TEANECK — When Adam Weisberg received a letter from the township last month telling him to fix the sidewalks in front of his house, he thought it must be a mistake.

“The slabs aren’t perfectly aligned with each other, but the way it’s off is so minuscule it’s ridiculous,” he said. “When I got the notice, I was completely floored.”

Weisberg is one of more than 100 Teaneck homeowners who have been asked in recent weeks to perform costly repairs to the public sidewalks in front of their homes as a result of complaints filed with the township.

Some of the complaints are anonymous. But many have come from one person: Elie Jones, a resident who over the past two years has been engaged in legal battles with the township over his access to public records.

Just three months into the year, the number of letters sent to homeowners directing them to repair or replace the sidewalk is nearing last year’s total. The township sent 179 of the letters in 2017, 191 last year and 132 so far this year.

The township relies on people to report tripping hazards in the community, said Dean Kazinci, the interim township manager. The reports can cause a chain reaction, he said: One person gets a letter and begins reporting other damaged or uneven sidewalks the person sees around town.

Once a complaint is filed, officials have an obligation to inspect the sidewalk and require any necessary repairs, at a cost of about $400 to $500 a slab. Often homes have multiple slabs that need repair.

“He’s been running a one-man inspection team,” Deputy Mayor Mark Schwartz said of Jones. “This is hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs and the money isn’t borne by us — it’s the residents who have to pay.”

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The sidewalk complaints are the latest development in an ongoing dispute between Jones and the township.

Teaneck is appealing a judge’s 2017 decision that ordered the township to pay nearly $20,000 in legal fees to Jones, who overwhelmed the clerk's office with more than 300 records requests over a span of two months.

The township had sued Jones in January 2017 to prevent him from filing additional requests and relieve the township from filling the requests that were outstanding.

In the lawsuit, township attorneys argued that Jones was abusing the state's Open Public Records Act to disrupt municipal operations.

Jones has been involved in numerous other legal battles with the township and has filed criminal and civil complaints against township police officers, the clerk, the manager and other employees.

Oral arguments for Teaneck’s appeal were heard earlier this year, and the township is awaiting the judge’s decision, said John Shahdanian, the township attorney.

Since November 2016, Jones has filed 662 public records requests with the township clerk.

He said he began filing the sidewalk complaints after he almost fell while taking a walk.

“I notified the town of the tripping hazard, and they did nothing about it until more attention was brought to the situation,” Jones said. “I simply told the township that action will be taken to make you comply. As you can see, now they are fixing the sidewalks all over town.”

Jones didn't realize the homeowners would pay the price for his complaints. He still believes Teaneck should pay for the sidewalk repairs, because the problems are often caused by street tree roots lifting the concrete slabs, he says.

But in most cases, the property owner is responsible for repairing or replacing a sidewalk.

The township is responsible for fixing a sidewalk only if it is damaged during roadwork or if a slab is lifted by a street tree uprooted during a storm, Kazinci said.

Michael Miller, who is being required to replace three slabs in front of his Downing Street home, said the system is unfair. Since receiving the letter, he’s noticed other sidewalks in much worse shape than his, he said.

“It’s one thing if the town were to say: OK, we’re going to take a look and examine block by block. But for some individual to haphazardly do this, it’s just without justification,” Miller said. “I don’t feel I own the sidewalk in front of my home, so why should I have to invest in its repair?”

The township gives homeowners a deadline to obtain a permit and make the repairs, after which, the letters warn, the homeowner "may be subject to Municipal Court action."

Teaneck’s sidewalks were put in decades ago at the request of homeowners. People had a choice whether they wanted a sidewalk or not. As a result, on some streets the sidewalk starts and stops depending on the address.

“When people went and bought that house, they bought the decision that those people made,” Councilman Keith Kaplan said.

Everyone on Renee Redding-Jones' stretch of Margaret Street received the same notice from the township. Redding-Jones said she understands the need to clear snow from her sidewalk in the winter, but she didn’t realize when she bought her home she was responsible for thousands of dollars in potential repairs.

She’s organized a petition to ask the township to pay for the repairs.

But requiring the town to pay to fix damaged sidewalks may end up costing homeowners more through higher taxes. People would likely request more repairs if they were done at the township’s expense, Kaplan said.

The system has worked in the past because there were norms that were followed, Kaplan said.

“If a neighbor came and complained, they had to look the other neighbor in the eye,” he said. “You knew no one was going to complain unless there was a real problem.”

As she works to collect signatures for her petition, Redding-Jones said, she hopes the township revisits the issue.

“I was shocked when I got the letter,” she said. “A lot of my neighbors are on fixed incomes. It’s an unfair burden on the homeowner.”

Email: burrow@northjersey.com