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That does not sound correct.. The homeowner is responsible for clearing and maintaining the sidewalks.
If you don't and it becomes a safety hazard and someone trips and gets hurt, who gets sued? the township? Absolutely not. YOU do.
And every township I have ever had dealings with requires the sidewalks to be cleared in 24 hours too.
At least in every township I have ever dealt with..
Correct. .gov has right of way use but up to individual land owners to maintain a safe walkway free from snow within 24 hours.
That does not sound correct.. The homeowner is responsible for clearing and maintaining the sidewalks.
If you don't and it becomes a safety hazard and someone trips and gets hurt, who gets sued? the township? Absolutely not. YOU do.
And every township I have ever had dealings with requires the sidewalks to be cleared in 24 hours too.
At least in every township I have ever dealt with..
Just because it's an ordinance doesn't make it "law". Twps can make up their own rules but in a court of law... I think the twp. would be the one's at fault here. It's their property! Just my opinion...
What I'm reading is you did shovel but they were not happy with the job you did and are giving fines..
Sounds to me like the town needs money and is throwing these fines out to get that money.
Nice.
No sidewalks in the old town, it was the road by the mailbox that had to be kept clean. If the mail lady couldn't pull up easily she did not have to deliver the mail. Ours was always spotless (loved my mail lady)
New town, yes we do have a sidewalk so I very well could be in your shoes. We will do the best we can, I'm disabled hubby is recovering from shoulder surgery. Let them fine us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by candco
Wondering if anyone is having the same kind of ridiculous experience in their town or if it is just here in crazyville!
We received a summons in our mailbox for not having our sidewalks cleaned off within 24 hours with a courtdate (mind you that my sidewalk was shoveled just not spotlessly, sparkling clean) apparently many residents received the same summons and courtdate with the same situation and everyone is flipping out. The mun. office is claiming that the mayor wants everyone who has a sidewalk that has a drop of snow on it to be fined!! and the cost is $25 first offense, $50 for the second, and $100 for the third with courtdates during the middle of the day since we all can afford to take off of work for something so ridiculous! So basically even if you get your frozen self out there within 24 hours you better do more than plow and shovel, you better make sure they are spotless--come on, is this normal in other towns???
And since everyone is calling and flipping out, they do not want to hear any kind of explanation or anything. I think it's sad that a town like this with it's very high taxes and ok services and community (regional high school is so bad less than 10% of residents send kids there) has to suck even more money from its residents especially during an economic climate like this---it really makes us feel like they are taking advantage.
What I'm reading is you did shovel but they were not happy with the job you did and are giving fines..
Sounds to me like the town needs money and is throwing these fines out to get that money. Nice.
No sidewalks in the old town, it was the road by the mailbox that had to be kept clean. If the mail lady couldn't pull up easily she did not have to deliver the mail. Ours was always spotless (loved my mail lady)
New town, yes we do have a sidewalk so I very well could be in your shoes. We will do the best we can, I'm disabled hubby is recovering from shoulder surgery. Let them fine us.
You hit the nail on the head!!
Ours was great too - Started snowing at midnight one year and you can't park on the streets here if there is snow on the road. One officer wrote tickets to every car he saw on the street and ran out - had to break into another officer's locker to get another ticket book....
Thankfully, we weren't one of them, but that's just ridiculous.
wow, i can't believe they are giving you a fine even after shoveling. my advice, take pictures with a time and date stamp. then you have something to fight them with. it is too bad that they are putting an additional burden on people already stretched to the limit. luckily i have no sidewalk.
Just because it's an ordinance doesn't make it "law".
An ordinance is the law for that town. Thats why they have them and a cop can give you a ticket because of ordinance violation. Do I think they are all fair no but thats the way it works.
Wondering if anyone is having the same kind of ridiculous experience in their town or if it is just here in crazyville!
We received a summons in our mailbox for not having our sidewalks cleaned off within 24 hours with a courtdate (mind you that my sidewalk was shoveled just not spotlessly, sparkling clean) apparently many residents received the same summons and courtdate with the same situation and everyone is flipping out. The mun. office is claiming that the mayor wants everyone who has a sidewalk that has a drop of snow on it to be fined!! and the cost is $25 first offense, $50 for the second, and $100 for the third with courtdates during the middle of the day since we all can afford to take off of work for something so ridiculous! So basically even if you get your frozen self out there within 24 hours you better do more than plow and shovel, you better make sure they are spotless--come on, is this normal in other towns???
And since everyone is calling and flipping out, they do not want to hear any kind of explanation or anything. I think it's sad that a town like this with it's very high taxes and ok services and community (regional high school is so bad less than 10% of residents send kids there) has to suck even more money from its residents especially during an economic climate like this---it really makes us feel like they are taking advantage.
If I am understanding this correctly you are arguing for the right NOT to have to clean your walks off within 24 hours ? You want the right to create an unsafe situation for children trying to make their way to school or their bus stops over snow and ice covered walks ? If your a store owner you don't want to have to clean your walks to prevent people from slipping and falling on snow and ice ? You think a law to prevent this is unreasonable ?
If you read my post, you will see that my sidewalk was shoveled but apparently not perfectly spotless according to the town---i would understand if my sidewalks were untouched and i received the fine--understandable--but to spend time on it and receive the summons is ridiculous and just a way for the town to suck more money out of the residents.
Also worth noting, i am no where near schools or anything for that matter, this is not a very walkable town as we mostly drive outside of town for errands, shopping, etc.
As i mentioned before, the town's timing in fining so many residents during this economic climate (we haven't see this winters before) is terrible. I have to put all my energy into work hoping that I am not part of lay-offs and they want to add expense and hassle during this time!!
If you read my post, you will see that my sidewalk was shoveled but apparently not perfectly spotless according to the town---i would understand if my sidewalks were untouched and i received the fine--understandable--but to spend time on it and receive the summons is ridiculous and just a way for the town to suck more money out of the residents.
Also worth noting, i am no where near schools or anything for that matter, this is not a very walkable town as we mostly drive outside of town for errands, shopping, etc.
As i mentioned before, the town's timing in fining so many residents during this economic climate (we haven't see this winters before) is terrible. I have to put all my energy into work hoping that I am not part of lay-offs and they want to add expense and hassle during this time!!
I'm sorry.......I guess I misunderstood what I read......if you shoveled and your effort was not up to their desires then what the town is expecting is unreasonable.....especially if it involved many......the standard of expecting NO snow whatsoever is unreasonable.......the town must plow the streets.....do they leave any behind or do they get every last flake ?
for me i feel like you need to make an effort. we had some people who just didnt shovel for like 3 weeks, and i could see them sitting inside their house. lazy!!! we shovel the walk, and enough for the UPS guy and mail man. The mail man walks across the lawn anyway...
it is usually not perfect, but better than nothing.
i would take pictures of your clean sidewalks and bring them to court.
i think this is completely unreasonable... unless you clearly did not shovel at all, for 3 weeks, like my lazy neighbors. then the snow turned into ice, with peoples 6" deep footprints frozen that becomes dangerous.
for everyones good, i would shovel to cover your butt if nothing else.
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