The Syracuse Common Council voted down an ordinance Monday that would have imposed a fine on Syracuse residents who don’t shovel the sidewalks in front of their property.

While most saw the ordinance as impractical, some council members voted against the measure in the belief that improving conditions in the city depends upon communication within communities.

The proposed Common Council ordinance added a $50 fine to buildings that did not shovel their sidewalks when snow collection rose over three inches. Many councilors pointed out that the ordinance, which was defeated in a 7–2 vote, would be difficult to enforce and could drop penalties on people who were physically incapable of caring for their sidewalks. The mayor’s office had no comment on the rejection of the ordinance.

Common Councilor Bob Dougherty, who sponsored the ordinance, originally proposed a $100 fine if snow was not shoveled by 6 p.m. the day after a snowstorm, but decided to lower the fine in hopes of gaining more support. In his push to pass the legislation, Dougherty described it as an encouragement for community involvement.

“By next winter, I can see neighborhood people coming together to shovel for people who are unable to afford to have this done,” he said in a statement made before votes were cast. “I see city high school kids fulfilling their community service graduation requirements this way.”

Dougherty warned that failing to pass the ordinance would mean postponing one of Syracuse’s most daunting public issues until spring. Snow and ice removal is still the responsibility of the owner of the land, he reminded the council, and said that his bill would incentivize people to cooperate.

Dougherty referenced a standing ordinance that holds no penalty or fine, said Nader Maroun, a common councilor who voted against the proposed ordinance. Instead, failure to shovel results in a police citation that is treated like a property code violation and the owner could ultimately be called into housing court. Despite that, Maroun said he felt like the current system needed revision.

“The city has the responsibility to address the sidewalks, and we currently don’t have a plan to do that,” he said. “There needs to be a dialogue with more people to implement a plan, because the city quite frankly doesn’t have the resources at this point in time to be able to accomplish this.”

Instead, Maroun said decisions should go beyond “contemporary” issues such as clearing snow. He added that he believes the discussions on snow removal are rooted in each community’s desire to “improve their quality of life,” which would be more effective if collaboration occurred on a local level with neighborhood associations, schools and park associations.

“In most neighborhoods, there’s an informal network of organizations that already exists,” he said. “My idea would be for us to utilize those existing networks to develop a better and more cohesive approach.”

Poor handling of snow by property owners has affected students at Syracuse University who are living off the main campus, where snow is pushed away and salted.

Jeffrey Saunders, a junior sport management major, received a parking ticket when his car was immobilized by snow. The owners of his apartment manage snowstorms poorly, leaving drivers with a no-win predicament, he said.

“You can’t park on the side of the road because the plow pushes the snow (into the curb), so you have to either crash your car right there and be stuck the next day, or you park next to the snow and your car is left in the middle of the road,” Saunders said.

Without any more proposed ordinances regarding snow on the docket in the near future, Maroun said people have to rely on their neighbors to help each other out and become more cooperative to improve their community.

“I think it was President Johnson that said, ‘all politics are local’, and I think that’s the answer,” Maroun said. “Neighborhoods know their neighborhoods.”

Published on February 12, 2014 at 1:24 am