The City Council’s Legal Affairs Committee began discussing the possibility of instituting a citywide sidewalk snow and ice removal ordinance during a special meeting last week, but opted not to take any action pending further consultation with department heads.
Ward 3 Councilor and Council President Stephanie Peach made a motion that the city consider drafting such an ordinance when she first joined the council in 2022. Now, that effort is, slowly, becoming a reality.
“We are in the minority in a community that doesn’t have a requirement for snow (and) ice removal,” she told fellow councilors, citing a pair of late communications submitted by City Solicitor Don Conn. “This is something I hear a lot about, especially with kids going to school.”
While Peach noted she has seen most of her neighbors shovel the sidewalks in front of their homes, she said the ordinance could set down stricter rules for non-owner-occupied properties, several of which are located in Ward 3. Clearing snow and ice from sidewalks could fall under the same category of enforcement as trash and property upkeep, she said.
Councilors seemed broadly receptive to the idea, but noted challenges were ahead, particularly because the existing ordinance, which covers streets in the city’s downtown, is only lightly enforced. Councilor-at-Large Jon Turco went as far as to say it was “not worth the paper it’s printed on.”
Turco said he saw a need for an ordinance, particularly because of the city’s preponderance of neighborhood elementary schools, where many students and families walk to school in the mornings. With parked cars and snow banks, forcing students to walk in the road because of unshoveled sidewalks could become a safety hazard.
“Neighborhood schools are always going to be an issue,” he said.
Ward 4 Councilor Julie Daigle said she saw the pros and cons of implementing such an ordinance but suggested the council would benefit from feedback from department heads.
Councilor-at-Large Ryan Melville said he would like to see the city beef up its inspectional services department before any such ordinance goes into place, due to concerns about that department’s ability to actually enforce the ordinance.
Ward 2 Councilor Peter McGinn, who represents much of the area covered by the existing ordinance, said he has repeatedly struggled to get the policy enforced. Part of the issue, McGinn said, is that the city does not always hold up its end of the bargain by clearing areas under its jurisdiction.
“What this council and this committee needs to consider is, is the city prepared to abide by the same set of rules?” he said. “We would need to know that whatever we stipulate for residents and business owners, the city meets the same standard.”
Citywide enforcement of the existing ordinance, which imposes fines of up to $300 per day, is unlikely to be achievable unless the city bolsters its resources, McGinn said.
McGinn also pointed to the ordinance in Beverly as a potential model for Peabody as it continues to move the process forward. There, the ordinance allows residents to apply for an annual exemption, which would apply to residents who are not at home during the winter or who might not be physically able to shovel the sidewalk.
Peach said she envisioned that the responsibility for clearing the sidewalk would ultimately fall on the property owner, regardless of whether they are a resident of the property or not. She also pointed to the apparent success Salem has had in adopting a similar ordinance, saying that city gave specific departments authority to enforce the procedures. Peach also said she had no intention of the ordinance being any sort of money maker for the city.
“Most people in this community shovel their sidewalks because that is the neighborly thing to do,” she said. “It’s for people who don’t live here but own property here, or just know they don’t have to so they don’t.”
