This story was corrected Sept. 9.
It took aboutthree hours in the 10th floor City Hall Council Chambers, but lo andbehold, a proposed snow and ice removal ordinance will likely get apublic hearing this month. The ordinance would allow the city to clearpublic sidewalks and add the cost to a property owner’s taxes if itisn’t paid within 30 days.
The Public ServicesCommittee met today to amend the snow ordinance and voted 2-0 to haveCity Council set a public hearing on it (First Ward City Councilman andcommittee chair Eric Hewitt did not vote).
The Council will vote Thursday afternoon on scheduling a Sept. 20 public hearing on the ordinance.
TheCity Attorney’s Office will rewrite the draft ordinance after insertingchanges approved today. It is the ordinance’s eighth version. The newdraft will look a lot like draft five, which was originally approved inMarch 2009.
The Public Service Department will have to both postand mail a notice requiring a property owner to clean sidewalks.Instead of being deemed received 24 hours after being sent out, themail will be deemed received two delivery days after being sent out.Property owners will then have 24 hours to remove the snow or ice.
ThePublic Service Department will also have the authority to make its ownset of enforcement rules, like limiting allowable snow depth andnotification times. The “sunset clause” is still part of theordinance, meaning the ordinance will be up for review, but in twoyears instead of one.
Under the ordinance, property owners willhave 24 hours to clear snow from public sidewalks after it falls beforethe new provisions could kick in.
Public Service Director ChadGamble said upfront costs for the city to remove the snow would beabout $116, which covers an administrative fee and 20 minutes of thecity’s time. Property owners would be charged $45.29 for each 20minutes after that.
Gamble said following today’s meeting thathe’s just happy the ordinance is out of Committee. “Public Service isready to enforce this. Hopefully it gets snow legs,” Gamble said,meaning he hopes the Council approves it before winter.
If apublic hearing is set at Thursday’s City Council meeting, it then goesback to the City Council to “amend, pass or kill,” City Attorney BrigSmith said, once the public’s comments are considered.
Hewitt hadlast proposed giving property owners more time before the city couldclear their sidewalks. But the committee opted to bypass those andconsider earlier draft for mark-up purposes.
Essentially,whatever work Hewitt has done amending the ordinance on his own time“will be nixed,” At-Large Councilman Brian Jeffries said.
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