Fairfield looks to shift responsibility for sidewalk, tree maintenance to homeowners

By Ashley Sharp

The City of Fairfield is considering shifting responsibility to homeowners when it comes to paying for needed maintenance or repairs to trees, sidewalks and fences on private property or adjacent to the property line.

In a special-called study session Tuesday night, the city council revisited the topic that was first presented to the council by a city task force just before the COVID-19 pandemic put the ordinance updates on pause.

City leaders said it is time to get serious about making some changes to existing practices. It will be the first update to the city’s tree and sidewalk ordinance in about 60 years.

Absent from the session were Mayor Catherine Moy and Vice Mayor Pam Bertani.

“Nobody handles trees like the city of Fairfield. You are going way above and beyond for the citizens out of the goodness of your heart, but the city has grown. Funds are a problem and issue,” said Chris Carmona, city risk manager, in his presentation.

For tree maintenance, due to budget cuts, all city positions were eliminated and any work needed on the city’s estimated 60,000 owned trees is currently contracted out.

Concerning sidewalks, Carmona said the city right now maintains more than 600 miles of sidewalk with only 13 employees and a contractor budget of $70,000.

The city of Fairfield, reflecting California state law, does actually have an ordinance on the books that says homeowners are responsible for maintaining sidewalks along their property.

To date, it has never been enforced, according to Carmona.

“We have not enforced it. The city has gone out, did all the repairs, all the shavings, cut out sections that couldn’t be repaired. We have not followed through on this ordinance,” Carmona said.

There are seven lawsuits in litigation, with one actively wrapping up, against the city of Fairfield right now concerning sidewalk trip and fall injuries.

To date, Carmona says they have not had to pay out a sidewalk injury settlement and called the city “very fortunate” to have had no tree-related lawsuits.

Both he and Fairfield’s city attorney argued Tuesday that some law firms appear to be taking advantage of the city’s current policy.

“What’s happening now is these LA-based law firms are picking up any trip and fall case that they can and pursuing it because all public agencies are saying it’s cheaper to settle these as opposed to fighting them. And they are right, but it just keeps coming,” Carmona said.

City staff argued Fairfield has been too friendly in shelling out money for sidewalk, tree and fence-related repairs.

The proposed change to the ordinance would make all maintenance of trees on private property the full responsibility of the homeowner. That also includes city-owned sidewalk and fence repair, for what is adjacent to the homeowner’s property line.

The change would shift all liability as well away from the city and onto the homeowner and their insurance policy if there were any lawsuit stemming from a tree or sidewalk injury on or near their property.

“We’ve been going above and beyond as a city, which is great. But I think it’s true as a city does grow, I think us as a community as a whole need to take responsibility for those kinds of things,” said Dorris Panduro, Fairfield city councilmember.

In public comment, a neighbor voiced concern.

“To ensure that I don’t in the future have a problem that I will be fully liable for… for me as a homeowner, I want to cut my tree down,” he stated.

City staff pointed out that this is not a rare model.

Major cities in the region, like Sacramento and Stockton, have similar policies in place. Cities that do not have recently had to pay up.

As CBS Sacramento reported earlier this year, the City of Davis was sued and paid a $24 million settlement to the family of a woman who was killed by a falling tree limb in a city park.

In addition, as we also told you just this week, Davis was sued again and paid out another $18.5 mil. settlement to a woman who tripped on a defect in a city sidewalk in her neighborhood and was paralyzed.

“When you see those two major lawsuits impact a city like that, does that impact your decision-making?” I asked Panduro.

“I think it really brings to light what a major issue it can become if we don’t do something,” Panduro said.

She and other councilmembers added in their comments that as part of the ordinance, there needs to be some emphasis put on safety and the city stepping in in the event of a truly dangerous situation.

In addition, Panduro would only vote “yes” on an ordinance update if it included help for qualifying lower-income residents who do not have money for sidewalk and tree repairs in their budget.

“I would absolutely want to make sure that those families are thought of and in a very intentional way when thinking about this,” Panduro said.

No decision was made Tuesday night. Council asked city staff to have a draft ordinance ready for them to review in January 2026.