One of the snowiest cities in the United States has been shifting its focus on how to handle snow removal — even if that includes fining a resident or ticketing and towing cars.  

“The mayor has taken it upon himself that the city would be … responsible in clearing their own sidewalks,” said Khalid Bey, a common councilor at-large.

Syracuse has an ordinance that enforces a fine if residents or landlords do not remove snow from the city’s sidewalks. It has not been enforced since its creation in 2015, according to Syracuse.com, but now its enforcement has become a priority under Mayor Ben Walsh.

Anyone with a sidewalk parallel to a public street must clear any snow or ice by 6 p.m. the day after accumulation, per city ordinance.

In 2015, the sidewalk ordinance was amended to include snow plow trucks pushing snow onto sidewalks and blocking pedestrians’ right of way, Bey said.

Property owners are subject to a $100 fine if they plow snow into the public’s right of way or onto sidewalks, and private plow owners are subject to a $150 fine, according to a statement from Walsh.

“It should have been enforced a long time ago. I think that it is the right move. We must do something to make it safer for people to move and an effort to make it a walkable community, we can’t only be walkable during the summer,” Bey said. “It is all about the safety of our citizens.”

Bey and Common Council President Helen Hudson developed a proposal for snow removal after visiting Rochester to see how that city removed snow from its sidewalks. Rochester annually charges about $35 per home, on average, through city property taxes for sidewalk snow plowing.  

Bey said the Common Council will not enforce the ordinance. That responsibility falls to departments under control of the mayor, including the department of public works and the Syracuse Police Department, Bey said.

DPW handles the removal of snow in Syracuse, but it focuses on bridges and the downtown area, said Jeremy Robinson, commissioner of the department of public works. Residents have the responsibility of removing snow from their sidewalks.

“We are definitely going to try to enforce that. We are going to work hand in hand with SPD and hopefully citizens of Syracuse will understand that,” Robinson said.

Robinson said DPW will enforce the law and the department will hold all residents responsible for shoveling sidewalks.  

Ben Tupper, a landlord in the University Hill area, said every landlord’s lease is different, but the lease his tenants sign requires them to shovel sidewalks in front of their apartments, while Tupper and his team handle driveway plowing.

Syracuse University’s Office of Off Campus and Commuter Services gives away free shovels, he said, so there is no excuse for tenants not to shovel. The office sent emails earlier in the semester offering shovels to students living off campus.

Robinson said DPW wants to ensure the city’s snow plows can get through streets. When someone parks on the wrong side of the road on an odd-even parking day, it makes it harder for the trucks to come down the street and plow, he said.

Bey said he wants to make sure vulnerable populations are safe. Young children, the elderly and people with disabilities are the city’s focus when it comes to keeping the sidewalks clear, he said.

Bey, Tupper and Robinson all said they agreed that Walsh’s push to enforce snow removal will help the city.

“We all live in the city. We’ve all got to do our part,” Robinson said.

Published on January 23, 2018 at 10:17 pm

Contact Bianca: bmoorman@syr.edu