NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling effectively overturned a Nashville sidewalk law, whats next for expanding sidewalks throughout Nashville?
Six years ago, Metro Council passed a law requiring landowners and developers on certain collector streets in Nashville to either build a sidewalk in front of a new home, or pay the city money to build a sidewalk somewhere else.
The bill belonged to then-councilwoman Angie Henderson, now elected as Nashville's Vice Mayor.
The court said forcing either a sidewalk or a payment for a sidewalk was unconstitutional.
After Metro's legal director told city leaders last month that "Further litigation is unlikely to yield a positive outcome," Metro council approved settlements to homeowners and developers who sued.
The city also put up this website for anyone else who built a sidewalk or paid a sidewalk fee to file a claim for a potential refund.
The money the city collected funded up to $4 million in sidewalk construction each year, which now will have to be made up elsewhere, as the debate continues over how and where to build more sidewalks in Nashville.
