The Observation Deck

It's two days after the snow, and it is still impassable and very treacherous in a lot of places. Remember that we have a lot of pedestrians in this city. Please shovel your walks before the kids head back to school tomorrow at the very least. Thanks.

Just want to draw attention to some shoveled sidewalks, which historically have received ZERO attention. My kids and I walk daily, regardless of weather. Conditions of the sidewalks are so important, especially along Franklin. If you're driving when school lets out, you've seen the herds of high school students walking in the road. While they walk as many as 3 abreast (!) on the narrow roadway, at least they walk against traffic, where they are more visible. But I digress. . .

Kudos to the house at St. Charles/Franklin's SW corner, who has been clearing a considerable stretch along Franklin!

Also to the Apartment Building on Warren, just north of Franklin/Hilliard. Historically, this sidewalk has never been cleared. This year, however, it's been much better.

Last, the management company of Lakewood City Center has been clearing the sidewalks along Boston Market and the parking lot, running parallel to Warren. Again, this has never been cleared in the past, creating a no man's land of difficult sidewalk between School Board property and the businesses on Detroit.

Thanks and please keep it up so long as it's snowing!

Christina McCallum

Valerie and Christina are right. In this "walkable" city we need to keep our walks
clean and safe for the kids, the elderly, the joggers, walkers, post office, and well
everyone. If this old, out of shape person that nearly died from congestive heart
failure last year can do it, we all can. Take your time. Do it in stages. Keep up
with it. And help those that might not be able to do it.

Just get it done!

Thank you.


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Isn't there a City ordinance that says we all have to keep our sidewalks clear? 24 hour grace period?

Maybe it's about time to enforce this

But then we would have to pay more taxes to hire people to roam the city doing the enforcing.

How could an inspector roam the city if the sidewalks aren't shoveled?

I think insuring public safety should be a very high priority for the city.

When I was a child, in Lakewood, my friends and I welcomed snow, in part because the schools sometimes closed, but mostly because we could go house to house with our shovel brigade and make decent money shoveling the snow. Obviously, things have changed.

There is no reason enforcement of the sidewalk clearing ordinance should cost the city anything. They just have to adjust the fine so collection would cover the cost of prosecution, and the cost of the city clearing the snow.

I don't live on Franklin, but I think that is a special situation. First, there are many schoolkids of all ages walking along Franklin. Second, there is very little space between the street and the sidewalk. Even if a resident shovels, his work will be undone in a few minutes when the plows come down the street. Since the plowing causes the problem, I think the city should find a way to clear the sidewalks after plowing. I wouldn't think it would cost that much to buy an appropriate sweeping vehicle and run it up and down that street after they plow. Then the kids would be a lot safer than they are today.

Regarding hiring people to roam the city citing for unshoveled sidewalks... try thinking outside the box a little here. Just make the way to report unshoveled sidewalks VERY well known, such as sending out a wee little note to all the PTAs in town and encouraging them to let the families at the schools know. Then the schools that have parents walking their kids to/from (as well as the high school students themselves) can call the number with their cell phone while they're walking the route when they come upon an unshoveled sidewalk past the grace period. Viola, increased inforcement without costing the city much AND they can raise the fees if they see fit to make sure that it's definitely in the property owner's best interest to make sure the walks get cleared properly. I know of some folks who argue the "Good Samaritan" legal issue, that if the walk is cleared and someone slips and falls anyway they can sue you but if it's clearly an obvious hazard via not being shoveled they can't claim that they were unaware of the risk of injury - since the ordinance is not enforced, the cost/benefit analysis falls in favor of not exerting the extra effort to clear the sidewalk. If they were pretty certain they were going to get reported and cited regularly when they failed to clear the sidewalk, that balance suddenly shifts. Personally, I think the fine should be high enough to help offset the costs of clearing the sidewalks for those homeowners who are incapable of doing so themselves (the elderly and disabled, who on their tiny fixed incomes cannot necessarily afford to hire an area kid to do it for them - tho getting some nice social responsibility feelings increased in our young able-bodied population to get them to do the right thing for their neighbors wouldn't be a horrible thing either).

Heck, some of those enterprising young people (middle & high schools) could even make a tidy little sum going pre-emptively door to door "kindly reminding" their neighbors of the ordinance before it snows and making the neighbors aware of their willingness to be hired to clear the sidewalks to avoid the fine, signing up the property owners to give them sure access to having their sidwalks cleared within the required time period by signing up with the young person ahead of time.... not that I'm encouraging some kind of protection racket or anything

It's not just the right thing to do - it's the legal requirement. The relevant section from the Lakewood Codified Ordinences is below. I note that there isn't a specific fine stated - this was approved in 1978, maybe it's time to specify exactly how much they're going to be charged, perhaps a per-foot-of-snow-removal charge? I am really, REALLY pissed at the triple on the southwest corner of Victoria and Hilliard that has a beautifully clean driveway, and piled the snow they removed from the driveway right onto the area where the sidewalk meets the driveway in a lovely little mountain that the children get to climb over as they walk to/from school. I ment to take a picture this afternoon but was in a hurry, it's really outrageous that that much snow is still sitting on the sidewalk this long after snow stopped falling. Then there's the bank-owned double on the northeast corner of Hilliard and Elmwood and the church for sale on Detroit across Arthur from the library... Seriously, the only way to get some people to do the ethically right thing is to make it the financially beneficial thing, pretty pathetic when it's a CHURCH BUILDING that's one of the guilty (and at least part of the building is still in use as a school itself, they clear the driveway but not the sidewalk).

This needs to be ENFORCED, darnit! And updated - don't just go for expenses, there needs to be a penalty. When you don't remove your car from the street you get a ticket that you have to pay, and tow fees if you still don't move it. Cars parked on the street & not moved in a timely manner are nowhere near the danger of sidewalks so covered in snow and ice that our children are walking on the main streets!!!


521.06 DUTY TO KEEP SIDEWALKS IN REPAIR AND CLEAN.
(a) Every owner, occupant or person having charge of any tenement building, lot or land fronting any avenue, street, alley or public highway in the City shall remove and clear away, or cause to be removed or cleared away, snow and ice from a path of at least four feet in width from so much of the sidewalk whether or not flagged or paved as is in front of or abuts such building or lot or land.

No person removing snow from any driveway, sidewalk, public or private parking lot or private premises within the City shall deposit the same on the street, pavement, sidewalk or driveway apron of any public street. (Ord. 3-85. Passed 2-4-85.)


(1) Except as provided in subsection (b) hereof, snow and ice shall be removed from all business districts within the City by 9:00 a.m. of each day.


(2) Except as provided in subsection (b) hereof, snow and ice shall be removed from all other sidewalks within the City on the same day as the cessation of any fall of snow, sleet or freezing rail or not later than 8:00 p.m. after the cessation of such fall, whichever period is longer.


(b) In the event snow and ice on a sidewalk has become so hard that it cannot be removed without the likelihood of damage to the sidewalk, the person or entity charged with its removal, shall within the time mentioned in subsection (a) hereof, cause enough abrasive material or sodium chloride or derivative thereof to be put on the sidewalk to make travel thereon reasonably safe and shall then, as soon thereafter as weather permits, cause such sidewalk to be thoroughly cleaned.


(c) Every owner, occupant or person having charge of any tenement building, lot or land fronting upon any avenue, street, alley or other public highway of the City shall keep the entire width of such sidewalk from curb to lot line, free and clear of all earth, sand, brick, stone, rubbish, dead trees and dead branches of trees or other material which from any cause whatever shall have accumulated or may accumulate upon such sidewalk above the established grade of the same and shall also cut and remove from the sidewalk between the lot and curb line, all weeds, grass and vegetable growths that are more than four inches in height.


(d) If the owner of any building, lot or land fails to comply with the provisions of this section, then the Director of Public Works may remove the snow, ice, earth, sand, brick, stone, rubbish, dead trees or dead branches of trees or other materials, weeds, grass and vegetable growths, from the sidewalk in front of the premises of such owner, and may charge the expense thereof to such owner, and if, upon being notified, he fails to pay the City the amount of such expense, then such amount may be certified by the proper City officer to the County Auditor, and the same shall act as a lien upon the property of such owner, and shall be collected as provided for in the case of special assessments.


(e) For the purpose of this section, the term, business district, as set forth in subsection (a)(1), shall include all properties abutting or within 150 feet of Detroit Avenue from 117th Street to the Detroit Bridge approach; abutting or within 150 feet of Madison Avenue from 117th Street to Riverside Drive; abutting or within 150 feet of 117th Street from Lake Avenue to Berea Road; abutting or within 150 feet of Warren Road from Detroit Avenue to Franklin Boulevard; abutting or within 150 feet of Sloane Avenue from West Clifton Boulevard to Phelps Avenue; abutting or within 150 feet of Berea Road from West 117th Street to the City limits; abutting or within 150 feet of Hilliard Road from Madison Avenue to Woodward Avenue; abutting or within 150 feet of the Detroit Bridge approach from Detroit Avenue to the Rocky River Bridge.


(f) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.

(Ord. 89-78. Passed 11-6-78.)

Just a little side note here. I've been working on this issue for a while now. If a business isn't clearing their walks I contact the corporate office if there is one and usually the issue is resolved within a day or two. I think they get their parking lots done and then the employees drive to work so it doesn't cross anyone's mind to clear the walks. Usually there is even a contract in place but nobody thinks to make the snow removal people do their job. Have you ever noticed that if a business doesn't shovel neither does any of the residences that surrounding it?

Toni,

Or, conversely, if one resident shovels his walk, more residents take care of theirs?

Christina

This is our first winter in our new neighborhood and it's been really nice to see people out snowblowing not only their own sidewalks but their neighbor's too. Neighbors helping neighbors is such a nice thing.

I know when I started shoveling my whole street several people started pitching in so that now there are only a few houses that I need to do... I keep wondering what would happen if I printed up the city ordinance and put it in the doors of the addresses that don't shovel. I'm not talking about the people who I know aren't physically able to shovel. Places like the apartment building across from Harding and a few other places that have decently heavy traffic but no real way to contact them. Do you think they might take it as a hint??

we had actually planned to buy a snowblower this winter but didn't get our act together in time (as an aside, what the heck is with not stocking snow blowers after Christmas in Cleveland?!?! I need boots and snowblowers in February, not flipflops and lawn chairs, damnit! Stupid national distribution models...). I'm hoping that I can convince the able-bodied members of my household to do the sidewalks up and down the street, or even all the way to school, once we have a blower.

I also mentioned to my husband the moral/ethical order to shovel in... I'm such a geek to think this way, I know. To me, the only path on the driveway that should be cleared before the sidewalks is that which is necessary to get the snow removal equipment TO the sidewalks. Sidewalks should be done first, before even the driveway, to someone with a strong sense of civic duty . Then the path up to the house/steps so that our mail carriers are safe, THEN the driveway and other household-only paths. I plan to teach my sons to do it in that order when they're old enough. Now the debate in my head is when do you do the work for your neighbors, before one's own driveway or after? I think it depends on the timing in relation to household wage earners needing to get vehicles out of the driveway.

With the amount of snaow this week I thought I would bring this thread back.


As I look north from my house, it looks pretty good!


But as I turn east, I think.


Great day to shovel, let the afternoon help melt the ice patches, then relax




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