See this 03-03-2015 message:
Could you ask everyone to please take care of their sidewalks? Several houses on my street haven't done so in weeks and now the ice is multiple inches thick. To top it off DC Water let water out of the hydrant on the corner, which poured down both the road and sidewalk Friday morning. It then froze, of course, and now we have this. It's extremely slick.
I have spoken to the neighbors I know, but there's a further problem--how do we get the developer at this Adams St property who is popping the house up to take responsibility for his part of this? (it's the house with the stop work order and the roof that collapsed this summer)
As I understand it, there's basically nothing you can do yet. There's a bill authorizing fines for not removing snow (and the fines are bigger for owners of residences with four or more units) that the Council passed, but it won't take effect until October:
ReplyDeletehttp://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/24900/dc-will-force-property-owners-to-shovel-sidewalks-with-higher-fines-for-bigger-and-commercial-/
It's infuriating when larger property owners don't remove their snow, since there's nothing you can do about it, and owners who don't live in the neighborhood don't care about walking in it.
You can do what I do, I shovel one house to the left and one to the right of me, and if I have a little extra energy I'll do a shovel-wide path all the way to the corner. With elderly neighbors, absentee owners and younger renters who don't see icy sidewalks as a major issue, I've taken the course that keeps me safest.
ReplyDeleteyup, it's really helpful when others go a little beyond their own front walk and steps! I hear that in Boston they are issuing $75 tickets to people who don't do this because it traps people with disabilities inside their homes. Just try using a wheelchair or walker on some of this mess!
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