It’s that time of the year again. The winter months have arrived and haven’t wasted any time piling on the snow.

The weather has students and community members breaking out the winter clothes, shovels and other tools reserved for winter. But a new Eau Claire city ordinance may have citizens digging out of their pockets as well as the snow this season.

Historically when sidewalks went unshoveled, the city mailed warnings to those living at the residence, who then had five days to comply. Now with City Ordinance Chapter 13.20, one warning will be placed on the doorknob of the property, and residents have 24 hours to remove snow and ice from their walks. Only one warning will be issued all winter and any further instances will be issued citations.

The homeowner will receive a $213.10 citation if sidewalks are not clear, not to mention the additional labor cost if the city does it themselves. In many cases landlords require their tenants to cover the fee, otherwise it would be a violation of the lease.

While 24 hours is reasonably enough time to clear the sidewalks, the city needs to take some factors into consideration before they start handing down fines all winter.

Often the sidewalks get traversed before anyone has the chance to shovel the snow away and it gets packed down past the point of shoveling.  And people who are handicapped or elderly can’t shovel at all and need to rely on somebody else to clear their walks.

 

Last winter, for instance, my roommates and I got a fine from our landlords because our walks weren’t shoveled and they did it for us. The date was Dec. 26, immediately after Christmas when all of us were gone for the holidays.

Luckily, this was more of a private matter and our landlord was able to reason with us and ignored the fee. This winter, however, a city-sanctioned citation will be much more difficult to dispute.

It makes sense that it is the homeowner’s job to shovel the sidewalks so the city can focus on removing the snow off the road. But that task is usually too tall to complete plowing every street in the city. Many times residential streets, like the ones in the student housing area, are never fully cleared.

Having sidewalks clear from snow and ice is important in a town like Eau Claire. But if I’m ticketed this winter for unshoveled walks no matter the circumstance, and my road still isn’t plowed either, I will be an unhappy camper.

For more coverage on the first dose of winter: