The House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on SB 1475 a bill that would reinstate the two-inch rule for all sidewalk defects, will be up for a hearing on Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 9 a.m.
The long-standing two inch rule gave local units of government a rebuttable inference that a sidewalk was reasonably maintained if a defect was less than two inches.
Earlier this year the Michigan Supreme Court reversed the two-inch rule for sidewalk defects in Robinson v. City of Lansing. The court held the two-inch rule applied only to sidewalks adjacent to county highways meaning the rule would not cover many local sidewalks.
Senator Kuipers' bill would amend the law to clarify that the two-inch rule applies to all sidewalks.
Samantha Harkins works for the Michigan Municipal League handling municipal services issues. She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org
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