Comments on: Vancouver ByLaw 2849 – Removal of Snow or Ice From Sidewalk

By: In The Sphere: One Butt Cheek Blogging | BlueFur.com

In The Sphere: One Butt Cheek Blogging | BlueFur.com — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:01:21 +0000

[...] uncleared sidewalks and puddles of slush on the road. Going further, he has attempted to decipher the city bylaws on the matter, revealing that only those in the downtown peninsula really need to do [...]

By: VancityAllie

VancityAllie — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:58:52 +0000

Wow. I’m bringing this up to our landlord. They are really lazy.

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:15:38 +0000

Thanks for posting the bylaw Tyler! I have a hankering now to print it and post it on the front doors of a bunch of (non single or double family) residences on the West side.

By: Tyler Ingram

Tyler Ingram — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:09:18 +0000

Thanks for all the comments Our landlord is always out there shoveling the sidewalks and walkways of our apartment building. I’ve seen him do it about three times a day actually. He likes to say that where he is from this is no where the same amount of snow they get lol.

Only thing I have to deal with is trying to shovel out parking spots. I hope other people in the neighbourhood are grateful for the parking spots in the alley I’ve had to dig our car out of

By: Michelle Evans

Michelle Evans — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:05:41 +0000

Never mind the bylaw. When it’s snowing you should be doing it as many times a day as is necessary or reasonable in order to keep them as clear as possible. For most that should be morning and night. Unless you want to do a giant job each morning. More often is probably quicker in the long run.

By: Jon Jennings

Jon Jennings — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:45:26 +0000

Beautifully unintelligible bylaw. First part sets the basic requirement. Second part over-rides that for a significant number of people without making clear that that’s what it’s doing.

I’ve heard frequent announcements, on News 1130 I think, which sum it up better: if you live in downtown core then EVERYONE has to clear their driveway. Vancouver but outside downtown: only multi-family dwellings have to. And nobody HAS to have cleared anything before 10am Mon-Sat.

Simple enough to clear the snow – although a literal pain after you’ve done it a dozen times. But what about the ice? How are you expected to clear that? ARE you expected to clear it? It’s not much help to pedestrians if you don’t but virtually impossible to do.

Here in Delta the policy seems to be “Snow removal from sidewalks is the responsibility of adjacent property owners” and “Homeowners are asked to clear snow from sidewalks abutting their property” with no more specific detail than that.

It’s all gone haywire down our residential road. There’s one set of icy ruts down the middle of the road & no sidewalk. Pedestrians have to get out of the way when they see you coming and if you meet another car you have serious problems! Looks like Derek has it worse than us though – http://www.penmachine.com/

By: Rod

Rod — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:19:48 +0000

It’s a bylaw out here in the suburbs (okay, Maple Ridge) as far as I know. Must be cleared by 10:00am. Of course, they have to give a little leeway, too. If you shovel it down to the concrete at 7am and then go to work, and it dumps another 5cm of snow on the ground, they certainly couldn’t go after you for that, I’d hope.

By: Michael Kwan

Michael Kwan — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:27:13 +0000

I think Rebecca (Miss604) wrote a post on this a little while back as well. As I commented on her post, I’m surprised to hear that the bylaw seems to only apply to the Downtown peninsula for residential areas. I live in East Vancouver and I’ve always been told that every house/building is responsible for clearing the sidewalk in front of said house/building, including single and two-family dwellings. I’ll continue to clear the sidewalk in front of my home, out of courtesy for my neighbours, and I expect them to do the same, bylaw or not.

By: Sean Hagen

Sean Hagen — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:24:36 +0000

What I think is funny is that most years we don’t have to worry about snow, as it only sticks around for a few days. This is the first year in a while ( that I can remember ) where there has been snow on the ground for more than three or four days.

I wonder what winter will be like next year.

By: buzz

buzz — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:20:32 +0000

Thanks for digging this up. Don’t know what susan anton was on about on cknw this am, but she made it seem as if there is no law.

So why are their no sidewalks? Time to take the guys out of the snowplows and start writing some tickets.