The City of New Westminster has fined eight property owners for failing to clear their sidewalks of snow.
Nancy Millar, acting coordinator of parking and animal services, said bylaw officers have responded to more than 235 complaints and issued at least 162 warning notices.
“We are ticketing those who do not comply and/or repeat offenders. Out of the tickets issued, two were to strata properties, two residents, and four were out-of-city property owners - whether they own commercial or residential properties, I couldn’t say,” Millar wrote in an email to the Record. “It has been busy.”
The city’s street traffic bylaw requires businesses and residents to clear snow and ice from sidewalks next to their property by 10 a.m. the day following the first snowfall. The bylaw includes a fine of $80 for property owners who fail to remove snow, ice or rubbish, but it’s reduced to $50 if paid within 14 days or increased to $105 if not received within 35 days.
“Definitely these conditions have created a lot of inconveniences for residents, both in terms of road conditions and the sidewalk condition,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “We have been doing our best, our city crews, to try and maintain safe road conditions and we have definitely been trying to follow up with concerns about sidewalks not being shovelled by property owners. There is no doubt, especially the icy conditions that we are currently facing now is making things quite treacherous out there.”
While the weather has created a difficult situation for property owners, he said it’s important to keep sidewalks clear.
“We are a very walkable city and a lot of people do rely on being able to walk to different destinations in the community. When conditions in front of properties are in really poor, poor shape, that can have some significant impacts, particularly for seniors or people who have difficulty navigating these types of conditions,” he said. “We want to do everything we can to encourage residents and business owners to clear the sidewalks because it is so important in the community.”
The city’s engineering operations department is responsible for snow-clearing of sidewalks near city facilities and roads within New Westminster.
“I have been in charge of snow removal here for over 20 years and I think this is the worst winter I have seen,” said Greig Dodgshon, streets supervisor in New Westminster. “I remember 2008 was really bad, but this one, it has been colder longer.”
In past winters, Dodgshon said it usually rains after and clears up the snow, but this year it has remained cold, so the snow doesn’t melt.
“Some of the side streets have got two and three inches of ice on them. To be honest, my plows and salt are just not having a big effect. We even sent a backhoe out to clear one street and it was pulling the blacktop up,” he said. “Now we are spreading a mixture of sand and salt and that gives the cars a bit of traction and hopefully it will break up over time. It’s a bit of a struggle.”
While the city has been able to keep its main thoroughfares clear, Dodgshon said it’s been harder to do on some of the side streets. He said other Metro Vancouver cities are also struggling, not only because the weather isn’t typical for the region, but also because they don’t have the equipment for this type of winter.
“We had every piece of equipment that we have out today and I think we are just starting to get our head above water here,” he told the Record Tuesday. “I have two tandem dump trucks, big dump trucks. The rest are small one-ton dumps and I have six one-ton dump trucks. They all have plows but unfortunately the plows aren’t doing anything for this ice. They are great for snow. When it’s fresh on the road, I can clear them off, but once it gets compacted and turns to ice, then we are kind of hooped.”
When ice melt is applied to the road or sidewalks, Dodgshon said it melts the ice but when the temperature drops it freezes again.
“Some people are great and they get on top of it right away. But if you leave it and it gets walked on and it turns to ice, now you are out there with a pick and a square-mouth shovel trying to pick it off, which is not easy,” he said. “I think that’s why we put the sand out there so they can at least throw some sand on top of it.”
Residents are welcome to drop by the works yard at 901 First St. and pick up some sand that they can apply to sidewalks to help prevent people from slipping.
“I definitely encourage residents to keep up the hard work. I’d say the vast majority of residents have been working hard to clear their sidewalks and do what they can to clear, not only their sidewalks but to even to help out neighbours that need assistance,” Cote said. “Our crews are working 24/7and are working full-out to do what we can to make our roads as safe as possible.”
