January’s ice storm inspires a reworking of city rules on who must clear sidewalks

The winter storms that left Richmond frozen under thick sheets of ice in January are fading into the past as summer arrives. But the City Council is thinking about the next one.

Officials are considering changes to a local law that requires Richmond residents to clear snow off city sidewalks or risk a criminal penalty. As it currently exists, the ordinance only covers snow, which caused some confusion this year over how it applies when the main problem is ice that won’t melt on its own.

Though the law doesn’t appear to have been strictly enforced, it says “every occupant” of property next to a paved sidewalk has a “duty” to clear snow from the sidewalk within six hours after snow stops falling. If snow stops overnight, sidewalks must be cleared by 11 a.m. the next morning.

Violations are punishable as a low-level misdemeanor with fines of up to $250, plus any costs the city incurs from having to clear the snow itself. Anyone over 65 years old or physically disabled is exempt from the criminal penalty.

The new proposal from Councilor Katherine Jordan (2nd District) would clarify that the rule also applies to ice, while downgrading the punishment to a civil fine of $100.

“We had a number of individuals and constituents across the city faced with difficult situations where they were not able to leave their home or safely go down the sidewalk or get out and about,” Jordan said at a Council committee meeting Wednesday. “And there's a lot of confusion about who is in charge of clearing the sidewalk. Did they have to clear the sidewalk because it’s ice and not snow?”

Jordan said her proposal would create a more “straightforward” way for the city to deal with non-compliance when complaints come in about uncleared sidewalks causing a safety hazard. 

The revised ordinance also clarifies sidewalk-clearing rules for apartment dwellers who don’t own the property. The current law applies to any occupant, creating an obligation for renters regardless of whether they’re renting a house or a unit in a larger building or complex. Jordan’s proposal says that for properties with three or more housing units, sidewalk-shoveling responsibilities fall to the landlord.

Jordan said she thinks it’s “absolutely appropriate” for multi-unit property owners to take responsibility instead of expecting tenants to buy and store their own snow shovels.

At Wednesday’s committee meeting, Councilor Kenya Gibson (3rd District) asked how the rule should apply in severe storms like the back-to-back events in January, when the city was telling residents it couldn’t clear the roads because the ice was too thick and temperatures were too low.

“If the city wasn’t able to shovel the streets, is it fair?” Gibson asked. “How do we approach that when there are times even the city with its equipment is perhaps not able to do that work?”

Jordan noted that her plan empowers the chief administrative officer to waive fines when a state of emergency has been declared, which was the case in January. Enforcement of the rule, she said, would most likely be about responding to specific complaints, not scouring the city to bust people for unshoveled sidewalks.

“We are complaint-driven most often,” Jordan said. “There is flexibility in here.”

Director of Public Works Bobby Vincent told the Council members it’s “much easier” for residents to take care of sidewalks closest to them than it is for the city to take on that amount of work.

“We want our citizens to be aware, to be as proactive as possible,” Vincent said. “They can do that simply by just putting down some sand and salt prior to the event.”

The city issued more than 300 warnings to property owners during the January ice event, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, but it’s unclear how many of those escalated to actual fines or other enforcement.

The city produced a 40-page after-action report on January’s winter weather. That report didn’t explain how the city enforced the sidewalk rule, apart from saying officials encouraged residents to clear sidewalks “if you’re able.”

Council staffers said they had found no evidence of any fines being collected under the rule in the city’s most recent budget year.

The revised version of the law cleared committee this week and now heads to the full Council for a final vote. It’s on the agenda for the Council’s June 8 meeting.

Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org