The London City Council discussed and kept on the agenda a zoning amendment that would add objective standards for sidewalk condition and enforcement, and it approved an emergency-clause amendment to a separate resolution to contract with StreetScan for a citywide sidewalk assessment.

Councilman Norman, the ordinance’s sponsor, said the zoning amendment (ordinance 21224) aims to give the city’s zoning staff objective criteria to identify unsafe sidewalks — for example, edges that differ vertically by more than one-half inch, gaps exceeding 1½ inches, sections with loose or missing pieces, excessive slope, and sidewalks narrower than four feet. Norman said the standards were adapted from other cities and would give staff and citizens a way to evaluate sidewalks and notify property owners of required repairs.

Separately, the council considered Resolution 102-25, authorizing a contract with StreetScan to map and rate sidewalks citywide and deliver a dataset and video footage similar to a street-evaluation program the city used previously. The sponsor asked to add an emergency clause so StreetScan could begin GIS layering and preliminary work immediately; the council voted on the amendment and recorded the roll-call tally shown below.

The council approved the emergency-clause amendment by recorded vote: Councilman Stahl — yes; Councilwoman Treanor — yes; Councilman Eads — yes; Councilman Hayes — yes; Councilman McDaniels — no. The sponsor said the contract includes an initial GIS-layering step quoted in the meeting as $24,100; that amount was described as part of the contract schedule and would enable the vendor to begin mapping. The council left the sidewalk enforcement ordinance on the agenda for further review and follow-up legislation that would establish how the city implements repairs or financing.

Supporters said the StreetScan data would let zoning and public-works staff view video of sidewalks and track repairs without requiring staff to visit each segment in person. Council members also discussed using the assessment to set multi-year repair zones and to obtain quotes for specific sections.

No final adoption of the sidewalk-enforcement ordinance occurred at the meeting; the StreetScan resolution remains on the agenda as amended for an emergency start, pending final appropriation and contract execution.