SASKATOON -- City Council on Monday unanimously passed a motion asking administration to report of possible changes to its walkway policy that addresses "maintenance, graffiti, vandalism, crime and enhancing the overall feeling of safety in neighbourhoods."

Ward 5 Coun. Randy Donauer, who put forth the motion, said the current policy prohibits change.

"First of all it's thousands of dollars just to apply and your application has no guarantee and little chance of success," Donauer said.

Donauer said he brought the issue to city council because “it’s a city property amenity that’s causing these problems, all we’ve done is make it harder for the walkway to be closed and completely abandoned the residents.

"If there was noise coming from a civic amenity, if there was smoke, or odour, we would address that because it’s our responsibility in the middle of a neighbourhood, I see this as the same thing."

Joel Hall has lived in Lawson Heights since 2001. A walkway adjacent to his home connects his cul-de-sac to another walkway separating homes and apartment complexes on Pinehouse Drive.

Hall said the walkway is hardly used and has been a hub for crime and drugs.

"The vandalism, the litter, the alcohol, the public urination, the drugs, the noise, the violence and the dangers these walkways present," Hall told city council. "These walkways aren’t just a nuisance, they are a serious threat."

Despite spending about $10,000 on a security camera, motion-sensor lights and building his fence 12 feet high, Hall said he still needs to check his backyard for hazards and junk before he lets his kids outside.

"On many occasions in our own backyard we’ve found needles, broken glass, bikes, pornography and things that appear to be stolen, wrecked and dumped.

"Our fence and home regularly get graffiti, the fence is often damaged and people climb on our fence and bang on the side of our home waking us up."

Hall put in an application to close the walkway in 2014 and according to the city’s policy at the time, if after a year the problems aren’t corrected, it would be closed.

Five years later, the city has not improved lighting, increased policing or set up a Neighbourhood Watch like it said it would, he said.

"If they did any of these things, none of it worked the problems still exist," he said.

Cleone Richmond lives a couple of doors down from the walkway. She said while she hasn’t seen the problems first hand, she’s seen a couple of items stolen and her doorbell sometimes rings in the middle of the night.

"I’ve lived here 21 years, we’ve never had a break in, in this place," Richmond said, adding schoolchildren from down the street sometimes use the walkway to get to school.

Administration will update council on Hall’s walkway closure file and report back on updating the walkway policy.