Winter has officially arrived. Again, our sidewalks are covered in a blanket of snow.
To ensure that sidewalks remain walkable, the City has ordinance 521.04 SIDEWALK OBSTRUCTIONS; DAMAGE OR INJURY; SNOW REMOVAL; (f) No owner or occupant of abutting lands shall fail to keep the sidewalks free from snow, ice or any nuisance. Violators of this ordinance are guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
The law and consequence are clearly written. However, as is often the case, this issue is complex. There are those that have called for a strict enforcement of this ordinance, with no exceptions. But what if you are a senior, disabled, out of town or other situation that makes clearing the sidewalk next to impossible?
At the same time, this is an important public safety concern. I do not want children to be forced to walk in the street on their daily walk to and from school. Residents who use public transportation or those that do not have a car and must walk deserve to have a safe route to and from their destination. If the sidewalks are covered with snow and are un-walkable, then the street is the only alternative. This is dangerous and of great concern.
At the Cleveland Heights City Council meeting on September 6, 2011, I made a public request for ideas on how to address these safety concerns;
Councilman Stein stated, “I have no report tonight but I do have some comments. It is still summer but the change of seasons is in the air. Before long winter will be here and snow will again cover the ground. The last few winters maybe even longer I have seen a disturbing trend of residents clearing their driveways of snow but leaving the sidewalks untouched. This reaches an unbearable state of affairs when the snow filled sidewalks accumulate to the point where the sidewalks are un-walkable. This has the very dangerous consequence of forcing children walking to and from school, into the streets. I would like to remind everyone watching this meeting and reading the minutes that it is the resident’s responsibility to clear their sidewalks of snow. Beyond the fact that it’s the law it is a matter of safety for children and adults alike. This winter when you are clearing out your driveway to get to work please take a little extra time to clear your sidewalk and make it walkable. If anyone has a new thought, idea or suggestion on how to ensure that sidewalks throughout the City are cleared of snow this winter please contact me by email JStein@clvhts.com or leave me a message at (216) 291-2044. This is an important issue and by starting the conversation now in the summer I’m hoping we can come up with some practical solutions before the snow falls so that the children will be able to walk on the sidewalks and not on the streets.”
Unfortunately, my call for ideas did not bear fruit. I received an email that demanded strict enforcement of the ordinance with costly fines (perhaps this is necessary to ensure that sidewalks are cleared of snow) and I received a phone call requesting the snow plows drive slower. That is it, only two responses.
Perhaps the reason for only two responses was the time of the year. It was the summer; residents were concerned about keeping cool, not about snow covered sidewalks. Well, now it is winter and the sidewalks have snow. I hope that there are other good ideas out there. So, I am asking again, please share your ideas for practical solutions to keeping sidewalks clear of snow. In the meantime, please take a little extra time when clearing your driveway to also clear your sidewalks.
Thanks for bringing the issue to public attention. I think it's important to enforce some obvious instances and provide innovative solutions for others. To me, the obvious are the retail zones where the owner typically has a greater responsibility (tenants and customers as well as community). The innovative could be something like arranging with the CH-UH school district to have their personnel add sidewalks heavily used by students. The city might be able to offset the additional cost incurred by the district. The worst spots I see for students are on Lee near Fairfax and Boulevard where the sidewalks are too close to the street and are covered by the snow from the plow as well as neglected by owners/tenants. This is also true on Cedar by the High School.
ReplyDeleteThis is a city that is dependent on independent snow-plowers who charge a winter fee for plowing driveways. It's not the only option. I know some people do the jot the old fashioned way with a shovel or have a personal snow blower. For those of us who want to avoid the task altogether, our only option is to hire a driver of a truck. currently, none of them are including the shoveling of sidewalks in their quote. If they did, I am sure more people would take advantage. Perhaps, an ordinance enforcing clean sidewalks would be more enforcable if there were people willing to be paid to do the job. I do know that in areas of New York where you pay people to shovel your driveway, they usually do your sidewalks as well. We just need to adjust the way we pay for our services and the issue will resolve itself.
ReplyDeleteI know what I do. I have a snow blower. I do my sidewalks AND my adjacent neighbors sidewalks too. What good is a one clean sidewalk if it is surrounded by impassable sidewalks? Sometimes I even will do 2 neighbors in each direction. My neighbors reciprocate by doing my sidewalk if they are out first. Besides the safety benefits, it is also a good way to get to better know your neighbors!
ReplyDeleteI'd be willing to contribute to the scholarship fund for recreation passes for kids who can't afford them if someone would organize these kids to shovel the public walks of seniors (I hate that word) who contribute. A very long time ago there was a joint program with the schools that organized kids to volunteer for community service projects. It worked pretty well I think. Might be worth a try to bring it back. I'd have appreciated some kid leaf rakers too.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see more enforcement of the law. I really do not think things will change until there is a penalty applied. I would suggest starting with retail areas and the streets near schools. I would also make the process complaint driven at first.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the city should plow sidewalks on major streets, near schools(Start with Lee, Cedar and Monticello. These sidewalks are impacted by plowing, on Cedar the plows throw snow well into the yards. Even if the sidewalk on one side of the street could be plowed, it would make a huge difference for pedestrians. If the schools and city could partner with the schools doing 1 block in each direction past the school property I think this would help.
Another area that needs to be addressed is the driveway and parking lot plowers leaving piles on the sidewalk. This is clearly against the law but has become commonplace. There are often mountains of snow to climb over on the sidewalk. I would like to see an even higher fine for dumping snow in the right of way than for not shoveling.
I think that many school age children would be willing to shovel. If we could start a bank of kids who would shovel organized by neighborhood. Possibly, in order to be included on the paying roster kids would agree to shovel for 1 person in their neighborhood who is physically unable AND does not have resources to pay. I think the biggest obstacle to this is the possibility of legal liability. We need a way to deal with the possibilities of Law suits. The PTA would be willing to partner in this endeavor.
Finally be kind to your neighbors, when I had an elderly neighbor I shoveled her walk when I did mine. My current neighbors often shovel mine, and I will shovel theirs, depending who gets out first. Several men on my street who have snow blowers do almost 1/2 a block on a regular basis.
Lots of good ideas here already. I'd like to adopt several of them and add a couple thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is dangerous to force people into the street in winter. I've explained it in this way to my neighbors who seem reluctant to even discuss sidewalk shoveling: If we force someone to walk on a slippery sidewalk and they fall, it us unlikely that a 2000lb vehicle might hit them while trying to stop on an icy surface. Not so if they are in the street.
Another issue is that there is an ordinance regarding walking in the street. Due to the curfew, groups of teens driven from business districts have made residential neighborhoods their places to hang out in the evenings - they walk in the street, often 3 or 4 abreast. They are ticketed and processed via our legal system. Can we, should we apply a double standard? Is it ok for others (others than teens) to walk in the street while teens are ticketed? Not in my opinion.
I like the idea of kids shoveling for neighbors who are unable to do so for whatever reason. That requires finding a child who will agree to be there before school or perhaps after school to do the deed. Neighbors may have to come together to identify those willing youth on their blocks. That wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Like Kaplan I feel that it might be useful to ask plow contractors to add this service. As I walk my dog on snowy days, it is apparent that many neighbors have plow services. One can see the piles the plows leave on the treelawns next to the drives. Some plow drivers pile the snow onto the sidewalks making a mountain of snow for walkers to climb over. I spoke with a neighbor who plows in the winter and asked him if he would add this service. He didn't seem willing to do more than run a brush machine down the sidewalk. It would slow him down, he said. I suggested he bring a partner and have the partner clear the sidewalk with a shovel while he cleared the drive with the truck. Charge more.
Let's say we enforce and ticket in the business districts. Most businesses want to have safe passage to their doors. Most SIDs are already handling this. They just need to also clear the walks around the corners, not just the main thoroughfares.
So if neighbors and plow services can address the residential areas, it still leaves one gaping hole - vacant properties, REO, bank-owned, landbank, city-owned properties. I suggest that a warning that the city will begin next winter to enforce the ordinance will help to move us in the clear sidewalk direction. The tickets can go to the absentee landlords and banks. Aren't they currently ticketed or fined if the grass isn't cut or if there's some other sort of nuisance? I know that the bank-owned property next door to me hired a service company to plow the drive and cut the grass, purportedly to remain within the law. They did not clear the walk. For residents, perhaps a policy of three warnings before a citation is issued would be fair.
The carrot is safe passage even in winter. The stick is three strikes you're fined. What is the fine for violating the ordinance anyway? Has Cleveland heights ever enforced it?
According to the ordinance 521.04 clause (g) a violation of clause (f) is a "minor misdemeanor". According to http://www.clelaw.lib.oh.us/public/misc/faqs/sentencing.html
ReplyDeleteminor misdemeanors are punishable with a fine up to $150.00.
The city council and manager is on record, http://clevelandheights.com/upload/newsletter/minutes_02072011.pdf stating the ordinance as written is "unrealistic" to enforce. I hope that Councilman Stein is serious about addressing this issue.
If you want every house to have the sidewalk shoveled, you do it.
ReplyDeleteEnforce the rule.
ReplyDeleteHere's how other cities enforce the rule (it's not like Cleveland Heights is alone in it's snowfall amount in a winter. Ever travel anywhere further North? Usually the sidewalks are cleared quickly after a snowfall).
ReplyDeleteMilwaukee: "Violators who are reported to DPW are issued a notice to clear the walk and will be assessed an initial inspection charge of $25 for the first notice, $45 for the second notice and $90 for subsequent violations per City Ordiance 116-8. If the sidewalks still are not clear within another 24 hours, a Sanitation crew will clear a path on the walk, and the charge will appear on the property tax bill. The city is responsible for only the approaches to alleys; alleys are not plowed."
http://city.milwaukee.gov/mpw/divisions/operations/environmental/sanitation/winter/SidewalkSnowRemoval.htm#.UvkfYd9OW0w
Madison
"If the sidewalk has not been cleared by the required time, the property owner will be issued a citation with a fine.
Crews will remove the snow and ice from the sidewalk. Property owners will be billed for this service, and unpaid bills will be added to the owner's property tax."
https://www.cityofmadison.com/residents/winter/snowIce/snowrules.cfm
Form to report sidewalk violations: https://www.cityofmadison.com/reportaproblem/sidewalk.cfm
Minneapolis:
"If the City of Minneapolis gets a complaint or discovers that a sidewalk is not properly cleared, Public Works will inspect the sidewalk and give the property owners a chance to clear it.
If the sidewalk has not been cleared upon re-inspection, the property owner may be issued a citation with a fine.
Crews will remove the snow and ice from the sidewalk. Property owners will be billed for this service, and unpaid bills will be added to property tax statements."
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/snow/shovel/index.htm
Minneapolis also allows one to report a sidewalk violation:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/snow/shovel/snow_snow
Hope these are helpful. This problem does seem to be solvable...
I believe that if cleveland has all this extra money to build casinos and upgrade downtown I also believe that cleveland has enough money to buy sidewalk plows and hire city workers to operate them... there is no excuse! My father was a worker for the city of Aurora before he got into his accident last year. So for the safety of the citizens of Cleveland Ohio why don't we try this as a solution.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if cleveland has all this extra money to build casinos and upgrade downtown I also believe that cleveland has enough money to buy sidewalk plows and hire city workers to operate them... there is no excuse! My father was a worker for the city of Aurora before he got into his accident last year. So for the safety of the citizens of Cleveland Ohio why don't we try this as a solution.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if cleveland has all this extra money to build casinos and upgrade downtown I also believe that cleveland has enough money to buy sidewalk plows and hire city workers to operate them... there is no excuse! My father was a worker for the city of Aurora before he got into his accident last year. So for the safety of the citizens of Cleveland Ohio why don't we try this as a solution.
ReplyDelete