Let it snow and freeze, Burnaby plow business says
Not all are cursing the snow and ice-covered pavement covering much of Metro Vancouver.
Virginia McMahon, officer manager and dispatcher at Arctic Snow Removal in Burnaby, said crews geared up for a big dump of snow Sunday evening but were confronted with much more than anyone had forecast. Business has been booming. “We were expecting between zero and five centimetres, but it just never stopped,” McMahon said.
“When we all got in here (Monday) between 5:30 and 6 a.m., the calls never stopped until about 8 o’clock (Monday) night.”
Arctic provides salting and snowplow services to most of Metro Vancouver and parts of the Fraser Valley, catering to clients with massive parking lots such as Home Depot and to strata-run apartment buildings. McMahon said most city bylaws require sidewalks to be cleared by 10 a.m., but Arctic finishes the job much earlier, with crews starting around 10 p.m. and working until 6 a.m. the next day so businesses can open on time.
Fortunately, there’s no shortage of salt, McMahon said, and after Arctic went through 100 tonnes of it Monday night, they had several deliveries Tuesday in anticipation of dropping temperatures this week.
Environment Canada expects an intense Pacific storm will bring “significant snowfall” to the South Coast of B.C. starting Thursday afternoon.
Arctic always has plans in place for such forecasts, but “the weatherman has to be a little more accurate,” McMahon said with a chuckle.
While municipalities plow and salt their roadways and Arctic helps businesses open on time, some snow-clearing responsibility falls on property owners and tenants.
Vancouver city bylaws require property owners, occupants and tenants to clear snow and ice from the entire width of the sidewalks surrounding their property by 10 a.m. the morning after a snowfall, no matter what day of the week it is. If they fail to meet the deadline, the city engineer can authorize someone to do the job at homeowners’ expense. They could also face a $250 fine.
But the rules vary by municipality, such as Surrey, which requires businesses and residents to clear adjacent sidewalks “as soon as possible,” while Burnaby businesses have to do it by 10 a.m. but residents just need to do it “as soon as possible,” too.
B.C. Residential Tenancy Branch policy guidelines say tenants in single-family dwellings and tenants of townhouses or multi-family dwellings who have exclusive use of the yard are generally responsible for clearing snow, but landlords are responsible for clearing snow in multi-unit residential complexes and common areas of manufactured home parks.