Lehighton Borough's sidewalk ordinance is still a work in progress. Matthew Marks, the Government Affairs Director of the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors, spoke at the monthly meeting Monday night and asked the borough to hold off on adopting a new ordinance until more research could be done.

Darryl Arner, borough councilman agreed with Marks, saying, "It's detrimental to Realtors and sellers, it's going to decrease property values."Council Vice President Scott Rehrig said, "The intent for this is for people to not have to walk in the street. It's a safety issue."Marks said, "We'd like a chance to do some studies now. And not wait for point of sale to for this issue to be brought up."Mayor Tom Mase said, "There was a 21-year-old victim of a hit-and-run in another town because there were no sidewalks. There are a lot of homes on the market that don't sell, and it's not because of sidewalks."As the ordinance stands now, every owner of property in the borough of Lehighton must, on 30 days' written notice from the council or borough manager, construct a sidewalk and curb in front of or alongside such property. The last time the ordinance was amended was 1997, but the borough is looking to update and enforce a newer ordinance.Jim Zurn, president-elect of the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors, pointed out that Lehighton is sitting on 80 homes that are for sale yet unsold.As the ordinance stands it places "an unfair burden on the seller when there is no guarantee the buyer will go through with the sale. We're sitting on these 80 homes that have been for sale for years."Zurn also thanked the council for being open minded and allowing more time for research to be conducted before making a decision.Rehrig said, "No one has a problem tabling it. Come back next month and let us know what you found. It isn't against anyone, it's about safety."