Shovel your whole sidewalk; not just your doorstep.

[smh]

I'm sure this is an annual complaint among Raggers and thus I did not intend to complain about it after this first snow. However, I couldn't take it anymore. It amazes me the number of uncleared footpaths downtown. I'm sure this is true for the whole core, but I can't understand why the city doesn't penalize those (Standard Parking) who don't shovel their footpaths and keep them clear. Some property owners have done a fantastic job! Others shoveled once, even though it snowed another 3 inches. Still others haven't shoveled at all (Standard Parking). I think it is important for the city to emphasize that if you're a property owner your responsibility is to shovel ALL of your sidewalks, not just those that face the entrance to your building.

Anywho, rant over. Below is the sight that put me over the top today on my morning commute. Corner of 3rd & Delaware. The parking lot the lofts on the SE corner (I think DELofts) has been nicely plowed...into the sidewalk...which hasn't been shoveled...much. I doubt this is the most egregious thing that happens in KC today--don't get me wrong--but I found it irritating nonetheless and happened to feel like taking a pic. Enjoy.

[KCPowercat]

I'm emailing businesses today ....also call 311

[smh]

It's items like this that remind me just how far we have to go to change our culture to value humans and not just motor vehicles. But, we're making progress!

[DaveKCMO]

does anyone have a link to the city code that references the shoveling requirement?

[smh]

does anyone have a link to the city code that references the shoveling requirement?

Sec. 64-246.  Removal of ice or snow.
It shall be the duty of all persons owning or occupying any real property, fronting upon any street, boulevard or highway, to remove from the sidewalks in front or alongside of such property all ice and snow within a reasonable time after cessation of a storm depositing such ice or snow. The provisions of chapter 62, article III, pertaining to littering, and penalties for violations thereof, shall be applicable to violations of this section.
(Code of Gen. Ords. 1967, § 30.104)
Cross references:  Littering, § 62-81 et seq.


http://library3.municode.com:80/default ... mplate.htm?

[dangerboy]

Ordinance #100741 includes a proposal to specify 48 hours as the deadline for clearing the sidewalk.  Unfortunately this ordinance has been stuck in the T&I Committee since September.

[droopy]

Ordinance #100741 includes a proposal to specify 48 hours as the deadline for clearing the sidewalk.  Unfortunately this ordinance has been stuck in the T&I Committee since September.

So "reasonable time" is not yet legalling defined?  You can also remind owners they are liable for any injuries sustained as a result of the uncleared sidewalk.

[smh]

No idea why that stupid link doesn't work. I literally clicked "Link to this page" on the website. Anyway, that is Code of Ordinances of KC Part II, Chapter 64, Article VII, Sec. 64-246.

I got to it by going to kcmo.org, going to Find>an ordinance and then on the subsequent page clicking Charter & Code under quick links.

Convoluted way to get there, but then it wouldn't be KC if it was any other way

[KCPowercat]

I just send a friendly reminder asking if they could clear their sidewalks and sign it from their neighbors.

[kclofter]

I had never realized that the ordinance also includes residential renters.  Of course, all of us on the board have shoveled our walks.

[trailerkid]

People in KC area don't know how to clear a sidewalk. I don't know if it's a quasi southern thing or a big city thing or what. Most people just don't seem to care or even think about it. The clearing of walks around my mother's home in South Dakota within hours of a snow event is pretty incredible. Blocks upon blocks are 100% clear even with feet of snow and temps running well below zero.

[warwickland]

The lax snow clearing culture in the southern midwest extends beyond being an anti-urban trait. It's just that the snow often melts within a few days w/ the exception of several weeks in janufeb. i mean think about it...most of the winter is close to snow free. That changes pretty quickly along MO-36/I-72 (IL).

[dangerboy]

The lax snow clearing culture in the southern midwest extends beyond being an anti-urban trait. It's just that the snow often melts within a few days w/ the exception of several weeks in janufeb. i mean think about it...most of the winter is close to snow free. That changes pretty quickly along MO-36/I-72 (IL).

Plus, there is absolutely no penalty.  Sidewalks get cleared in cold cities like Des Moines and Minneapolis because property owners know that they are certain to get fined if they don't do it.

[droopy]

I think it is somewhat cultural, but also tied to the cities own snow removal.  Not a lot of motivation to get outside and shovel your sidewalk when the road hasn't been plowed.  A plow came down my street for the first time yesterday.  For the record: I shoveled my front walk, steps and sidewalk on Tuesday.  Glad it was the light fluffy stuff 

Can you imagine the uproar if the city fined people for not shoveling when streets still aren't clear? 

[heatherkay]

Finally, in South Dakota, don't most people own or have access to a snow blower?  They get enough snow to make it worth the investment.  In KC, we get a couple of snowfalls per winter that need to be removed (as opposed to wait a day or two and they'll melt).  I think most KC folks still rely on shovels.

[Roanoker]

I don't know the stats, but I think shoveling snow is a common activity just prior to a heart attack. It happened to my boss some years ago, and he died immediately. So, everyone please be careful.

[trailerkid]

Finally, in South Dakota, don't most people own or have access to a snow blower?  They get enough snow to make it worth the investment.  In KC, we get a couple of snowfalls per winter that need to be removed (as opposed to wait a day or two and they'll melt).  I think most KC folks still rely on shovels.

I was going to bring this issue up. I'd guess 50% of the people have a snow blower on my mother's block in South Dakota. However, the rest of the folks you'll see outside working on their sidewalks or they'll hire someone. Just leaving your walks as is isn't an option and surely something shameful to do in the neighborhood as you stick out like a sore thumb. I also noticed a number of vacant houses still have immediate snow removal just as if someone was still living in them.

[splash]

I admit, we don't shovel our driveway, steps, or the sidewalk in front of our house.  I think it's partially laziness and partially the fact that we never had to do it before we moved to KC.  I'd say maybe less than half of the driveways on my street get shoveled, but less than half of those actually shovel the sidewalk.  I think that partly because sidewalks are spotty on our street.  On my side of the street, there are four houses on the "block" (meaning, where there are cross streets).  Only three of those houses have sidewalks out front, with the sidewalk ending at our property line.  It's like that all the way up/down the street, on our side.  The opposite side of the street has no sidewalks at all. 

As far as plowing goes, we've lived her close to a decade and last year was the first time we ever saw a plow go down our street.  I live on a kind of hill and it can get really slick after awhile.  A couple of years ago, we got concerned about the amount of fender benders along this stretch of road, so we ended up salting the road ourselves.  As we were doing this, a plow looked like it was going down the street, but turned around at the top of the hill and left. 

Now, I realize that we're a residential street in south KC, so we're totally at the bottom of the list as far as plowing goes, but the fact that we pretty much never see a plow kind of bugs me.  Heck, this sounds insane, but I'd settle for getting a subsidy from the city for bags of salt, so we could at least salt the slick spots when needed. 

A couple of years ago, I was working as a temp (short term assignments), so I was pretty much never working when there was snow on the ground.  I got bored one day and decided to record the cars that would travel up and down our street.  It ended up being moderately entertaining (I was that bored).  I didn't manage to catch any accidents, but there were plenty the day before.  I'd say almost a dozen cars lost control trying to drive down our street and ended up smacking the snot out of the light pole at the bottom of the street.  There were several near-misses, where someone was going down the street while someone else was trying to get up the street and they'd almost collide. 

Also, we have a one car width driveway and two vehicles.  About a third of the time, one of the vehicles ends up being parked on the street, but we used to make sure that neither vehicle was parked on the street when it snowed, because of the sliding cars.  Well, after one too many near-misses of cars sliding into our driveway, and the fact that one of our neighbors (who was parked on the street) got hit by a car, we started parking the cars side by side, with one being in the grass.  We ONLY do this when it's slick and it's to prevent someone from hitting our car and to give people plenty of room to maneuver if they do slide our way.  We ended up getting a warning notice from the city about the fact that our car was parked in the grass.  So we started parking one of the vehicles on the street, but pretty much in front of our neighbors house (closer to the top of the hill) and would park well over the curb, so we'd be out of the way.  That got us a $75 ticket.

I've called 311 about this and have been told that "they'll get to us", but since we never see plows, I stopped calling.  (And yes, we do have a garage, but it's housing two motorcycles and some furniture from my mom that has yet to find a home upstairs).  I realize this is long and ranty, but it does kind of piss me off that we're expected to keep the sidewalks clear, while getting notices from the city about where we park, when we wouldn't park that way if the street wasn't a skating rink.

[DaveKCMO]

someone finally got around to clearing the bridges across 670. unfortunately, there are large piles of snow on the sidewalk on most corners south of truman (rendering the effort pretty much worthless).

[Highlander]

I don't know the stats, but I think shoveling snow is a common activity just prior to a heart attack. It happened to my boss some years ago, and he died immediately. So, everyone please be careful.

I think it's because it is particularly strenuous exercise and most people just aren't involved in anything of that scale on a daily basis.  If you work out regularly, it would certainly mitigate the risk to a large degree.  If not, get a young kid to shovel it; otherwise it's like trying to run a mile under 7 minutes without training for it.