Winter attacks! New sidewalk-clearing law focuses on fees, not jail
No one teaches a lesson quite like Mother Nature, and last winter’s epic snowstorms revealed flaws in the city’s snow removal laws that Charlottesville officials hope have been addressed in a new ordinance approved in August.
“We absolutely think it’s going to make a difference,” says Jim Tolbert, head of the Neighborhood Planning Department on Wednesday, December 15, the eve of the area’s first snowstorm.
The old snow removal ordinance required residents and business owners to clear the sidewalks around their properties within 24 hours of the last snowflakes falling. Failure to do so was considered a crime, a Class One misdemeanor carrying the possibility of a jail sentence up to 12 months and a fine up to $2,500.
As it turned out, the threat of jail didn’t have the desired effect. After the city failed to clear its own properties, police enforcement was practically nonexistent. Sidewalks remained impassable for weeks following the December 18, 2009 storm dubbed “Snowpocalyse” that dropped around two feet and the 18-inch February 6, 2010 “Snowmageddon.”
When police finally did begin to issue citations in February, the charges didn’t stick after judges ruled the ordinance was in violation of state law.
“Public Works did a terrible job and didn’t seem to learn lessons from the first snowfall,” says Kevin Cox, an avid pedestrian and outspoken critic of city’s handling of snow issues last year. Cox says he’s now hopeful that this is the year snow removal will finally be taken seriously in Charlottesville. (more)