Since the number 8 bus was not running yesterday and today, I had the pleasure of walking from Capitol Hill to Belltown for work. As I was walking, I encountered only 2 or 3 areas of sidewalk on the hill that were cleared of ice (one being in front of my own building).
My question is, Who is responsible for clearing the sidewalks in front of residential and commercial buildings, and what happens if someone gets seriously hurt on the ice?
Does Seattle have ordinances requiring property owners to clear their sidewalks, like so many other cites do, and if so why are they not getting cleared?
Its a serious hazard. They next few days are supposed to be equally as cold as today, and I don’t think the ice will be melting away. Maybe we can use our snow day off of work to get those sidewalks clear! Throw some salt down to break up the ice, then clear it once its melted so it doesn’t refreeze.
From the P-I:
“Property owners and occupants, whether business or residential, are responsible for removing snow and ice from sidewalks that abut their properties,” Department of Transportation spokesman Rick Sheridan said. “The penalty for non-compliance is $250 for the first citation and up to $500 for subsequent citations.”
The law is spelled out in section 15.48.010 of the Seattle Municipal Code:
It is the responsibility of the owner or occupant of private property to remove snow and ice on the sidewalks abutting his or her property in a timely manner and, if practical, prevent its becoming or remaining in an icy, ridged, uneven or humped condition or in a condition which is potentially hazardous to users of the public sidewalks.
I sure wish people would observe this!
I with you on that. the sidewalks are seriously icy today, I think I only encountered 1 block (in front of the B&O on Olive) that was cleared on my walk from Broadway QFC to downtown.
Interesting. I’d be so amazed to see any enforcement on this. Probably works much like graffiti in that enforcement is based on complaints.
Given that, would be the neighborly thing to do to try to let the property owner know before reporting. I love neighborhood blogging. But I hate the idea of turning everybody into hall monitors.
Yes, jseattle – I think it’s about education. I created a handout with the info above and am leaving it on doorsteps where the ice is really bad. I am also heaping praise and appreciation on those fine folk I encounter clearing the sidewalks.
It’s good to know about the law. However, in my part of the neighborhood, the only places where it’s unsafe to walk are the places that someone tried to clear – but really just spread the crunchy, sticky snow into a slick sheet of ice, rather than salting it. :(
I wonder if that counts as technically compliant. And by the same logic, is it OK to leave snow out as long as it doesn’t become slick? I guess what I’m asking is, do you have to succeed in creating a safe sidewalk or just show that you tried, even if it fails miserably?
I walked out in the snowy street to avoid the “cleared” sidewalks, how safe is that? Oh well.
People, it snows here 2-3 times/year. Do you really want every property in Seattle ticketed for not clearing snow/ice? Or maybe JAR sells snow shovels and wants everyone to buy one. I suppose you’re equally upset that Seattle hasn’t spent tens of thousands on having every road plowed and salted by now, too. Maybe you should contact Obama.
Relax and don’t walk where you see ice.
It always seems to be cleared at almost obsessive levels compared to the rest of that side of Broadway. I don’t know about today, but after the weekend’s snow it was.
I agree it’s about education. The cops should follow AliceE’s lead and put out similar warnings while waiting for the next QFC shoplifting event.
“Relax and don’t walk where you see ice.” Um, so I should just stay in my apartment building? That doesn’t exactly seem like a solution . . .
becca raises a good point, though: the building manager next-door spent basically all day yesterday shoveling, but the sidewalk is still icy. (Better than the sidewalk in front of my building, but still pretty darn icy.) I hate to say it, J, but I think salt is the only answer.
So true. If people have already walked on it and you are not using de-icer then benign neglect is best! (plus it looks nicer)
Really, how much effort does it take to remove the two or three inches of snow typical of a Seattle storm? Thanks to wide-spread indifference, the on-going effort to make this place more walkable falls apart every winter. Maybe we should emulate those eastern and midwestern cities that mandate that you must have walks cleared within twelve hours after a storm ends.
To me, it’s worth a few minutes work to at least sweep the walk clear; within twenty-four hours my walks are clear and dry.
for the record, not a single person on here has called for any property owner to be ticketed.
Salt only works when there’s sun. If the spot is stuck in shadow all day it wont work.
I haven’t left my apartment since Thursday morning for a dr’s appt. No hassle for me.
Cheesecake,
What part of “The penalty for non-compliance is $250 for the first citation and up to $500 for subsequent citations” do you not understand?
That is a statement of the law, not a call to enforce it. Jar asked a question and AliceE answered it.
People in Portland never cleared walkways either. I grew up on the east coast and made a small fortune as a kid shoveling walkways each winter. Good times :-)
if my apartment has shovels for the tenants to use, i’d def. shovel snow on our sidewalks, and if they also had rakes, i’d love to be raking leaves (to clear the drains for flood prevention). i just don’t have $ to buy these things (student here!) but am so willing to help out..
“More Seattle Whinning (sic)”? Seattle is no more whiny than any other city. The sidewalks are nearly unwalkable, and with the spotty bus service, it’s a serious inconvenience and hazard to walk on such icy sidewalks. It’s great that my neighbors on the Hill care enough to speak out and find a possible solution to this. Stop the trolling of this site.
I left on Wednesday night for North Carolina where it is a balmy 63 degrees at the moment.
Snow shouldn’t still be a problem when I get back
Have you ever tried shoveling snow AFTER someone has walked on it? It gets totally packed down and hard. Impossible to shovel. Unless you’re up before anyone walks on it, there’s no point. And if it keeps on snowing, more and more gets packed down before you can shovel it. I’m guessing the whiners are renters who never have to shovel.
I have tried, and succeeded.
Here’s how it goes: flip your shovel over and use it to chop up the packed snow/ice, then flip it again and shovel away!
Most everyone here seems reasonable, so I don’t know who the whiners are. I didn’t grow up with a lot of snow, and I think Seattle has a mix of people who did and people who didn’t. I’m just curious how these things are dealt with; but yes, I’ll whine when things don’t make sense.
So, if you can’t get tread-upon snow off the sidewalk, are you a snow-noob or a whiner about your own issue? :) I’ve been knocking away packed in ice with my boots, so I don’t think it’s impossible with a shovel. Perhaps snow shovels aren’t useful in this area – try a nice, heavy, metal, flat shovel.
Rock salt doesn’t seem to be widely available here, and someone today told me that Seattle has banned salt because of an environmental issue. So, it really does seem like an educational issue – people don’t know they are supposed to deal with the sidewalks, and even if they did they don’t really know how. I’d love to see some public awareness efforts about this.
For now, yes – benign neglect is my favorite place to walk – I can be careful on the occasionally packed snow, but I hope everyone doesn’t scrape their snow down to an icy, unsalted sheet.
Salt works regardless of whether its in the sun or shade. The sun hasn’t been around in days and the salted/deiced walks are completely clear.
http://www.saltinstitute.org/kirchner-1.html
Hi,an interesting article.The station commander and the fire station where I work told us the service would be sued if anyone slipped on the snow near our property.My understanding of it was you can only be sued by someone slipping if you have acted upon the snow to change it.So to slip on snow that is untouched is a natural event.But to slip on ice where the snow has been moved is accountable to those that moved it.