Winter Walking and Cycling

[danbrotherston]

That being said their definition of "chronic offender" is probably "the never ever not even once, clear the walk" as opposed to "it usually takes them more than 24 hours, but they'll sometimes occasionally, way too late, clear the walk.

Remember, in addition to being essentially unenforced the bylaw is also entirely inadequate.  You can abide by the bylaw with very very little work.

By any reasonable definition of “chronic offender” the number is probably best measured as a percentage of the total, rather than as a small integer count of offenders.

And of course you’re right about the bylaw. I’m not sure what the bylaw should say, but conceptually every snowflake should be required to be cleared from the sidewalk within 24 hours of falling. So if it has snowed 5cm in the last day, most sidewalks will be in bad shape, but any sidewalk with more than 5cm on it would be in violation. Actually maybe that is the definition: the amount of snow on each segment of sidewalk must be less than the total snowfall in the last 24 hours. That’s a bit too inflexible because the snow will be stomped down, but it’s at least heading in the direction of a reasonable definition.

Exactly, the 24 hour rule is one of convenience and clarity for bylaw, not effectiveness...even more so, a real snow clearing policy would clear major routes quickly and minor routes less quickly, such a biased bylaw is unlikely to ever be acceptable.