BATON ROUGE - A sidewalk along Corporate Boulevard was suddenly torn up by the city on Tuesday morning after years of complaints. 

Assistant Chief Administrative Officer of the Department of Public Works, William Daniel, tells 2 On Your Side that it became a safety hazard.

"That sidewalk has been the bane of Public Works' existence for years," said Daniel.

The sidewalk is on property owned by Summa Professional Office Park, LLC. It's an undeveloped lot between The Reserve at Cedar Lodge and Cadence Bank. The PUD property has been for sale or lease by Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate, Inc.

Bray Harris lives nearby and contacted 2 On Your Side about the condition of the sidewalk in June.

"It's unsafe for someone with a stroller, someone in a wheelchair," said Harris.

Feet away from the broken sidewalk is a brand new sidewalk leading to Towne Center and other businesses along Corporate Boulevard.   

"I don't understand how it got like this, and I don't understand, with the rest of the area developed, why this has been allowed to get in such disarray," said Harris.

WBRZ has received several calls regarding the sidewalk, which has been an issue for several years. The city has maintained that since there are no contributing factors from city-owned infrastructure, the sidewalk repair is the property owner's responsibility. 

So what happened? Daniel tells 2 On Your Side that the condition of the sidewalk came up during a meeting. The city says people have been complaining about the sidewalk for at least three years. A recent inspection found that it had become worse. When it was determined to be a "safety hazard," crews responded. A large section of the sidewalk was torn up by heavy machinery on Tuesday morning. Orange barricades block off the section of crumbled concrete to foot traffic.

"We kind of jumped the gun on that. We are taking that to Blight Court," said Daniel.

The city is in the process of notifying the owner that the sidewalk needs to be replaced. Daniel says if the property owner doesn't respond in a timely manner, the city will take them to blight court and let a judge make a determination.

"If they don't comply within a certain amount of time, then we'll go out and fix it and put a lien on the property," said Daniel. 

While maintenance to a sidewalk is the responsibility of the property owner, Daniel says if a sidewalk is found to be unsafe, that property owner could be taken to blight court.

"We're going to go to Blight Court and try to get them fixed," said Daniel.

The city says will remove the crumbled concrete it dug up at the sidewalk along Corporate Boulevard. Real Estate Broker George Kurz says he plans to speak with the property owner and contact the city about the next steps.