as they build a house - because there aren't sidewalks in their neighborhood - likely won't get an answer from city officials until the spring.

But their request has prompted the city council to agree to revisit the issue, in general, of requiring sidewalks.

Batavia requires sidewalks to be built for new construction.

The property in question, on Waubonsee Trail, is in a long-established neighborhood of curving lanes that don't have sidewalks, or curbs for that matter.

The neighborhood is in the 5th Ward, and one of its alderman, Kevin Botterman, in whose ward this lies, noted it would cost at least $2,000 for the couple to install the 60-foot sidewalk to nowhere, and said it was highly unlikely others in the neighborhood were going to install sidewalks. As for safety considerations, Botterman asked if there were many reports of pedestrians being hit by cars as they walked on those streets.

Fellow 5th Ward Alderman Lucy Thelin-Atac, a strong proponent of making the city more friendly to walkers and bicyclists, agreed it seemed pointless to require the sidewalk.

But 2nd Ward Alderman Alan Wolff disagreed.

"Somebody (in the neighborhood) has to be first," he said. " ... If we say 'no' to it now, it will never be done."

In the past, the city budgeted $100,000 a year to put in sidewalks. Areas near schools were a top priority, followed by those near parks, those with dangerous intersections, neighborhoods that didn't have any at all and, finally, filling in gaps, City Administrator Bill McGrath said. The work would usually be done when a street was scheduled for reconstruction, including installing curbs, Community Development Director Scott Buening said.

Aldermen Tuesday discussed the fairness of requiring some people or builders to put in sidewalks, and not others. They also discussed the fairness of requiring people to put money toward a sidewalk fund in exchange for not building one now, since the city does not have a timeline or specific plan for installing sidewalks.

The couple could apply for a variance from the zoning restriction. The plan commission would consider it and make a recommendation to the city council.

Batavia law doesn't allow administrators to grant variances.

McGrath suggested that since cold weather now would delay installing a sidewalk until the spring anyway, action on the request be deferred until spring. The couple could get a temporary occupancy permit. In the meantime, city workers will re-examine the city policy and report back to the aldermen.

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