Residents frustrated by fines for snowy sidewalks
Woman who got ticket for not shovelling says even staff struggled to clear streets
A Vancouver woman is frustrated, angry and puzzled that the city took her to court to fine her for failing to shovel the sidewalk in front of her West Side home last winter.
Storms dumped heavy snow on Metro Vancouver last December and January, leaving streets and sidewalks throughout the region blanketed in ice.
Many Vancouver residents — and city staff themselves — struggled to keep streets and sidewalks clear of snow and ice, and salt shortages and lingering cold weather thwarted efforts.
Some residents, who were either out of town or unaware that clearing sidewalks was their responsibility, appeared not to have touched the snow that fell in front of their houses.
Barbara Plumstead is neither of those. The 65-year-old Plumstead was well aware of her shovelling duties and early last January, when she was running a temperature of 103, she was out clearing snow and hauling home bags of salt by public bus.
“On New Year’s Day, we had a huge snowfall overnight. I was sick as a dog, but nonetheless, I went out and I tried to clear it at about 7:30 a.m. or 8 a.m., but already people had been out walking dogs … and it had been tromped down,” Plumstead said. “It became like ice.”
Vancouver was in the midst of a salt shortage at the time, and try as she might, Plumstead could not get rid of the ice. It was after that that enforcement officers issued two notices to Plumstead. The warnings to clear her sidewalk were among the more than 10,250 such notices city staff issued last year for unclear walkways.
“I felt a little frustrated, because even the City of Vancouver was not able to clear the local streets,” Plumstead said.
She didn’t take the warnings seriously.
But it turned out that the enforcement officers were serious, and on a third visit she received another note. This one had a police file number and a court date.
On Sept. 9, she attended court alongside a few dozen other homeowners, pleaded guilty on behalf of her landlord, and paid a $250 fine.
Plumstead was among hundreds who were issued tickets or taken to court over uncleared sidewalks from last winter. City staff could not provide an accurate total, but estimated it to be fewer than 1,000.
Many of those cases have yet to go to court, and because fines vary based on the number of violations per household, and can sometimes be cancelled altogether, it is not possible to calculate the total amount of cash the city will raise through its enforcement efforts. With a minimum fine of $250, the city could stand to raise something in the order of $250,000.
Accompanying warning notices issued last year was information on Vancouver’s snow angel program,
On New Year’s Day, we had a huge snowfall overnight. I was sick as a dog, but nonetheless, I went out and I tried to clear it at about 7:30 a.m. or 8 a.m.
said Amanda McCuaig, a city spokeswoman.
That program matches older adults or people with limited mobility with volunteers who are available to help shovel walks. Plumstead said she recalled seeing information about the program on her warning notice, but said she didn’t need help so much as salt.
For Plumstead, city staff need to encourage stores to stock more salt and keep educating and warning residents rather than taking “a patronizing and punitive approach.”
“All it does is tick people off. It doesn’t help a bit,” she said.
Information on snow clearing responsibilities was included among 25 news releases and nine news conferences staff issued or held last year in relation to snow clearing, according to the city.
And reminders about the city’s bylaw could be found in print and social media ads, on the city’s website, and through the VanConnect and VanCollect apps.
“Even during the unusual snowfall during last winter, the city worked hard to focus on education and bylaw awareness rather than fining,” she said.
Staff at the city received more than 4,200 complaints from residents who reported uncleared sidewalks last year.
On the heels of those complaints came more than 500 related prosecution files — the highest in Vancouver history, according to the city.