6.4. SR 12-12-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item # 6.4. MEMORANDUM ver TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Jeremy Barnhart, Planning Manager DATE: December 12, 201 1 SUBJECT: Sidewalk Snow Plow Policy At the Open Forum portion of the November 21 City Council meeting, resident Sue Farber approached the Council regarding the city's snow removal policy. She specifically noted the challenges she and some of her Highland Road neighbors face when the street plows clear the street, the snow they push is deposited onto the sidewalk, which is directlybehind the curb. Background In January 2011, members of the City Council received complaints from a number of property owners reacting to staff's enforcement of the sidewalk snow clearing nuisance ordinance. The ordinance identifies snow and ice not removed from sidewalks within 24 hours of a snow event in residential areas and during normal business hours in commercial/industrial areas as nuisances. The Council directed staff to enforce the ordinances after complaints are received. By January 2011, many feet of snow had accumulated and froze, making full removal from sidewalks very difficult. Some property owners were surprised about the enforcement because either the city had done the work previously, or the city had not actively enforced the ordinance before. In response, the Council reviewed the policy and ordinance at their February 7, 2011, meeting. The Council agreed to give the property owners 45 days to clear the sidewalk. Additionally, the Council agreed to review the policy in May. In May 2011, the Council again reviewed the policy, in particular the abatement process. Additional steps were added, including the provision of a door hanger as an early warning notice. It is this notice that alerted the resident of the policy in November 2011. There are over 46 miles of sidewalks in Elk River and the city currently plows 44% of them. There are only about 900 feet of sidewalks in the same configuration as the Farber's (immediately behind the curb, across the street from a city plowed trail), and the city owns 600 of them. v®rEREe ~r N:\Public Bodies\City Council\Council RCA\Agenda Packet\12-12-2011\Snow Abatement.docx ~~~~~