04-19-2018, 12:53 PM
(04-19-2018, 11:10 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: It's remotely possible that it could happen...if the stars align...but only to make the theater more realistic. I've never seen it happen before.
We know it's happened from statistics on previous winters. But the numbers of actual fines* are extremely low compared to what anyone who actually walks could report about the number of properties that go uncleared.
"Theatre" is a good word for it. There's actual activity being performed on the part of call centre and admin staff, and bylaw enforcement officers, and it all comes at a cost to the City budget, but little of it is actually directed at the problem. In effect (as you've laid out), property owners are given 72 or 96 hours (or more, when the clock is reset by additional snowfall, which isn't exactly unheard-of in winter) to get their snow cleared.
That doesn't make any sense, and particularly not when it comes to properties where owners habitually do not clear. They are given the same warnings and timelines, each and every time. Even though most of us can readily think of any number of properties that just don't clear their sidewalks, nearly ever, only two properties in the whole city were identified for proactive enforcement last year.
*Property owners are not exactly fined. They are given a bill for the cost for the City's contractor to clear the sidewalk, if that eventually happens.