A citizen contacted the Town of Christiansburg about impassable sidewalks, and a town employee provided the following:
Sec. 25-21. Removal of snow and ice from sidewalks.
"It shall be the duty of the occupant of any property in the Town which has a sidewalk of brick, wood or concrete on such property to have all snow removed from such sidewalk within 24 hours after plowing of the street has been completed. The same obligation shall exist with respect to ice or sleet on sidewalks, except that ice and sleet that cannot be removed without injury to the sidewalk shall be covered within the time herein required with sawdust, ashes or other material which will render the sidewalk safe for travel. When there is no occupant of such property, the owner of the property shall have the snow, ice and sleet removed or covered as provided for herein. If the owner of such property cannot be found, the Town Manager shall cause such sidewalk to be cleaned or covered and may, after notice, proceed against such owner for the costs of the work. (Ord of 3-17-87, 25-25)."
Sounds like renters are responsible for clearing sidewalks at those properties. Wonder how many leases detail this and tell tenants that? And if you have a wooden deck leading from the street to your house, or a brick walk from your driveway to your front door, sounds as if you better clear these, too.
Few areas in Christiansburg -- primarily the old town section and business addresses -- have sidewalks. Most new developments do not, and those that do generally have a Homeowners Association responsible for outside maintenance -- with the level of service residents receive varying widely. Maybe property owners or occupants believe "public " sidewalks are actually owned by the town, and as such, are the town's responsibility to clear (just as they clear public roads).
The way the ordinance is written, it doesn't specify between private or public property... "any property that has a sidewalk" is supposed to be safe to travel on regardless of weather conditions.
How is something like this equitably enforced and who should citizens complain to when it's not done? Is the town even staffed so that such an ordinance can be enforced?
No wonder there was concern about ice-cream trucks violating a noise ordinance, if adopted. With a quarter to half-inch of sleet in the forecast, I'm going to find me some sawdust and ash.