Sherman Oaks isn't a municipality. It's a neighborhood in Los Angeles, and Los Angeles has over 10,000 miles of sidewalks, nearly all of which are owned by the city. It's estimated that in excess of 4,000 miles of those sidewalks are in disrepair, and inspections revealed that 90 percent of the sidewalk damage was attributable to tree roots. Most of those trees were planted by the City of Los Angeles many years ago. Now they're cracking and buckling sidewalks, and that damage is the cause of trip-and-fall claims and lawsuits. So who is liable for a trip-and-fall injury on a public sidewalk in front of your house?
State law
The California Government Code (CGC)section 835 gives us some guidance. It makes public entities liable for injuries proximately caused by foreseeably dangerous conditions on their property if they knew or should have known of the dangerous condition and had sufficient time to protect the public from it. Section 5610 of the California Streets and Highway Code is in conflict with CGC 835. It makes landowners abutting a sidewalk responsible for its maintenance.
The Los Angeles ordinance
The California legislature gave municipalities authority to enact their own city sidewalk liability ordinances. Los Angeles enacted its ordinance with Chapter VI section 62.104 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code. It states that if the city planted a tree, and a sidewalk is damaged in the future by the tree's roots, the city is required to make repairs at its cost. If the sidewalk was damaged by some other cause, the adjoining property owner is responsible for repairing it at their cost.
There is more to it
Some trees were planted by homeowners. In other cases a young tree was near a sidewalk which was installed. There is a lot of controversy around who should repair which sidewalk.
Talk with us
If there were fallen trees and branches that caused injuries you should contact a personal injury lawyer right away. Between the state statute and the city ordinance, both the City of Los Angeles and the adjoining property owner can be held liable for injuries suffered on city sidewalks depending on the situation. We might even recommend proceeding against both of them. If you were injured in a trip-and-fall or slip-and fall on a city sidewalk that was in a state of disrepair, you'll want to contact us as soon as possible after your fall for a free consultation and case evaluation.
Strict and detailed notice provisions apply before a lawsuit can even be filed against the city, so time is of the essence. That notice must be filed within 180 days of the date of your accident. You'll want to get that consultation sooner rather than later.
